I’m in this same situation. I have a client who uses 27” iMacs for video production with 2 external displays. The iMac was always great because we could depend on the accuracy of the built in display, but can’t connect 2 externals to the 24” without display link, so I’ll have to go with the Mac studio. Just worried the main display will render color goofy.
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Monitor for Mac Studio
- Thread starter jiminoz
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Got my Mac Studio setup with a pair of LG 32UN880-B and during installation all was good until the update to macOS 12.3.1. After the update was downloaded, restarted and lost picture on both monitors. The only way to get picture back was with USB-C To Display Port cable or HDMI. USB-C to USB-C has glitches during any macOS update. Then after switching cables, rebooting and I don't remember what other things, got the displays back to work with USB-C to USB-C. Looks like I'm going to get another USB-C to DisplayPort cable as it's the only way the displays work properly. Please report back if you guys are having the same issues.
That doesn’t sound good. I have had same monitor, but not upgraded yet. Need usbc to work, as I use both pass through USB ports on the monitor.
I just got Mac Studio (the basic version), haven't set it up yet. I'm getting the LG 38WN95C-W for it because I really need the horizontal space to work with multiple documents. I'm far from an expert, so I'm wondering if I've made the right choice. Any negatives anyone has heard?
I had the new Apple display but returned it. It was a good monitor but I needed x2 and foolishly only ordered one and the wait for another was just too long. If I had two, I would have kept them.
I also looked in x2 Pro XDR's and got very close to ordering them but the wait and price ruled them out as they are a few years old now and didn't want to sink that amount of cash into when something newer could be coming later in year.
So I ended buying x2 28" Huawei Mateviews which I got next day and so far, I'm happy with them.
Quality of picture is good and crisp and I really look the taller resolution after working on a single Samsung G9 49" ultrawide (on PC).and the bezels are really thin. Build quality seems decent too. Lack of webcam doesn't bother me as I would never use it anyway.
Using my Mac compared to PC though, the biggest issue I have by far with MAC is the displays and how they are set up when using more than one.
With the Mateviews, MAC OS just seems unable to remember how the screens are set up and often after they sleep, restart or even turning them on and off, the screens get mixed up and resolutions change for no reason.
For example, yesterday and today I thought my new Mac Studio was laggy (and was even on the verge of returning that too) as the mouse pointer wasn't moving very smooth so checked display settings and all seemed good and at 60hz so installed SwitchResX.
SwitchResX shows I was running at just 30hz yet MAC OS display still said 60hz?? Why does mac os does this?
I also looked in x2 Pro XDR's and got very close to ordering them but the wait and price ruled them out as they are a few years old now and didn't want to sink that amount of cash into when something newer could be coming later in year.
So I ended buying x2 28" Huawei Mateviews which I got next day and so far, I'm happy with them.
Quality of picture is good and crisp and I really look the taller resolution after working on a single Samsung G9 49" ultrawide (on PC).and the bezels are really thin. Build quality seems decent too. Lack of webcam doesn't bother me as I would never use it anyway.
Using my Mac compared to PC though, the biggest issue I have by far with MAC is the displays and how they are set up when using more than one.
With the Mateviews, MAC OS just seems unable to remember how the screens are set up and often after they sleep, restart or even turning them on and off, the screens get mixed up and resolutions change for no reason.
For example, yesterday and today I thought my new Mac Studio was laggy (and was even on the verge of returning that too) as the mouse pointer wasn't moving very smooth so checked display settings and all seemed good and at 60hz so installed SwitchResX.
SwitchResX shows I was running at just 30hz yet MAC OS display still said 60hz?? Why does mac os does this?
Of course it is but the price is not the best.
The Pro Display XDR is cool if you have a lot of money to burn. I have considered it, too. But in the end I figured spending 5K ex taxes is ridiculous. Yes, I love the high ppi and the glossy display. But it’s not worth that much of money to me. I am by no means a designer. I am a copywriter and also mostly work in Terminal. Or make apps in Xcode. So performance of the Mac Studio is important.
I have the AOC U32U1 and after the latest macOS update my fonts were blurry. After installing SwitchResX and changing the resolution a few times, everything is ok again now.
