Show us your Mac Studio setup!

[dborja]

sure, the Dell P2212H and the AOC I think is an E2775SJ (though MacOS only reports it as 2775. The AOC was dirt cheep (around £90 on Amazon three years ago), the Dell came with a PC at work, got scratched (ever so slightly) by a staff member and I took it out of the skip. I don't care about colour reproduction or Retina resolutions. Up until COVID I was using remote control software to access the machine, I didn't want anything over 1080p, it makes remote control more awkward in my eyes (and slower).

I kind of like pixelated text, it brings back fond memories of my ZX81 and ZX Spectrum

PS.They were bought for my final Mac Pro 2010 upgrade, they've just been recycled for use on the Studio, though don't see any reason to upgrade them (though might be tempted by a VESA ASD)

Thank you! I currently have a 2017 5K 27" i7 iMac and I'm considering trading it in for a Studio while it still has a good trade-in value. I figure in 2-3 years it will no longer be compatible with the future MacOS and have far less value.

My concern, if I do upgrade, is losing the Retina display if I go with a non-Studio display. I just can't see myself shelling out $1599+ for a Studio display - I don't do heavy graphics/video and my eyes probably won't see the difference between 4K and 5K (I like your comment about fond memories of pixelated text 😆). I do need a Webcam for Zoom/Teams/Webex though and I use a monitor light bar so I need to look at my options.

 

[eddie_ducking]

my eyes probably won't see the difference between 4K and 5K

While your eyes might not tell (or care about) the differences between 1080p and 4k or 1440p and 5k on a 27" screen, you will immediately notice the reduction in "working area" from 1440p/5k to 1080p/4k, in much the same way that I noticed (and to some extent still miss) the reduction from the 1440p (2560x1440) on my old late 2013 pre Retina iMac to my current 1080p (1920x1080). 1440p/5k just allows more information to be displayed compared to 1080p/4k.

Maybe, while you've still got the iMac, get a 4k screen from somewhere with a decent returns policy and use it as a second screen on your iMac. If you're OK with the reduction in working area, keep it and use it with the Studio, if not, return it. Or maybe get a £300+ or so 1440p monitor (Philips do one for £400 with an integrated webcam) and again, use it as a second iMac screen, assess it and send it back if it's not for you. At least at the end of it, you'll know whether or not the ASD is the one for you. At least your point of reference (the iMac 5k) is close to that of the ASD.

 

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Lol why does this superdrive actually match it so well?

 

[ideal.dreams]

Upgraded to a Mac Studio this week after over a decade of MacBook Pros. It’s definitely larger than I thought it would be but I’m loving it so far.

 

[dborja]

While your eyes might not tell (or care about) the differences between 1080p and 4k or 1440p and 5k on a 27" screen, you will immediately notice the reduction in "working area" from 1440p/5k to 1080p/4k, in much the same way that I noticed (and to some extent still miss) the reduction from the 1440p (2560x1440) on my old late 2013 pre Retina iMac to my current 1080p (1920x1080). 1440p/5k just allows more information to be displayed compared to 1080p/4k.

Maybe, while you've still got the iMac, get a 4k screen from somewhere with a decent returns policy and use it as a second screen on your iMac. If you're OK with the reduction in working area, keep it and use it with the Studio, if not, return it. Or maybe get a £300+ or so 1440p monitor (Philips do one for £400 with an integrated webcam) and again, use it as a second iMac screen, assess it and send it back if it's not for you. At least at the end of it, you'll know whether or not the ASD is the one for you. At least your point of reference (the iMac 5k) is close to that of the ASD.

Good points and excellent suggestions! Actually, I was thinking of getting a second display before I started playing with the idea of upgrading to a Studio. Maybe I will get a 4K display and try it out. I just need to clear some desk space next to the iMac. Availability at the Apple stores around me is not for two weeks anyway.

The AIO configuration of the iMacs is so nice. And being 5K to boot. I wish Apple kept the 27" form factor...

 

[dizmonk]

Upgraded to a Mac Studio this week after over a decade of MacBook Pros. It’s definitely larger than I thought it would be but I’m loving it so far.

