What monitor is everyone using with the Mac Studio (can't afford the Apple monitors)?

[EugW]

No, a 4k image on a 32" screen not going to be as sharp as a 5k image on a 27" screen. Scaling or not.

Even in unscaled mode, pixels on a 4k 32" screen will be more noticeable and any artefacts you get from using 'scaled mode' will be more obvious. That said, your alternative is - if you want 32" plus iMac sharpness - to save up $5000 for a Pro Display XDR.

Its only a 'rule of thumb' but the 'retina' distances are about 16" for a 5k iMac, 21" for a 27" 4l display and 25" for a 32" 4k (http://tools.rodrigopolo.com/display_calc/) - that's how far away your eyes have to be from the display before a person with typical vision will be unable to make out pixels (or notice scaling artefacts). So it comes down to why you want a 32" screen - if you're going to view it from further away than you would a smaller display it will probably be fine, but if you want to have it close up to fill more of your field of view you won't get that retina 'sharpness'.

...but as @Killerbob said, on a 32" display you'd probably be fine with 1:1 4k mode and nor have to bother with scaling (...and if your eyeballs aren't up to that you probably won't notice the effects of scaling so much).

Here's my experience.

1440p 32" screen (92 ppi) - Text too pixelated.
4K 32" screen (137 ppi) - Text blurry when scaled.
4K 27" screen (164 ppi) - Text very good, but not perfect when scaled
5K 27" screen (218 ppi) - Text excellent, even when scaled

I sit at roughly 19-25 inches from the screen.

2017 iMac 5K 27" IPS (218 ppi) - I run at the native 2X scaled 2560x1440 setting. Text is just a touch too small for my tastes. I would prefer to run at 2304x1296, but macOS doesn't offer that option. I haven't bothered to install SwitchResX. Colours look good to my eye but I haven't calibrated it and I don't do colour critical work, just occasional Photos stuff with only rare prints.

Asus ProArt PA328CGV 32" 1440p IPS (92 ppi) - Too low pixel density. Text looks pixelated at normal seating distances. Colours looked good to my eye but it had significant IPS glow and mild backlight bleed. Design aesthetics poor, very utilitarian, but it is height adjustable and swivels. Works fine over USB-C with no sleep issues. It supports up to 165 Hz, but I didn't see any difference between 120 Hz and 165 Hz for OS navigation so I ran at 120 Hz. Yes, window movements are smoother at 120 Hz than 60 Hz, but I don't really care since I'm not usually moving my windows around, and I don't game on the machine either.

Asus ProArt PA329CV 32" 4K IPS (137 ppi) - I cannot use this at 4K because text is way, way too small. However, scaling it makes the text blurry. Colours looked good to my eye, but it had significant IPS glow and bad backlight bleed. Design is exactly the same as the PA328CGV. (And I really mean exactly the same. In fact, the first PA329CV I ordered had the 1440p PA328CGV in the box. Somebody had scammed Amazon and returned a 1440p model in the 4K box, and I was the lucky recipient of that switched monitor.) Works fine over USB-C with no sleep issues.

Huawei MateView 28.2" 4K+ 3840x2560 3:2 aspect ratio IPS (164 ppi) - I think most people would like this scaled to 2560x1707, but I prefer a bit bigger text sizes so I run at 2304x1536, even though I lose a little bit of horizontal desktop space. Text when scaled is very good in macOS, but not absolutely perfect. Also, text in my Windows VPN can sometimes look a bit blurry when scaled, but nonetheless it's far better than the 92 ppi and 137 ppi options. This monitor does support HDR, but when I turn on HDR, although macOS text looks just as good as with the sRGB and DCI-P3 settings, I get colour fringing on text in my Windows VPN in HDR. I'm not sure why, but for that reason I don't run HDR on this monitor. The aesthetics of this monitor are the best I've seen so far outside Apple, with tiny bezels and and a mostly aluminum build, with height adjustable stand, and multi-touch capable touch bar settings controls. It doesn't swivel though. Colours out of the box are decent but are perhaps very slightly green tinted to my eye, at least compared to my iMac and the above ProArts, so I've ordered a SpyderX Pro to calibrate it. There is no backlight bleed at all, and IPS glow is well-controlled, so much so that I'm running a mostly black desktop wallpaper with no problems. Its main negative is its poor brightness uniformity, with significant light fall-off at the edges. I haven't measured mine, but others have measured as much as 20%+ lower brightness at the edges vs the centre of the screen. It does go very bright though, at 500+ nits. Also, I don't think this supports HDCP 2.2. I can stream Disney+, but not at 4K out of any of the ports including HDMI. I get 1080p, but that's OK since this isn't a TV for me. I just usually watch a small window when doing other work. One point to note is that while this is a 60 Hz monitor, you can only get that out of USB-C and DisplayPort. HDMI 2.0 does not have enough bandwidth to support 3840x2560 at 60 Hz, so macOS only offers it at 50 Hz, but it was actually OK at 50 Hz in the brief time I tried it. I run with USB-C instead and it works great that way at 60 Hz, with no sleep issues with my M1 Mac mini. This is not available in the US, though. It's available here in Canada, and it's also available in Europe and Asia. Not sure about elsewhere.

