Mac Mini M2 Pro monitor choice

[lr123internet]

Greetings,
I've used iMacs for years. I'm switching to a Mac Mini M2 Pro. I need advice on best monitor for me - Work from home, so at monitor for hours at a time, mostly standard Office apps (Word, Excel), internet surfing, zoom meetings, some work with photos and videos, need easy on the eyes. I am leaning towards the Apple Studio since it's plug and play, with built in webcam, speakers. But, of course it's so pricey.... I would like something between 24inches and 28inches due to space constraints. I would like to stay under $800, but if webcam speakers have to be added, that's a factor.
So, I am here asking for advice. There are so many threads on this, and every time I read through, I get more confused. I don't really understand which factors should matter to me (refresh rate, pixels, connectivity, etc). I need easy reading, sharp fonts, and good audio as I'm hard of hearing. I think something up to retina display quality.
Please make any kindly suggestions. Thank you!

 

[foo2]

Greetings,
I've used iMacs for years. I'm switching to a Mac Mini M2 Pro. I need advice on best monitor for me - Work from home, so at monitor for hours at a time, mostly standard Office apps (Word, Excel), internet surfing, zoom meetings, some work with photos and videos, need easy on the eyes. I am leaning towards the Apple Studio since it's plug and play, with built in webcam, speakers. But, of course it's so pricey.... I would like something between 24inches and 28inches due to space constraints. I would like to stay under $800, but if webcam speakers have to be added, that's a factor.
So, I am here asking for advice. There are so many threads on this, and every time I read through, I get more confused. I don't really understand which factors should matter to me (refresh rate, pixels, connectivity, etc). I need easy reading, sharp fonts, and good audio as I'm hard of hearing. I think something up to retina display quality.
Please make any kindly suggestions. Thank you!

If you don't game, refresh > 60hz doesn't matter. ASD and LG at "only" 60hz isn't a factor.

If you want all-integrated (webcam, speakers, mic, etc.) the ASD and LG's competitor (at perhaps $300 less, not quite as pretty, speakers not quite as good, otherwise not terribly different) are the two big players.

If you can wait a bit (the story of IT...) Dell's coming out with some new models that, based on their past history, will destroy the previous price barriers (ie, the fact that LG is able to sit at $300 under Apple's price, and there is zero other cost movement). Dell also traditionally adds far superior connectivity (so expect DP1.4, HDMI2.1, USB4, etc. on the better ones.)

Also bear in mind we all just missed Costco's sale ($1299, $300 off list). No telling when/if that would come back.

But if you need something right now, today, then you should decide the premium you'll pay for the Apple logo (and its' admittedly prettier form factor) and pick between those two for 5k.

For 4k there are countless choices.

 

[lr123internet]

If you don't game, refresh > 60hz doesn't matter. ASD and LG at "only" 60hz isn't a factor.

If you want all-integrated (webcam, speakers, mic, etc.) the ASD and LG's competitor (at perhaps $300 less, not quite as pretty, speakers not quite as good, otherwise not terribly different) are the two big players.

If you can wait a bit (the story of IT...) Dell's coming out with some new models that, based on their past history, will destroy the previous price barriers (ie, the fact that LG is able to sit at $300 under Apple's price, and there is zero other cost movement). Dell also traditionally adds far superior connectivity (so expect DP1.4, HDMI2.1, USB4, etc. on the better ones.)

Also bear in mind we all just missed Costco's sale ($1299, $300 off list). No telling when/if that would come back.

But if you need something right now, today, then you should decide the premium you'll pay for the Apple logo (and its' admittedly prettier form factor) and pick between those two for 5k.

For 4k there are countless choices.

Thank you for the suggestions! What is the 4k/5k difference from the user point of view?

 

[ondioline]

Studio Display will give you the iMac experience obviously, I bought two and I love them. I use one for Zoom every day. Hard to beat the native experience (volume/brightness controls etc)

It's overpriced for sure, but unlike the iMac this is something you will be able to hang onto for a decade and subsequent Mac upgrades.

 

[aibo]

I migrated from a 2017 5k iMac 27" to an M2 Pro Mini + Studio Display. It's the closest thing we'll have to a new 27" iMac since "it just works". Plug it in and you're good to go. If you go another monitor route, then you'll have to add speakers, a webcam, and deal with the weird resolution issues that other Mini users are posting about. And your sharpness will drop down from the 5K down to 4K. There really isn't another 5K monitor out there besides the LG one which is the same panel, less features, and barely cheaper.