What's the desk? How big and where did you get it?

 

[ideal.dreams]

What's the desk? How big and where did you get it?

It’s a Jarvis sit/stand desk from Fully.com. Mine is the bamboo contour desktop and it’s 60” long by 30” wide.

 

[sage73]

Lol why does this superdrive actually match it so well?

I was thinking the same

 

[AZhappyjack]

Logi MX Master 3 mouse + Apple Trackpad. Best combo ever!!

View attachment 1986759

Nice... and I have a couple of the Yeti cups for coffee...

A humble but simple setup. I switched out the black keyboard for a white touchID one as I prefer sticking with the white theme. Only further changes I'll make are to get a stand for the display (it's about 5-8 cm too low) and I'm also considering getting another display once they're available at retail Apple stores.

View attachment 1991492

View attachment 1991491

Love the white theme... shame it's spoiled by the black bezel on the ASD. After the M1 iMac, I'm surprised that Apple flipped back to the black bezels so quickly.

 

[mcdreamer]

Good points and excellent suggestions! Actually, I was thinking of getting a second display before I started playing with the idea of upgrading to a Studio. Maybe I will get a 4K display and try it out. I just need to clear some desk space next to the iMac. Availability at the Apple stores around me is not for two weeks anyway.

The AIO configuration of the iMacs is so nice. And being 5K to boot. I wish Apple kept the 27" form factor...

You can also run a 4K display at a scaled setting for a 1440p work area and it will look very, very close to the 5K display you currently have. If I really look I can tell the difference on my 4K LG but in use it's imperceptable. The LG was also only £350 compared to the Studio Display's price tag.

People might warn you of performance issues with the scaled resolutions but I haven't had any at all with my M1 MacBook Pro. In fact, I run an older Intel MacBook on the same display at the 3008x1692 scaling and that also runs perfectly (despite being a bigger stress test). I suspect performance issues were a thing a long way back in the early days of retina displays when the integrated GPUs were much weaker. We're long since past that point with the M1 chips.

 

[marklcfc]

A humble but simple setup. I switched out the black keyboard for a white touchID one as I prefer sticking with the white theme. Only further changes I'll make are to get a stand for the display (it's about 5-8 cm too low) and I'm also considering getting another display once they're available at retail Apple stores.

View attachment 1991492

What is the device right of the monitor?

 

[stillcrazyman]

What is the device right of the monitor?

I have one of those. It’s a WiFi router from Ubiquity Labs called Amplifi HD. I’ve had mine for a few years, rock solid device, no issues.

 

[Jamooche]

Lol why does this superdrive actually match it so well?
View attachment 1992924

Ha! What do you use the CD drive for? Besides old music CDs, I can’t think of any other reason.

 

[jdb8167]

Ha! What do you use the CD drive for? Besides old music CDs, I can’t think of any other reason.

I use mine to rip and compress DVDs. I haven’t used the DVD burner in years.

 

[fcracer]

Nice... and I have a couple of the Yeti cups for coffee...

Love the white theme... shame it's spoiled by the black bezel on the ASD. After the M1 iMac, I'm surprised that Apple flipped back to the black bezels so quickly.

I use the home computer mostly for heavy photo editing and I actually prefer having a pure black or white border for contrast and reference. The iMac 24 seems like a translucent white, so I'm not sure how well it will work to set a reference colour.

I moved the studio over to the left as it was driving me crazy having scratch drives sitting near the centre of the desk and encroaching on the keyboard territory. I prefer this setup more as any drives attached now sit far off to the left and out of the way. The slightly modified setup:

Does anyone know if the Studio Display can be used as a HomePod replacement? I would love to get rid of the HomePod from the office since the Studio Display speakers are good enough for my use.

What is the device right of the monitor?

It's an Amplifi HD Wifi router from Ubiquity Networks's consumer division. It's been one of the best electronics purchases ever; it's rock solid and provides excellent coverage across my concrete walled apartment. It also has a killer feature that makes life in Internet restricted countries much more enjoyable, Teleport. It's a router to router VPN that lets me use the internet from my other home outside of my current country, so I can access all the blocked stuff. It works extremely well, with speeds reaching about ~80% of the bandwidth capacity. I can easily stream 4k Netflix, YouTube, etc. with this setup. Since it's router to router IP, it's unlikely to get blocked (and I don't do anything strange with the connection anyways).

