My data points are old, but before I moved to the 27-inch iMac and Thunderbolt Display, I used a Mac Pro with a pair of 24-inch Dell monitors, the Dell UltraSharp 2408WFP.
They were wonderfully adjustable and had a lot of ports, which was welcome, but both screens eventually developed display problems. I can’t quite remember all the details (this was almost 9 years ago) but one of them had a permanent 1-pixel-wide vertical purple line running down the screen about a third of the way in from the right.
And wow, did they pump out the heat! Made my office quite toasty in the winter and definitely encouraged AC use in the summer. In the end, they were entirely acceptable, but I never loved them.
Agreed. When I moved my office to my house a year or so ago I got a M1 MacBook Air along with a Dell U2720QM. The Dell has 2-USB-C and 3 USB-A ports, so along with the 2-TB ports on the Air I don’t need to use a dock.
Yeah, that’s the downside of displays with CCF backlighting. I don’t think any of us would voluntarily go back to that. They draw far less power than comparably-sized CRTs, but a lot more than a modern LED backlight.
A good thought provoking article. I went to 27-inch screen a while back and have found that size ideal for my needs as a full-time professional writer, letting me split the screen between two pages to work on. But I couldn’t justify the cost of an Apple monitor then or of the new 27-inch studio display now. I paid under $400 for the ASUS HDMI screen then, and the price now is under $200. I don’t do video editing or any color-intensive work, and I got badly burned when I bought a 2004 17 inch Apple studio display that only lasted a few years.
I now use a 2018 MacMini with 16/512 Gig and that works well for everything but change tracking in Microsoft Word, which I suspect says more about what a mess MS Word is than than about what I should need for writing. I’ve started looking for a new laptop to replace my wife’s 2009 MacBook, and appreciate the comments on the advantages of investing in a laptop with 16/512 for that use. I use an 8/128 MacBook Air that’s now five years old for mobile computing, and the memory is just too small to hold her stuff as well as the minimal files I use. I’m not going to make that mistake again
My wait for a M-based 27 inch ( or larger ) iMac appears over for the moment. However, there are a few crumbs suggesting( wishful thinking to a large degree ) Apple hasn’t eliminated it permanently: the new Apple monitor could easily be the basis for a new iMac and some might suggest it’s almost there. Also, Apple’s web site banner ( after clicking on the ‘Mac’ category ) shows iMac 24" and not simply iMac. I will be looking at a Mac Studio combined with a larger monitor ( not XDR due to budget ) in the meantime.
You have hit the nail when you indicated that not all users who want large screens are video and audit developers - the ‘creatives’ to whom Apple directs all its attention. Many of us who are in business find large screens useful for business applications and the like.
Given the high price of Apple Display, the solution is to buy a more reasonably priced non-Apple display and hope it works ok with Mac Mini or/and Mac Studio and with Apple operating systems and hope that Apple can fix the Apple Display issues with its web cam.
Just a note: the first 27-inch iMac appeared in late 2009. 2014 saw the introduction of the 5K Retina version. I’ve owned 2011, 2014, 2017, and (currently) 2020 versions, and really enjoyed them all, but of course the big difference came with that 5K display, which was introduced just as my aging eyes really began to appreciate the greatly improved contrast in the Retina display.
I don’t know which models they are, but my dentist’s practice has standardized on 27-inch iMacs, not only for the dentists but the clerical help as well. Yet another “pro” user segment.
Thanks Al. Yes, it substantiates my wishful thinking assertion. Apple’s statement doesn’t rule out a future 32 inch( or other non-27 inch ) iMac but certainly not for a few years ( at best ). My choices will be based on current availability regardless of my preferences.
I think there is still a chance (or at least it make sense as an option) to have also a new 27-32" iMac at a relatively low price as the new Studio mac + Studio display mostly works as a replacement for the iMac Pro in terms of price and performance. A Mac mini with a Studio display might be an option though.
Wow, I didn’t even consider speakers as an issue. I’ve had an iMac of some sort since at least 2008, replacing a Powermac G5 before that. Amazingly, my primary display from that Powermac, a 23" Apple Cinema HD Display that I bought in 2005, is currently my 2nd display to my current desktop, a late 2014 iMac Retina 27"; it’s worked flawlessly for 17 years!
I also have a lot of devices attached to this iMac (laser MFP, multiple external hard drives, photo scanner, Blu-ray reader/writer, two USB hubs, a ScanSnap, and other devices I’m forgetting), plugged into UPS and two power strip–which doesn’t even count desk lamps. My house dates from preWW2 and wall outlets are at a premium.
If I have to get a monitor-less Mac, that means one power plug will be replaced with three: the Mac, a monitor, and (unless bus-powered) speakers–I’m not terribly interested in the Studio Display as I wouldn’t use the built in camera (I have my iMac’s covered with electrical tape).
I do video conversion but not production so I’m debating if my next Mac will be a Mini or a Studio–ports are more of an issue than processing power, I think.
What non-Apple displays have you found that don’t work? HDMI and DisplayPort are both industry standards and both are directly supported by Apple computers.
As long as your display’s resolution is within the Mac’s GPU’s capabilities, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t work. Especially if you use a standard resolution like 1080p (1920x1080) or 4K (3840x2160).
Apple may not auto-detect your display as HiDPI (to enable Retina-style scaling), but there are software packages to fix this, if it is important to you.
There are some third-party displays that include speakers.
My work laptop is connected to a Dell UZ315H. This is a 1080p display with built-in camera, mic and speakers. It is marketed for use with Microsoft Lync (which got rebranded as Skype For Business and was then merged into Teams), but these conferencing hardware components can be used with any software.
The speaker audio can come from USB or HDMI. The camera and mics are connected via USB (there’s also an internal USB3 hub with two downstream ports). The sound quality is not as nice as my Klipsch ProMedia speakers, but they sound a lot better than a Mac mini’s internal speaker and should be fine for most applications, unless you want to watch movies with theater-quality sound.
It’s also worth noting that the Mac Studio has an internal speaker. It might be worth waiting for a review to find out if its sound quality is any good. Hopefully, it sounds better than the Mac mini’s speaker.
Adam will TidBITS discuss this product that would enable 2 or even FOUR external 4K displays for any M1 based Mac? To me this is a game changer and potentially also changes the evaluation of which Mac to buy. Also comes in DisplayPort version.
SCROLL DOWN to table called “DISPLAYS CONFIGURATOR”
There have been many reviews of various DisplayLink adapters used to run displays over USB, in order to work around the M1’s GPU limitations. Here are many YouTube videos that talk about it.
Although the Sonnet device may be new, DisplayLink adapters are not new and they seem to work very well. They have limitations, compared to GPU-based video, but depending on your requirements, those limits may not be an issue for you.
I don’t have any plans to review it, but as @Shamino says, it sounds like it would work at least for everyday usage. Although I’d forgotten about these devices, we actually wrote about older DisplayLink-based products some 13 years ago.
Always charming to see the TidBITS wayback machine.
Thanx a bunch for responding.
Started viewing those videos shared by the excellent @Shamino . I’m intrigued by DisplayLink tech and may buy. I’m not graphics intensive except for brokerage software called thinkorswim
Used to be Java-based long ago. Having many windows of stock charts and tables on multiple monitors is empowering.
P.S.
Bought this $300 32” 4K Samsung UJ59 Display. Seems fine quality, even compared to Dell UltraSharp 3216Q 4K display costing $1200. I don’t know what I’m missing out on with saving $900 from a high end 32” display. I’d love to be informed/ corrected.