One of the Tech/Apple reviewers I follow, Jerry Schulze, just released a direct comparison between the ASD and another new, 4K monitor, that is quite enlightening:
He shows side-by-side comparisons between the 5K and the 4K text, which was very helpful to me. It also surprised me how much better some things look by lowering resolution so it's within integer scaling for the Mac (ie 1080 vs 1440 ppi). It looks like this particular monitor has availability/service issues, and the brights looked badly washed out next to the ASD, but there are other 4K displays out there without those issues (I'm still eyeing a couple BenQs and the ASUS...).
My Mac Studio arrives tomorrow, while the ASD I ordered won't arrive until mid-May. I did look at the ASD at my local BestBuy, and I thought it did look better than the 4K displays they had running, although they were halfway across the store and not side-by-side as in Jerry's video. Still some time to think about it.
He shows side-by-side comparisons between the 5K and the 4K text, which was very helpful to me. It also surprised me how much better some things look by lowering resolution so it's within integer scaling for the Mac (ie 1080 vs 1440 ppi). It looks like this particular monitor has availability/service issues, and the brights looked badly washed out next to the ASD, but there are other 4K displays out there without those issues (I'm still eyeing a couple BenQs and the ASUS...).
My Mac Studio arrives tomorrow, while the ASD I ordered won't arrive until mid-May. I did look at the ASD at my local BestBuy, and I thought it did look better than the 4K displays they had running, although they were halfway across the store and not side-by-side as in Jerry's video. Still some time to think about it.
Best thing you can do is get both and compare them side by side. In my experience, if you are used to a 5K Retina display, there is no way you can work with a 4K display. Personally, I was running my 2017 iMac 5K together with a LG 32UN880-B Ultrafine as a secondary display and I found it really good to the point that when I decided to get the Mac Studio I purchased a second LG 32UN880-B. The Mac Studio came in last week, setup both 32” 4K displays, sold the iMac and now that the iMac is gone, I found that LG display was good only because it wasn’t my main monitor. So long story short, I placed an order for a pair of ASD VESA mount and the new LG is going back to Costco. The old one to my bedroom. I just can’t get used to a non-retina display, period!!
Thanks for the confirmation; I've been using a 2014 iMac/Retina up until now, wasn't sure about "downgrading"...
Not sure I agree. I had Imacs for the last decade. I just upgraded to the Mac Studio and picked up a Dell 4k Curved monitor. Is there a difference/downgrade? Sure? Is it dramatic? Not really. The decrease is definitely not worth the price of a Studio Display... $425 vs $1600??? I don't think so.
I'm looking very forward to getting my Studio Display but I'm using a cheap LG 24" that I'm sure is not even 4K and it is not exactly crippling or anything. Very efficiently and effectively getting stuff done in Logic here and watching videos is "fine."
I have I believe the predecessor to that monitor the 34". Mine is flat not curved. Had a curved Dell prior but the Dell was 1440p and the LG is 5120x2160 5K2K. I believe that the 38" you listed is the same resolution as my 34" so ultimately you get more real estate but not really because of lower PPI. You likely cannot run it at full resolution without scaling unless you have crazy vision because everything is too small so it will scale to 1440p but look crisper than a corresponding 1440p 21:9 screen.
EDIT: my mistake. The one you mentioned is a 1600p (haven't heard of that size before) not a true 4k horizontal resolution monitor. The LG 40WP95C-W is the successor to mine, 5k2K 40" at 5120x2160 and curved too. Price delta is $200 on LG's site between the two but you may be getting the 38 for a better deal than you could get the 40.
Looks like that 40 is $1800 and the 38 can be found for $1400 making it $400 less.
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Just got the LG 38WN95C-W (3840 x 1600) ultrawide. Happy with it so far. The quality is not the same as Mac's retina display, but I knew that going in and chose this for the horizontal real estate, as I often need to work with three documents open.
The one problem I have is that it doesn't seem to see the thunderbolt connection to my Mac Studio desktop. I set it up with HDMI and it's okay, but one reason I got it was the thunderbolt option. Any idea what the problem can be?
The one problem I have is that it doesn't seem to see the thunderbolt connection to my Mac Studio desktop. I set it up with HDMI and it's okay, but one reason I got it was the thunderbolt option. Any idea what the problem can be?
I ended up going with the LG 32BN88U, and I am pleasantly surprised that it takes up a lot less space on the desk than the 32" 1440p Benq monitor it replaces.
Nice to reclaim some desk space.
