Monitor Choice to Complement a new 27" iMac

[iwaddo]

I am considering a replacement for my Late 2012 27" iMac for no other reason than keeping current. It runs as fast as the day I bought it 7-years ago.

I currently pair my iMac with a 27" Dell U2711 Monitor which I bought second-hand as it matches the resolution of my iMac. Windows do not change size when dragging from one screen to the other. Have two 27" monitors is great for general use and also for Lightroom and Photoshop, albeit perhaps a little greedy.

If I buy a new 5k 27" iMac I'd like to also replace my monitor but I am trying to find one that can match the resolution and have a multiple inputs so I can also share the monitor with other devices. For example, whilst working at home I connect my work supplied surface pro to the dell.

The LG 27MD5KL seemed an obvious choice but the single input seems limiting and I am not particularly interest in swapping cables all the time though I guess I could. The price is a factor as well, it does seem expensive.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

Thank you for your help.

 

[frou]

There are so few 27" 5120x2880 monitors in existence that the Wikipedia article actually has a full list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5K_resolution#Monitors

This is kinda the "curse" of Retina Macs. Once you get used to wonderful ~220 DPI, it makes all other monitor buying decisions difficult.

 

[Juicy Box]

I have the Late 2012 iMac with the i7 and 680MX, and am surprised at how well it still runs and how fast it is compared to newer Macs. I thought I would have replaced it by now, but considering how well it runs, I cannot justify spending $$$$ on a new iMac at the moment.

While I am used to opening up Macs to upgrade them, I haven't really had to with my Late 2012.

I have since upgraded the boot drive to an external TB3 NVMe drive, which is probably the fastest option for it other than getting into striping RAIDs.

I was thinking of opening up the iMac, replacing the blade SSD with a larger size and replacing the HDD with a SSD and do a SW RAID0 with both of them. Also do a good cleaning and replacing the thermal paste while it was opened.

Any thoughts greatly appreciated.

I don't have the answer that you are looking for, but something else for you to consider, you can use your Late 2012 iMac with a new iMac in Target Display Mode. It won't be the resolution you are looking for, but the display on the Late 2012 iMac is still great, and you would have a matching set of displays.

 

[iwaddo]

There are so few 27" 5120x2880 monitors in existence that the Wikipedia article actually has a full list: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5K_resolution#Monitors

This is kinda the "curse" of Retina Macs. Once you get used to wonderful ~220 DPI, it makes all other monitor buying decisions difficult.

Thank you I will take a look, there really seems to be a limited choice.

Thank you for your help.

 

[iwaddo]

I have the Late 2012 iMac with the i7 and 680MX, and am surprised at how well it still runs and how fast it is compared to newer Macs. I thought I would have replaced it by now, but considering how well it runs, I cannot justify spending $$$$ on a new iMac at the moment.

While I am used to opening up Macs to upgrade them, I haven't really had to with my Late 2012.

I have since upgraded the boot drive to an external TB3 NVMe drive, which is probably the fastest option for it other than getting into striping RAIDs.

I was thinking of opening up the iMac, replacing the blade SSD with a larger size and replacing the HDD with a SSD and do a SW RAID0 with both of them. Also do a good cleaning and replacing the thermal paste while it was opened.


I don't have the answer that you are looking for, but something else for you to consider, you can use your Late 2012 iMac with a new iMac in Target Display Mode. It won't be the resolution you are looking for, but the display on the Late 2012 iMac is still great, and you would have a matching set of displays.

Using my old iMac is a great idea, at least until I decide to commit to a new monitor. Not only will they match I also have the second iMac should I ever need it. I'm now thinking whether I could share the huge 3.1Tb it has as well.

Thank you for your help.

 

[McGiord]

I have a late 2015 5K 27" iMac and now I'm looking to the external companion, actually thinking of having 2 one on each side and maybe put them on Portrait (vertical) orientation. Haven't pick anything yet, just starting to browse. I think maybe going down to 4K may be the way to go for budget reasons. How are you planning to have it next to it? just on the desk or are you thinking on an arm/mount ?

 

[iwaddo]

My current 27" Dell U2711 sits alongside my iMac and whilst the devices are of different styles they are almost identical in physical size so work nicely together. I can adjust the Dell screen to be the same height as my iMac so the cursor moves seamlessly left and right and of course being of exactly the same resolution things do not change size when moved from screen to screen.