 

[theluggage]

Huawei MateView 28.2" 4K+ 3840x2560 3:2 aspect ratio IPS (164 ppi) - I think most people would like this scaled to 2560x1707, but I prefer a bit bigger text sizes so I run at 2304x1536, even though I lose a little bit of horizontal desktop space. Text when scaled is excellent in macOS, but not absolutely perfect.

Yes, I've ended up with a pair of these - they look good in 2560x1707 (same text size as "looks like 2560x1440" on a 27" 16:9 display, but I actually find the extra screen height (about 2" c.f. a 27" 16:9) makes the slightly large UI in 2x "1920x1280" work for me, without fractional scaling.

You can certainly nit-pick it - external PSU, no VESA mount, plasticky-feeling case (looks good but I've managed to scratch the base one of mine) but it's been as low as £400 in the UK and I think that's good value & a dual display setup gives you an insane amount of screen estate for £800.

 

[EugW]

Yes, I've ended up with a pair of these - they look good in 2560x1707 (same text size as "looks like 2560x1440" on a 27" 16:9 display, but I actually find the extra screen height (about 2" c.f. a 27" 16:9) makes the slightly large UI in 2x "1920x1280" work for me, without fractional scaling.

You can certainly nit-pick it - external PSU, no VESA mount, plasticky-feeling case (looks good but I've managed to scratch the base one of mine) but it's been as low as £400 in the UK and I think that's good value & a dual display setup gives you an insane amount of screen estate for £800.

Personally I've never quite understood why people were so concerned about an external PSU. I'm actually happy to have the heat dissipated somewhere other than the monitor. As for the case, I'm not sure how much is plastic and how much is aluminum, but it certainly looks better than a lot of the other ones out there. I don't need VESA either, given that it has a height adjustable stand, but I can understand why many people would want that. Perhaps next time they can put the ports on the monitor so that the stand can be removable.

1920x1280 looks great, but the text is huge at that size. But if you have two monitors, you certainly have enough screen space for most usage, and yeah, 1280 is a good height.

My main complaint with this monitor is the relatively poor brightness uniformity. I've seen it posted that MacBook Pros have edges that are 5-7% dimmer than the centre, but I don't notice it. In contrast this monitor has been measured to have >20% less brightness at the edges than in the centre, when testing the monitor as a 3x3 grid. I don't know what mine is, but that light drop-off is definitely noticeable. I'm curious, do you notice this?

I paid CA$699 + tax = CA$790 = £475 including tax. (This is for the non-WiFi model.) £400 is a great price, assuming that includes the 20% VAT. Even better is £380 in the UK. Wow.

 

[theluggage]

In contrast this monitor has been measured to have >20% less brightness at the edges than in the centre, when testing the monitor as a 3x3 grid. I don't know what mine is, but that light drop-off is definitely noticeable. I'm curious, do you notice this?

It's probably true of mine, but my policy is "if you don't notice it, don't go looking for something you might not be able to unsee"

If this was a $1000 display I might feel different - but I paid £499 for one and £399 for the other (inc. tax) for what is an unusual format, with significantly more pixels than regular 4k. In terms of practical usefulness, I find them unbeatable. The screen on my old 2017 5k iMac is certainly "better" (although its starting to go faintly pink around the edges) but I wouldn't expect a < £500 screen to be in the same class.

 

[brudiaz]

I think I may have figured out why my M8 resolution is limited, and my mouse cursor is jumpy/laggy. In the system profile, my M8 display does not show up in the "Displays" main tab. It DOES show up under "system report/Graphics/displays" but networked via Airplay! WIRELESS! .