 

[dugbug]

Does anyone know if the Studio Display can be used as a HomePod replacement? I would love to get rid of the HomePod from the office since the Studio Display speakers are good enough for my use.

Love the setup. For sure while you are logged in hey siri on the mac will work like the homepod (with the studio monitor's mics). the question would be what happens when nobody is logged in. I want this capability too but probably need to keep the homepod for this.

 

[dborja]

You can also run a 4K display at a scaled setting for a 1440p work area and it will look very, very close to the 5K display you currently have. If I really look I can tell the difference on my 4K LG but in use it's imperceptable. The LG was also only £350 compared to the Studio Display's price tag.

People might warn you of performance issues with the scaled resolutions but I haven't had any at all with my M1 MacBook Pro. In fact, I run an older Intel MacBook on the same display at the 3008x1692 scaling and that also runs perfectly (despite being a bigger stress test). I suspect performance issues were a thing a long way back in the early days of retina displays when the integrated GPUs were much weaker. We're long since past that point with the M1 chips.

Thanks for the tip! I'll try that.

BTW, which LG model do you have?

 

[AZhappyjack]

It's an Amplifi HD Wifi router from Ubiquity Networks's consumer division. It's been one of the best electronics purchases ever; it's rock solid and provides excellent coverage across my concrete walled apartment. It also has a killer feature that makes life in Internet restricted countries much more enjoyable, Teleport. It's a router to router VPN that lets me use the internet from my other home outside of my current country, so I can access all the blocked stuff. It works extremely well, with speeds reaching about ~80% of the bandwidth capacity. I can easily stream 4k Netflix, YouTube, etc. with this setup. Since it's router to router IP, it's unlikely to get blocked (and I don't do anything strange with the connection anyways).

I, too, have an Amplifi HD wifi router and also find it to be quite solid. It (along with two mesh access points) provides good coverage over our 2400 SF home.

 

[AZhappyjack]

Lol why does this superdrive actually match it so well?
View attachment 1992924

Does the superdrive actually work with the M1 chip? I though that I'd read somewhere that it didn't.

 

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Does the superdrive actually work with the M1 chip? I though that I'd read somewhere that it didn't.

Works perfectly. Even listed as comparable on Apple Site:
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MD564LL/A/apple-usb-superdrive

 

[Severed_hand_of_skywalker]

Ha! What do you use the CD drive for? Besides old music CDs, I can’t think of any other reason.

Oh god like nothing. I just had it laying around so I thought I would try it. I used to have a ton of backup's of work on Disk but I just transferred it all to my RAID years ago.

 

[jdb8167]

Does the superdrive actually work with the M1 chip? I though that I'd read somewhere that it didn't.

Usually when people think it doesn’t work is because they use an adapter or dock that can’t supply enough power. There is something odd about the SuperDrive where the USB protocol doesn’t ask for a enough power or something. But plug it into the actual USB-C port with a pass through USB-A to C adapter and it works perfectly.

 

[dizmonk]

It’s a Jarvis sit/stand desk from Fully.com. Mine is the bamboo contour desktop and it’s 60” long by 30” wide.

How is it when you are sitting? Is it wobbly or solid? Is that an add-on that the Mac Studio is sitting on?

 

[Fallinangel]

View attachment 1992663

Nice setup! I'd be very, very interested to know how Rhino is running on your Mac Studio!

 

[lcubed]

Usually when people think it doesn’t work is because they use an adapter or dock that can’t supply enough power. There is something odd about the SuperDrive where the USB protocol doesn’t ask for a enough power or something. But plug it into the actual USB-C port with a pass through USB-A to C adapter and it works perfectly.

the superdrive works fine when attached to the USB-A on my mac studio. the unbalanced CD i tested totally drowned out any fan/power supply noises when it spun up!