I have a 5K iMac and bought a 4K+ 28" monitor. It's fine and I'm not even using native 2X scaling. See sig for details.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
New monitor for a MacStudio
- Thread starter sirio76
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
I've seen it. It's nice, but not worth the nonsensical cost and loss in screen size. 8K 42" TVs will probably be available in 2-4 years. What will it take to get my Mac Studio working at 8K?
Just an update, I’ve ordered the Dell U3223QE but the box was damaged so I returned it to the store and get a refund. The monitor was not available at a decent price anymore and delivery time get worse under the holiday season so I ended up buying 2x 27” Dell U2723QE, same identical monitor but 27”.
I want to add that I’ve read a lot of comments on forums and see many reviews on YouTube telling people how bad a scaled 4K monitor is on MacOS, how badly this affect performance and how terrible the text looks, well.. in my humble opinion that’s mostly bs.. I’m running the monitor at 2560x1440, unless you are using a magnifying lens the text is perfectly crisp (I’ve a very good eyesight), the UI looks perfect as well, I’ve performed many test running the two 4K display on my Ultra using different resolution and the GPU performance is basically the same (at least for my workflow 3D, PS, etc) despite people claiming poor results on intermediate resolutions.
Bottom line, if you need a 4K 27”, then go for it no matter what you read over the web.
Until now the U2723QE looks like a good choice compared to other 27” panels, no issue whatsoever.
PROS: good panel, nice color, pre calibrated, thin bezels, good adjustable stand, huge selection of ports, plug and play, affordable (of course you can get cheaper display, but not with this image quality).
CONS: like all non Apple monitors build quality is not great, almost all plastic, it is cheaper and feels cheaper, I‘m not saying is bad at all, but Apple accurate aluminum cases assembly quality is unmatched and both the display and the box are more recyclable/eco-friendly.
DESIGN: is not that great but to be honest the Studio display design is not that great either, I think you can do a better job on both.
I want to add that I’ve read a lot of comments on forums and see many reviews on YouTube telling people how bad a scaled 4K monitor is on MacOS, how badly this affect performance and how terrible the text looks, well.. in my humble opinion that’s mostly bs.. I’m running the monitor at 2560x1440, unless you are using a magnifying lens the text is perfectly crisp (I’ve a very good eyesight), the UI looks perfect as well, I’ve performed many test running the two 4K display on my Ultra using different resolution and the GPU performance is basically the same (at least for my workflow 3D, PS, etc) despite people claiming poor results on intermediate resolutions.
Bottom line, if you need a 4K 27”, then go for it no matter what you read over the web.
Until now the U2723QE looks like a good choice compared to other 27” panels, no issue whatsoever.
PROS: good panel, nice color, pre calibrated, thin bezels, good adjustable stand, huge selection of ports, plug and play, affordable (of course you can get cheaper display, but not with this image quality).
CONS: like all non Apple monitors build quality is not great, almost all plastic, it is cheaper and feels cheaper, I‘m not saying is bad at all, but Apple accurate aluminum cases assembly quality is unmatched and both the display and the box are more recyclable/eco-friendly.
DESIGN: is not that great but to be honest the Studio display design is not that great either, I think you can do a better job on both.
Last edited:
Congrats. Sounds like you got a great solution for your needs. FWIW - I like 2X27" better than one 32". Easier to manage multiple windows.
I have the same setup and agree with your points. I would also had that the glare handling is mediocre, but otherwise I am happy to have this setup for a fraction of the cost of a dual ASD.
How big of a difference does it feel like to you? I'm definitely a fan of 5K resolutions. Before I picked up my LG 5K in 2017, my eyes were always hurting after working all day. I haven't had a single episode of eye strain from all day desktop use since.
Because of this, I'm hesitant to downgrade. 5K has worked very well for me, but I've never had a 4K monitor and have always wondered if it's close enough that I'm not going to start having eye strain again.
If 4K is good enough, I'll be able to try out some larger screens that I've always been interested in. I'd love to have more desktop space and I don't like having multiple monitors.
Zero chance I downgrade. The difference is immediately noticeable to me.
However I think this is a very subjective topic. Some people say that really can't tell the difference. Good for them. I wish I was like that so I didn't spend $1600 each for my ASDs.