So---when time allows I'll look at the back panel connections closer. The 3 ports from left to right are:

Micro HDMI, USB-C in, and I "think" the 3rd USB-C is a USB output port.

So--I need to research if I can convert USB-C to micro HDMI. Again, I've got 6 TB3/4 (USB-C) outputs on the Mac Studio and one full-size HDMI port reserved for the LG TV. So, I need to be able to output a USB-C cable to the M8.

A peculiar detail---it seems the USB-C male cable end won't fully insert into the M8. Perhaps that's the problem? Again, super busy currently but will explore all that ASAP.

Has anybody successfully converted USB-C into Micro HDMI?

Greg

Hi! Did you solved your problem? I have a Mac air M1 2020 and i just recently purchased the Samsug M8. I would want some helps in regards with the connection. I dont know if thudnerbolt is enogh (as i think the monitor doesnt support it) or do i need the displayport - usbc cable throgh a hub/adapter?

 

[greg1199S]

Hi! Did you solved your problem? I have a Mac air M1 2020 and i just recently purchased the Samsug M8. I would want some helps in regards with the connection. I dont know if thudnerbolt is enogh (as i think the monitor doesnt support it) or do i need the displayport - usbc cable throgh a hub/adapter?

I returned the Samsung M8 monitor,. Could not get it to work. I subsequently purchased a Dell monitor and it works great--with the exception that it does not offer a higher resolution setting--so the desktop screen is displaying a lower resolution (larger fonts/icons) than desired. However, the Dell is only 1 of 3 screens attached so I live with it!

 

[M2MaxMan]

One Apple 27" Thunderbolt Display and three Apple 27" Cinema Displays.

M2 Max Mac Studio 32GB 1TB

 

[Velin]

LG C3 42-inch OLED. Stellar combination with Mac studio or Mac mini. Never going back to "traditional" LED/LCD monitors, unless/until microLED is released. OLED and 40+ inches is the way.

 

[splifingate]

Two Dell P2715Q's hooked to an OWC TB3ADP2DPT (via one TB port) are doing just fine, here.

 

[yellowbunny]

Using a ViewSonic VP2756-4K 27" 4K. Really like it. Have Switch connected to second hdmi.

*yes I know about the scaling. It’s having no impact on my video editing at all.

 

[Lucianrider]

I’m using an old 5K iMac that had a dead logic board. I gutted it and bought a converter board off eBay for around $175.00.
it works brilliantly and runs natively at 5K and is even recognized by the Studio as a 27” 5K iMac. The experience is just like using an iMac as far as the way how it handles scaling etc.

 

[Cavor]

First post here so sorry if a bit wordy. After much reading, grinding of teeth over the well documented issues 5k vs 4k etc I found a monitor that sort of looks iMac ish. I think I saw someone else here recommend it but can't find the post again. I don't have demanding requirements. I've been using Macs since my first 512 fat Mac. Had several G3, G4, G5 towers back whenever so nice to go back to separate screen.

The monitor I selected was MSI Modern MD271UL. It was AU$446 (1/5th studio display). It is nothing special ie not gaming (except Minecraft ) or high Hz, only HDMI2.0b etc. Colour specs are reasonable. I have it side by side with my 2014 27" iMac and it actually seems a little sharper / crisper. Mind you the iMac screen has been suffering from the image retention issues around the edge for a couple of years so it's been a 24" iMac so to speak. I'm about 22" away.

The MSI does not have a webcam (iPhone for that with continuity camera is great), no speakers but I have seperate ones (the old Harman Kardon clear units with the big subwoofer). Brightness cannot be adjusted from keyboard only from buttons on the bottom. Not something I do often anyway once set up. It has a 90W USB supply not that I'm going to need it with the good number of studio Mac ports.

So if anyone wants a low cost basic monitor for basic activities then this is a good one in my opinion (and looks the part) and can't complain about the price. The studio Mac base with 1Tb storage I just got should last me another 10 years (once Sonoma settles down) and if the monitor gives up the ghost I can look for something else when that day comes.

 

[pshufd]

Dell Ultrasharp 4k 27 inch. Not 5k but good enough for my work and I love all of the ports. I run 3 of them off my Studio next to a 27 inch iMac.