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Samsung's ViewFinity S9 5K Display Launches in the U.S.
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I'm sure Samsung threw a lot of market analysis to end up at this price but it still seems like a miss to not undercut Apple's price, even by like $100?
It doesn't suck because it's a bad product, it sucks because it's the same as an 8 year old display (the one that debuted in the 2014 5K iMac). It sucks because many of use waited for years for a successor to that display after Apple refused (for years) to release it as a stand-alone monitor with their casing and design. It sucks because of the message it sends: that Apple can release an ancient product with their logo and improve nothing in exchange for pricing not much lower than the entire computer that contained said display and much higher than other competing products. No one wants to pay that sort of a price for something so outdated, just because it's unique.
The Studio Display is nice and desirable, but remember: there's no such thing as bad products, only bad prices.
The color calibration is such a big deal. Apples calibration is always so much better out of the box than their competitors.
Dell displays in particular look lousy out of the box. And even if you try to calibrate them they just never look as good.
I think you have missed the thousands upon thousands of 5K vs 4K on OSX discussions across all the internet. Dell also sells $900 4K displays.
Its not the same "5K" as either the S9 or the ASD. but with my workflow, I found the width totally useless. IF I was in video, prob excellent for timelines. but Im not. 3 27", 5K middle + 2 4K.
Why would anyone expect any corporation to freely give away an opportunity to make more money?
Samsung, Dell, NVidia, et. al. envy Apple's ability to charge premiums and make money! They're attempting to build ecosystems so they can engage in similar activities.
The price of the Samsung monitor will go down only if market forces pressure them to reduce costs.
I remember when a good monitor became affordable. Or at least reasonable. This still seem too high. I don't argue the price professionally, but when compared to where monitors were 15 years ago on price, I don't think the tech has increased in price so much as they realized what the market was willing to pay.
After using an iMac for my graphic design work for many years I can't go back to a 4k 27" or 32" screen. Would love to have the 32" 6k XDR but can't afford that beast. For photography/film work, I agree with you!
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Yes, it's 5120 x 2160 instead of 5120 x 2880. However, my 20:20 eyes- long-term accustomed to Apple 5K in iMacs- see no difference at all in the quality of the image: there's just more of it. Are there technical differences? Yes. If we get wound up enough about the technical differences, we narrow our pool of choices to as little as a single choice. That's a very popular game around here.
However, the very best test- IMO- is the eyeballs test: hook a Mac to a screen and have a look. If it looks great to the beholder, it is great. Those able to criticize because of <reason(s)> won't be looking at the monitor in day-to-day use. All that really matters is if the buyer is pleased with the purchase. If so, that's the right monitor for buyer.
Your setup looks great. If it makes you happy, that's an ideal setup for you. Congratulations on getting it right for your needs.
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I will be interested to see where this display finally prices out on sale, but if you're using it with a Mac the integration alone make the ASD the better choice for me. Sure it's not for everyone.
I just can't understand these comments about it being mediocre. Sure, I'm no graphics pro but the ASD sits alongside my 14" MacBook Pro and looks comparable in most normal situations. I'm sure there are better displays available, but I got tired of buying returning 4K panels with better color and HDR specs that just don't look as good as the ASD.
I stand corrected then on the tech. What I meant to say was that the TB4 and HDMI 2.0 on my current MacBook Pro (14" 2021 M1 Pro) can't drive 5K at higher than 60hz. At the time the ASD came out, I don't think there were many Macs that could use a 5K panel beyond 60hz.
Screen is on a "release" sale here for $1050. Was close to buy it, but after testing it in the store I think I wouldn't be happy with the look of nano screen.
I think we're mostly in agreement. I did think it was overpriced, however, now that Samsung has entered the space at the SAME price, I am re-evaluating it. I think it is too expensive, but I do think it represents a tremendous value for those who are willing/able to swallow the asking price. For me personally, as something that I stare at 8-10 hours day, I think it's money well spent.
