Apple's Studio Display vs. LG's UltraFine 5K Display

[citysnaps]

I have a Dell 38" 21:9 and it’s great for desktop (non multimedia) usage.

I can have different screen setup but the one I use the most is my main window in the center, around 1900 px width, one at the left, around 1200, And there is still some space left on the right part of the screen, I use this space for a finder, sublime (notepad) or similar.

Before I had 2x22" monitor and this is a better setup.

I'm not against ultra-wide displays. I'll soon be purchasing at least one (maybe two) decent quality ultra-wide displays. But solely for running X-Plane flight simulator. For those who don't know, that's a genuine flight simulator and not a game. They'll work in conjunction with my 12.9" iPad Pro dedicated for mapping. And likely a Mac Studio computer (not sure which one, yet)

But... being a photographer who is pretty fussy processing my image files (check out my MR media content), I'll likely end up with Apple's new 5K display along with a Mac Studio. Having used a 5K iMac for around six years, I could never go back to anything less than a 5K display, and certainly not an ultra-wide.

The point of my post is, get the display that makes the most sense for your application and use.

 

[NightOne]

I knew that was coming.

I edited my comment to cut to the point, but I think my defense of aluminum aesthetics was misinterpreted given your question and @dylanthomas’s reaction. I didn’t expect to be so alone in this opinion…

It's OK to say the LG is ugly looking compared to the Studio Display. It is.

But I think it is more design rather than just the materials used for the enclosure.

 

[Allen121]

For $1,600, I'd expect it to be at least DisplayHDR 600 (if not 1000), mini LED-backlit (or at least Direct LED), 120 Hz refresh (or at least 75 Hz), Thunderbolt 4 upstream, and dynamic contrast up to 1,000,000:1.

Very disappointing.

 

[Adult80HD]

The LG suffers from ghosting, not so much traditional burn-in. It showed up within the first hour or two of use on all the LGs I have (4) and has continued since.

The report of no ghosting or burn-in visible after testing is already a significant improvement over the LG Ultrafine 5k.

Exactly, I have one and a new Studio display and its much better (and brighter).

 

[Mike Boreham]

Have I got it right that the new studio display only has one Thunderbolt port, which has to be connected to the mac. So no second thunderbolt port, like the 24 and 27 LG Ultrafine have....effectively making them into Thunderbolt hubs. The new Studio is a USB hub.

This seems like a severe drawback which I haven't seen noted (may have missed)

EDIT Corrected the above...the 27" Ultrafine only has one TB like the Studio, but the 24" Ultrafine which I have, has two Thunderbolt ports....surprising!

 

[Spankey]

For $1,600, I'd expect it to be at least DisplayHDR 600 (if not 1000), mini LED-backlit (or at least Direct LED), 120 Hz refresh (or at least 75 Hz), Thunderbolt 4 upstream, and dynamic contrast up to 1,000,000:1.

Very disappointing.

So you’d basically want this monitor linked below with 5k, ASD quality speakers, webcam, Siri listening, and ASD build quality on top. I think you’ll see where that price is headed.

ASUS ROG Swift 32” 4K HDR Gaming Monitor - 144Hz DSC, UHD (3840 x 2160) PC Monitor, Mini-LED IPS with G-SYNC Ultimate, Local Dimming, Ideal for Desktop and Computer Monitor Black - - PG32UQX

The product is multiple voltage compatible, that voltage arrange is 100-240V

www.amazon.com

 

[soarprod]

Just received my standard stand studio display. It’s about 1” lower in height then I would like but everything about it is superior to the LG5k that I own. Don’t hesitate to spend the extra $300. Uniformity is good and no magenta corners. Color is more vivid / better and matches the color from my MacBook Pro M1 Max.

 

[joevt]

Have I got it right that the new studio display only has one Thunderbolt port, which has to be connected to the mac. So no second thunderbolt port, like the 24 and 27 LG Ultrafine have....effectively making them into Thunderbolt hubs. The new Studio is a USB hub.

This seems like a severe drawback which I haven't seen noted (may have missed)

EDIT Corrected the above...the 27" Ultrafine only has one TB like the Studio, but the 24" Ultrafine which I have, has two Thunderbolt ports....surprising!

I suppose Apple could have used a Goshen Ridge Thunderbolt controller which would give the display at least one downstream Thunderbolt port. The other two downstream Thunderbolt ports of the Goshen Ridge would be used for DisplayPort connections to the display (two HBR2 connections for GPUs that don't support DSC).

The only reason I can think of to use Titan Ridge would be to have 4 PCIe lanes instead of just 1. Does the Studio Display contain any PCIe devices? Is there a PCIe connection to the A13? Or something?

Maybe Titan Ridge is more compatible with older Macs? Goshen Ridge doesn't work before Big Sur but Apple says the display requires Monterey so that shouldn't matter.

 

[philzaleon]

I certainly expected much more from Apple! Having discontinued their 27" iMac they've foisted a two-unit replacement upon millions of users with an technology-aged and over-priced display. Adding insult to injury is the extra cost of an adjustable stand which comes free with most decent displays.

Does Apple not realize that their mediocre display + stand is close to price of some excellent, and much better professional monitors?

Give us the old 27 inch iMac display with a M1 Max. Lower power consumption, less fan noise, and more happiness.
I'll be keeping my old iMac til you do!