Will be even nicer to swap all the cables running over the desk for a single 10' thunderbolt 4 cable when Apple fixes the USBC connection issues and hub problems.
For now it is working fine with the 4 year old thunderbolt to Displayport cable from the Benq monitor.
Nice to reclaim some desk space.
Will be even nicer to swap all the cables running over the desk for a single 10' thunderbolt 4 cable when Apple fixes the USBC connection issues and hub problems.
For now it is working fine with the 4 year old thunderbolt to Displayport cable from the Benq monitor.
I have been through a lot of different monitors until I was able to figure out what worked for me. With aging eyes and some issues with light sensitivity I was having a really difficult time trying to find the right monitors to choose.
I started out with 4K monitors from 27" and bigger - thinking that the bigger display sizes would be better. Since I run dual displays - the bigger I went the more I was being blasted with light and the worse the text crispness became.
I had just about given up when I decided to try a LG 24" 4K display. Once I played with it, I immediately passed my other LG 27" on to my daughter and picked up a second LG 24". I have them mounted on dual monitor arms and set to default scaling (looks like 1920 x 1080), which gives me total screen real estate between the two monitors of 3840 x 1080. Since the scaling is exactly 2 to 1, the picture is crisp and clear coming in at around 185 pixels per inch.
Until I realized that going with default scaling really does look the best, I kept trying to go with larger 4k monitors. Default scaling on a 27" 4k display just looks too big.
For me, the best screen size for a 4K displays is somewhere between 21" and 24". Since my eyes get tired looking at smaller text for extended lengths of time, the 24" works well for me, even if it does lower the resolution to 185 ppi. Text size is right around 92 pixels per inch, which I can look at all day long.
For screen sizes 27" and larger, I really do think that 5K displays are really the right way to go, which will give you an effective resolution of 2560 x 1440 with default scaling. A 5K 32" display, with default scaling, will give the same text size as a 24" 4K display.
Unfortunately, 24" and smaller 4K displays are tough to find and there are not many choices. The LG model I decided to go with was the LG 24UD58, which can be found from $250 to $300. For two displays and a dual arm VESA monitor arm mount, total cost is less than $700. If you read the reviews, there are many happy Mac users.
I started out with 4K monitors from 27" and bigger - thinking that the bigger display sizes would be better. Since I run dual displays - the bigger I went the more I was being blasted with light and the worse the text crispness became.
I had just about given up when I decided to try a LG 24" 4K display. Once I played with it, I immediately passed my other LG 27" on to my daughter and picked up a second LG 24". I have them mounted on dual monitor arms and set to default scaling (looks like 1920 x 1080), which gives me total screen real estate between the two monitors of 3840 x 1080. Since the scaling is exactly 2 to 1, the picture is crisp and clear coming in at around 185 pixels per inch.
Until I realized that going with default scaling really does look the best, I kept trying to go with larger 4k monitors. Default scaling on a 27" 4k display just looks too big.
For me, the best screen size for a 4K displays is somewhere between 21" and 24". Since my eyes get tired looking at smaller text for extended lengths of time, the 24" works well for me, even if it does lower the resolution to 185 ppi. Text size is right around 92 pixels per inch, which I can look at all day long.
For screen sizes 27" and larger, I really do think that 5K displays are really the right way to go, which will give you an effective resolution of 2560 x 1440 with default scaling. A 5K 32" display, with default scaling, will give the same text size as a 24" 4K display.
Unfortunately, 24" and smaller 4K displays are tough to find and there are not many choices. The LG model I decided to go with was the LG 24UD58, which can be found from $250 to $300. For two displays and a dual arm VESA monitor arm mount, total cost is less than $700. If you read the reviews, there are many happy Mac users.
LG 24UD58-B Monitor 24" 4K Ultrafine (3840 x 2160) IPS Display, FreeSync, On-Screen Control, Screen Split 2.0, Game Mode, Black Stabilizer - Black
Seeing is believing with the LG 24UD58 4k UHD monitor. Whether your playing games, watching movies, or just reading from your screen, the 4k UHD display provides stunning images at four times the resolution of standard full HD. The 24UD58 works hard, but plays hard too. With a host of gamer frien...
www.amazon.com
Count me in the category of a happy 24UD58-B user. I wanted a HiDPI monitor for my M1 MacBook Air that was close to Retina but I didn't want to pay the price for one of the LG Ultrafine 4K 24" or 5K 27" displays. The 24" LG 24UD58-B seemed like a good compromise.I have been through a lot of different monitors until I was able to figure out what worked for me. With aging eyes and some issues with light sensitivity I was having a really difficult time trying to find the right monitors to choose.