As for it being old tech, well, perhaps that is fair but no-one has entered the space with something better. It's not just Apple. I don't think the economics of a 5K display with higher specs. are feasible because they would have to price it even higher, and we all already balked at the cost of the ASD when it was released. The truth is that 5K displays are manufactured at the same scale as 4K, so the price has never come down.
Thank you yes. I've bought and returned several 4K monitors because no matter how many hours of futzing, tweaking, calibration that I did, I could not get them to look right next to my MBP. The closest I got was Sony's excellent 27” INZONE M9 4K HDR Monitor which was really close.
ASD was perfect right out of the box.
Ah, I see. Thank you for the clarification. The term I have seen before is VESA arm (named based on the mounting standard).
I stand corrected. That said I'm not sure any of the current MacBook Pros can do this:
From: https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/
M2 Max
- Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:
- Up to four external displays: Up to three external displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI
- Up to three external displays: Up to two external displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or one external display with 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI
That PPI is not quite half way between normal and Retina. What resolution/scaling do you use with MacOS?
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
Sometimes full 5120 x 2160 to really max out that width. FCPX doesn't care that user interface elements get smaller. Often at 3840 X 1620 HiDPI for general purposes. Everything looks "right" while still delivering 21:9 vs. whatever the old iMac was (16:10? I don't even recall.)
DOA. People will always buy the Apple Studio display as long as another display isn’t significantly cheaper. I bet most people won’t even look at any other display with the same price.
sure because I know that an apple monitor will be perfectly integrated with my mac and I won't have any problems and above all I won't have a design that is a copy of another product.
In this case what do we have?
A samsung display that is a copy of a studio display, but made worse:
The bezel does not have the same dimensions and they had to insert an external webcam that is very reminiscent of an apple isight that was on the market about twenty years ago.
No thank you.
imho
In this case what do we have?
A samsung display that is a copy of a studio display, but made worse:
The bezel does not have the same dimensions and they had to insert an external webcam that is very reminiscent of an apple isight that was on the market about twenty years ago.
No thank you.
imho
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I hooked my Studio Display to my PC which runs Windows, using a DisplayPort <-> USB-C 8k cable and it works perfectly for me. So I am not really sure what you are talking about, perhaps the problem in this situation is the lack of technical knowledge from the user and not the product itself.
I picked one of these up a month ago here in Australia (I thought I was placing a pre-order). At the time it was $200 cheaper than an Apple Studio display, but that is of course actually $800 cheaper than the Apple Studio display when you get the stand from Apple that's equivalent to the Samsung's in terms of functionality. (All dollar amounts are Australian dollars.)
I thought about 32" but there's no way I'd be happy with 4k (I was unhappy with 4k at 27" — I had come to 27" after my 4k 24" Dell monitor died so the pixel density was noticeable). And I prefer two screens to one, so the cost of 2 × 32" 6k displays was going to be pushing things a tad too far!
Overall I'm happy. What I don't like is all of the "smart" features that I don't use, but that make the displays quite slow to wake up with occasional glitches where the Mac won't recognise them correctly. But really, it's not the material they're made out of that you worry about when sitting in front of a monitor all day, it's the bit you look — the lighting, the pixels, etc. Yes, Apple's display is a better build quality, but it does come with a price.
I thought about 32" but there's no way I'd be happy with 4k (I was unhappy with 4k at 27" — I had come to 27" after my 4k 24" Dell monitor died so the pixel density was noticeable). And I prefer two screens to one, so the cost of 2 × 32" 6k displays was going to be pushing things a tad too far!
Overall I'm happy. What I don't like is all of the "smart" features that I don't use, but that make the displays quite slow to wake up with occasional glitches where the Mac won't recognise them correctly. But really, it's not the material they're made out of that you worry about when sitting in front of a monitor all day, it's the bit you look — the lighting, the pixels, etc. Yes, Apple's display is a better build quality, but it does come with a price.
Sure it works but it's not really optimal. Unless something's changed, I don't think you can control brightness from a PC. Also there's only one input so if you want to switch between a Mac and Windows PC often, you've gotta reach behind and switch the input.