At the end of the day, I'm looking at these monitors a lot. Screen time says 7 hours today. And if that's the case, I'm gonna own whatever the heck looks the best to me. Why compromise on something one uses that much?
"Once you see text displayed on a 5K monitor you will never again consider buying a 4K monitor."
IMHO - I think the issue is not 4K to 5K but scaling and how Mac OS handles it. On MacOS 5K monitors are usually best at half the resolution same goes for 4K so that turns a 4K screen into a 1080P size monitor. If you're at 32" or larger that's OK smaller not so much. I had a 27" iMac go south about 1 year ago and it was my second so I had years of using that nice 27" 5K display. The only replacement I found that worked for me was a 24" iMac with odd 4.5K display.
IMHO - I think the issue is not 4K to 5K but scaling and how Mac OS handles it. On MacOS 5K monitors are usually best at half the resolution same goes for 4K so that turns a 4K screen into a 1080P size monitor. If you're at 32" or larger that's OK smaller not so much. I had a 27" iMac go south about 1 year ago and it was my second so I had years of using that nice 27" 5K display. The only replacement I found that worked for me was a 24" iMac with odd 4.5K display.
Have you owned a 4K too? I can't really tell the difference from casual contact like walking by the displays in the store or typing just a few things. That said, I have no idea how I'd react if I spent all day in front of 4K resolution instead of 5K. I guess there's only one real way to find out but I'm hoping to hear from people who've done plenty of time in front of both.
Yep. In an effort to avoid paying for the ASD I tried a highly regarded LG (LG 27UP850-W). Took it out of the box, connected it to my iMac 24 and was immediately disappointed in how it compared to 4.5K Retina display. Returned it same day. Been running either XDR or ASD since then.
I personally can’t tell the difference without really trying hard, but I totally get this.
I can’t tell the difference in wines except in the broadest strokes. I cant perceive the subtleties. However, others can. I can appreciate the very fine nuances of audio and would spend more $ to get better audio. My wife cant tell the difference. We all perceive things with different levels of acuity. Only way for each person to decide what is best for him/her is to go out and look for him/herself.
It really sounds like there's only one way to find out what my experience is going to be. Well, I'll wait to see what Apple releases as their model in between the XDR and 27" ASD. If I'm not bowled over, I'll start researching 4K options to try and park myself in front for a very long day and see if my eyes survive.
I may also give 2 monitors another try. I'm a heavy user of spaces so having multiple monitors and spaces gets really confusing.
Having worked on all mentioned combinations as a photographer who cares a lot about quality, I can only say I prefer working on 4K 32” monitors. OK, I actually prefer the Apple XDR 6K 32” monitor, but I would only be able to afford one, and I like the real-estate of two 32” monitors. 5K on a 27” monitor simply not to my liking and as for text rendition, 5K on 27” is NO better than 4K on 32”, quite the opposite actually - IMO.
The experience is going to be “$1600 5k display is sharper than $600 4K display” by any objective standard. The anti-glare coatings on the Apple displays are also top notch. The rest is mostly subjective- so, yes, there’s an element of suck it and see. There’s a lack of choice of sizes and formats at 5k/220ppi, not to mention the price issue and the other much discussed limitations of Apple displays.
”Scaled mode” on 4k@27” works very well if you like the “standard” iMac UI size and produces clear, readable text and far more detail than you used to get on a 1440p display. There are a few use cases where the scaling causes problems, which can be worked around by temporarily changing to a 1:1 or 2:1 mode, so these are only a deal-breaker if that acconts for most of your work. Unfortunately there are a couple of widely cited articles/videos that exaggerate the scaling issues (and totally ignore the existence of anything other than “looks like 1440p” options or the ability to change font size or zoom in most apps). Does a Studio Display or 5k iMac have more “punch”? Yes, at a price - and the “standard UI size” is actually a but small for some people.
I’ve got a pair of “4K+” 3:2 Mateviews - is the display quality as good as my old 5k iMac? No. But it is easily good enough for my uses and the 3:2 format, plus - you know - having two of them plus £600 change rather than a single Studio display more than compensates.
Got a 2017 iMac 5k connected to an 2021 Acer (bmiiiprx) 27" IPS running at 2560x1440. Its weak 250 cd/m² suffers from uneven brightness. Sure it's ok as a second screen, but it's pale in comparison. Text just looks... soft, dull edges.