I started out with 4K monitors from 27" and bigger - thinking that the bigger display sizes would be better. Since I run dual displays - the bigger I went the more I was being blasted with light and the worse the text crispness became.
I had just about given up when I decided to try a LG 24" 4K display. Once I played with it, I immediately passed my other LG 27" on to my daughter and picked up a second LG 24". I have them mounted on dual monitor arms and set to default scaling (looks like 1920 x 1080), which gives me total screen real estate between the two monitors of 3840 x 1080. Since the scaling is exactly 2 to 1, the picture is crisp and clear coming in at around 185 pixels per inch.
Until I realized that going with default scaling really does look the best, I kept trying to go with larger 4k monitors. Default scaling on a 27" 4k display just looks too big.
For me, the best screen size for a 4K displays is somewhere between 21" and 24". Since my eyes get tired looking at smaller text for extended lengths of time, the 24" works well for me, even if it does lower the resolution to 185 ppi. Text size is right around 92 pixels per inch, which I can look at all day long.
For screen sizes 27" and larger, I really do think that 5K displays are really the right way to go, which will give you an effective resolution of 2560 x 1440 with default scaling. A 5K 32" display, with default scaling, will give the same text size as a 24" 4K display.
Unfortunately, 24" and smaller 4K displays are tough to find and there are not many choices. The LG model I decided to go with was the LG 24UD58, which can be found from $250 to $300. For two displays and a dual arm VESA monitor arm mount, total cost is less than $700. If you read the reviews, there are many happy Mac users.
LG 24UD58-B Monitor 24" 4K Ultrafine (3840 x 2160) IPS Display, FreeSync, On-Screen Control, Screen Split 2.0, Game Mode, Black Stabilizer - Black
Seeing is believing with the LG 24UD58 4k UHD monitor. Whether your playing games, watching movies, or just reading from your screen, the 4k UHD display provides stunning images at four times the resolution of standard full HD. The 24UD58 works hard, but plays hard too. With a host of gamer frien...www.amazon.com
Out of the box it has a couple of problems. The monitor stand is atrocious but a cheap monoprice VESA arm fixed that. The display settings are not good out of the box but changing the brightness, contrast, and sharpness seems to make a lot of difference. The presets for different game modes are ridiculous but a custom color mode that is close to Cinema mode preset seems to be appropriate. I mostly use 2304x1296 scaling when working but if I'm just reading then 1920x1080 is preferable.
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I'm currently using an old Dell U2515H monitor, and have recently bought a Mac Studio. I'm a wedding photographer, and I'm considering if I should get a Dell U2720Q or Asus ProArt PA279CV. Will an upgrade be justified?
I recently had the PA279CV for a few days and was happily surprised how similar the colors were straight out of the box to those of the iMac I was replacing. So if you don’t mind the non-retina text, you’ll probably be happy with that one. I, however, returned it and replaced it with the Studio Display.
I’ve thought about ordering an Eve Spectrum but the nightmares I’ve heard about actually getting them to ship one has me less than enthused.
How come? If this is my current monitor, is it not good enough? https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07Y3RYLVH/
I went from a 27" 5K iMac to a base Mac Studio, and got a Dell U2720Q (27" 4K) to tide me over for a while. I'm running it in "looks like 1440" scaling and it's honestly pretty good. Obviously no performance impact considering how Beef even the base Studio is. Text is a bit fuzzier than it was on the 5K but not egregiously so (and I have better than 20/20 vision so it's not like I couldn't perceive a difference.)
If you're coming from a 5K display I think giving a 4K display a shot is worth it, especially considering you can't go buy a Studio Display today if you wanted to.
I'm fine using this until Apple comes out with the new XDR display, or something in between the current Studio and XDR, with miniLED and ProMotion. I can't bring myself to drop that much money on the same screen I had in my iMac.
If you're coming from a 5K display I think giving a 4K display a shot is worth it, especially considering you can't go buy a Studio Display today if you wanted to.
I'm fine using this until Apple comes out with the new XDR display, or something in between the current Studio and XDR, with miniLED and ProMotion. I can't bring myself to drop that much money on the same screen I had in my iMac.