 

[thebart]

Samsung now has a 5k thunderbolt display with a 4k web cam. Aluminum stand. Clearly aimed at the studio display

Edit: pricing not known yet but it's probably going to be cheaper

 

[foo2]

Samsung now has a 5k thunderbolt display with a 4k web cam at nearly half the price. Aluminum stand. Clearly aimed at the studio display

Where do you see the price? My understanding is it's not even close to being available yet.

 

[thebart]

Where do you see the price? My understanding is it's not even close to being available yet.

Sorry confused it with something else. I've edited my post

 

[foo2]

I can't imagine why he thinks that competes with the XDR. It's clearly just competition for the plain 5k ASD.

Clickbait.

 

[Jwinnin]

Studio Display will give you the iMac experience obviously, I bought two and I love them. I use one for Zoom every day. Hard to beat the native experience (volume/brightness controls etc)

It's overpriced for sure, but unlike the iMac this is something you will be able to hang onto for a decade and subsequent Mac upgrades.

Just in case you decide on a non-apple monitor, this handy little app will allow you to control brightness using the standard apple keyboard buttons:

GitHub - MonitorControl/MonitorControl: 🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs.

🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs. - MonitorControl/Moni...

github.com

It works great for my dual-monitor setup.

 

[fisherking]

Just in case you decide on a non-apple monitor, this handy little app will allow you to control brightness using the standard apple keyboard buttons:

GitHub - MonitorControl/MonitorControl: 🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs.

🖥 Control your display's brightness & volume on your Mac as if it was a native Apple Display. Use Apple Keyboard keys or custom shortcuts. Shows the native macOS OSDs. - MonitorControl/Moni...

github.com

It works great for my dual-monitor setup.

great find! thanks for that (works with my satechi keyboard and dell monitor) 👍

 

[Heat_Fan89]

great find! thanks for that (works with my satechi keyboard and dell monitor) 👍

How do you like the Satechi keyboard vs the Magic Keyboard?

Does it support Touch ID?
Is it made from aluminum?
Does it have a backlight?
Do they make anything as good as the Magic TrackPad?

 

[fisherking]

How do you like the Satechi keyboard vs the Magic Keyboard?

Does it support Touch ID?
Is it made from aluminum?
Does it have a backlight?
Do they make anything as good as the Magic TrackPad?

only apple keyboards support touch ID... and you can check out the keyboards here

for me, these things matter: a backlight, a mac-centric layout. my satechi 'slim X1' has both.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

only apple keyboards support touch ID... and you can check out the keyboards here

for me, these things matter: a backlight, a mac-centric layout. my satechi 'slim X1' has both.

Gotcha, and the only thing that makes a difference is a backlight. I already have a Gen 1 (removable batteries) Magic Keyboard and TrackPad. I wish Apple designed their keyboards with a backlight, especially now that they can use a lightning cable.

 

[fisherking]

Gotcha, and the only thing that makes a difference is a backlight. I already have a Gen 1 (removable batteries) Magic Keyboard and TrackPad. I wish Apple designed their keyboards with a backlight, especially now that they can use a lightning cable.

i've been waiting centuries (give or take) for apple to give us a macbook-like backlit keyboard, and don't understand why they haven't done that. i value the backlight on the satechi, and really, the mac layout of the keyboard makes it easy to go back & forth between my air and my mini: same basic layout, and... light 👍

 

[tstafford]

i've been waiting centuries (give or take) for apple to give us a macbook-like backlit keyboard, and don't understand why they haven't done that. i value the backlight on the satechi, and really, the mac layout of the keyboard makes it easy to go back & forth between my air and my mini: same basic layout, and... light 👍

Yep. If one wants Touch ID - no backlight. Backlight - no Touch ID. So annoying. Come on Apple!

 

[fisherking]

Yep. If one wants Touch ID - no backlight. Backlight - no Touch ID. So annoying. Come on Apple!

i love touch id on my macbook, don't miss it on the mini (but to be fair, i live on the macbook, and only use the mini for logic pro and FCP). still, yes... tradeoffs 😔

 

[tstafford]

i love touch id on my macbook, don't miss it on the mini (but to be fair, i live on the macbook, and only use the mini for logic pro and FCP). still, yes... tradeoffs 😔

I'm mostly on my Studio and miss it. But the tradeoff led me to give up and try mechanical keyboard so now I guess I'm off T-ID forever except on my laptops.