Whenever an M2 Studio is released I'll be shopping for a 5k monitor, that I'm sure of.
Question is, how much less than Studio Display will it cost to make up for the "non-Apple" experience?
Only price point I've found is from an Indian reseller with an upcoming price of 115999 INR (1412 USD).
Whenever an M2 Studio is released I'll be shopping for a 5k monitor, that I'm sure of.
Yes, this one really looks interesting for us iMac-going-to-Studio guys. Webcam, matte, great colors, TB4.
Question is, how much less than Studio Display will it cost to make up for the "non-Apple" experience?
Only price point I've found is from an Indian reseller with an upcoming price of 115999 INR (1412 USD).
I'm curious about how the Samsung is positioned (and the final specs). I saw one article speculating it might be priced in between the glossy and nano ASD - I can't believe that's true. But we'll see.
Even more curious about the pricing on the Dell 6K 32".
I would go for EIZO CS2740 over Dell. EIZO's color management software is much better than Dell's.
Hi! by any chance how did you connect it to your mac? I have the macair m1 2020 and just bought the samsung m8
One caveat: I've been using a Datacolor spyder since before I had these screens, so I'm not relying on Dell's software.
It would be helpful to know more about it. Would you mind posting links to them?
Here's a thread I started last year starting with a long post in which I tried to give a balanced account of the issues:
The main article that I feel exaggerates the issues is here - but please note I said exaggerates the issues not lies about. My main beef is not the article itself but that it gets "cherry-picked" to prove that 4k is evil. Otherwise its a good, informative article that takes the trouble of illustrating the artefacts caused by fractional scaled modes, but it does so by presenting enlarged views of "pathological" cases which (IMHO) makes them look more serious than they are. Also, I think the red/green "good/bad" monitor chart is too simplistic and ignores the possibility of changing viewing distances or using different modes according to the size and resolution of the monitor.
Also, my point is not to try and pretend that 4k is "as good as" 5k/6k - just that it is a reasonable compromise if you don't want to pay $1300-$6000 per screen.
Another consideration for people who love OLED. Just bought the base-configure M2 Max studio. And bought the newly-released LG C3 42-inch OLED TV, which has four HDMI ports and has 120hz refresh rate. I know that's bigger than the OP first asked about, but just putting it out there.
Thus far, the combo is amazing. The LG C3 looks absolutely superb, especially if you like or need a glossy screen (hate mat screens, it smears clarity and reduces color vibrancy). As long as you can physically move the 42-inch screen a little more than arm's length away from you, you'll have plenty of room for your view and all viewing angles to be very comfortable.
OSX and the Studio's HDMI output render pages, text, and video beautifully on this 42-inch OLED. If you are worried about text not appearing sharp -- don't be. I'm coming from an iMac 5k 27", and even really zoomed in, text looks great. It's running smooth, no problems at all, and after you do this, you'll never go back to anything that's not-OLED, or dual-screen monitors with bezels in the middle. A huge center OLED screen is, in my opinion, superior. Not worried about burn-in at all.
Finally, another credit to Apple: video output and text look superior on OSX versus Windows 10/11. I don't know what it is about Win 10/11, but text simply looks not as sharp, and the overall appearance is simply a bit less vibrant and pleasant. Not saying Win 10/11 looks "bad," it's just OSX looks "better."
Thus far, the combo is amazing. The LG C3 looks absolutely superb, especially if you like or need a glossy screen (hate mat screens, it smears clarity and reduces color vibrancy). As long as you can physically move the 42-inch screen a little more than arm's length away from you, you'll have plenty of room for your view and all viewing angles to be very comfortable.
OSX and the Studio's HDMI output render pages, text, and video beautifully on this 42-inch OLED. If you are worried about text not appearing sharp -- don't be. I'm coming from an iMac 5k 27", and even really zoomed in, text looks great. It's running smooth, no problems at all, and after you do this, you'll never go back to anything that's not-OLED, or dual-screen monitors with bezels in the middle. A huge center OLED screen is, in my opinion, superior. Not worried about burn-in at all.
Finally, another credit to Apple: video output and text look superior on OSX versus Windows 10/11. I don't know what it is about Win 10/11, but text simply looks not as sharp, and the overall appearance is simply a bit less vibrant and pleasant. Not saying Win 10/11 looks "bad," it's just OSX looks "better."