 

[ct2k7]

I certainly expected much more from Apple! Having discontinued their 27" iMac they've foisted a two-unit replacement upon millions of users with an technology-aged and over-priced display. Adding insult to injury is the extra cost of an adjustable stand which comes free with most decent displays.

Does Apple not realize that their mediocre display + stand is close to price of some excellent, and much better professional monitors?

Give us the old 27 inch iMac display with a M1 Max. Lower power consumption, less fan noise, and more happiness.
I'll be keeping my old iMac til you do!

This has been Apple's nature for a while.

 

[v3rlon]

Kinda thinking a 48” LG OLED TV at $799 would beat both of these.
And have better speakers.

You’re on your own for a webcam, but could probably manage.

 

[NightOne]

Even with my complaints about the 27” Studio display it is the superior choice vs the LG 5K display and I just placed an order for one. 🙂👍

 

[EthanDMathews]

I honestly wish Apple would use more plastic where it could.
All these new phones that almost necessitate a case -- could be made with plastic shells (at least partly) to get the weight down.

I'm probably in the minority, but I loved the iPhone 5C case and the fun colors that were possible with the plastics.

It's also way more "grippable" and secure in the hand if you go caseless

IMO the newest iPhones are rugged enough that they don't really need cases.

FWIW I've had an iPhone Xs Max since 2018 and only used a case the first year. Since removing the case, I've dropped it countless times on our hardwood floors, the cement in our garage, and even rough gravely asphalt in parking lots. It's still practically in mint condition with just a few very short, hairline scratches on the screen that can only be seen when they're reflecting a bright light.

Suggestion: when you begin thinking about getting a new phone, take the case off your old phone. You'll enjoy its look and feel more. And if you do drop and break it, then there's your excuse to get a new phone.

 

[Colonel Panik]

Nothing can wobble as bad as the LG. They make the most amazing TVs, I spend €2,300 on one three years ago and it's fn amazing. But the monitor stand is like a wobble magnifier. It was, without modification, unusable for me during heavy typing sessions. For that alone, the SD should win. But both are over-priced **** for what one should get for that price, which is a 120Hz OLED.

 

[MisterSavage]

Nothing can wobble as bad as the LG. They make the most amazing TVs, I spend €2,300 on one three years ago and it's fn amazing. But the monitor stand is like a wobble magnifier. It was, without modification, unusable for me during heavy typing sessions. For that alone, the SD should win. But both are over-priced **** for what one should get for that price, which is a 120Hz OLED.

I wonder if the height you select has anything to do with the amount of wobble. I had mine a little above the minimum height and the wobble was very noticeable sometimes when I was typing. I saw someone else mention they had the monitor low when they saw it.

 

[Bmoreguy03]

Really not a good buy. I wish it had the mini-led and came with the adjustable stand

 

[jrs91]

I bought 2x LG ultrafine 5k + Ergotron HX arm like 1.5 months before release of this new display. Availability had been spotty and when they came back in stock I jumped on them because was tired of working just on laptop screen and my 1080P dells were horrible to look at. So all-in nearly for nearly 5k CAD in addition to the m1 pro I ended up needing with it because my old 2019 i9 mbp would run fan constantly and occasionally slow to a crawl while feeding the dual 5k displays).

I'd been paying attention to rumour mill but nothing seemed certain for this year so I finally said f-it and pulled trigger. It burned when they were released because they are much prettier than mine, and I like pretty things. That said, the LG is still a fantastic display, and in use mounted on the Ergotron HX, when you have two huge 27" displays filling out your field of view, the bezels are honestly unnoticeable. I am a quality freak and so I was really worried about the plastic look, but it's a "nice" plastic that just disappears when the displays are on. Same with the chin for the web cam. Get them on an Ergotron and it's even better because you don't have the cheap stands and it just looks very slick. After recovering from my original irritations, I'm still happy with my setup.

Maybe will upgrade in a few years when they're OLED or there's a major leap. Aside from aesthetics, this isn't it.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Maybe will upgrade in a few years when they're OLED or there's a major leap. Aside from aesthetics, this isn't it.

My summary also.

Generally speaking I don’t think I’m upgrading my desktop monitor until it’s going right to OLED (or very similar)

 

[PowerMac5500]

Deleted

 

[k995]

You sure will notice a difference as shown in the recent MR review.

As an aside having nothing to do with displays...Would you notice a difference in your paycheck with a 20% raise?

Thats a really dumb comparison, and no plenty of reviewers said you dont notice it you measure it but its kinda pointless. Certainly because its so called aimed at "pro's" yet professionals dont use 600 nits they are at 100-200 nits except for hdr, that this monitor doesnt support.

 

[deevey]

Thats a really dumb comparison, and no plenty of reviewers said you dont notice it you measure it but its kinda pointless. Certainly because its so called aimed at "pro's" yet professionals dont use 600 nits they are at 100-200 nits except for hdr, that this monitor doesnt support.

Only two types of Professionals that I can think of do not benefit from this extra brightness, and even at that only during one aspect of the workflow.

Believe it or not there are more than two professions.

 

[k995]

Only two types of Professionals that I can think of do not benefit from this extra brightness, and even at that only during one aspect of the workflow.

Believe it or not there are more than two professions.

I can think of just about anyone who professionaly edits. And then I do mean people using industry standards not just some wedding photographer.

WHat professional would need to extra few nits of brightess , it doesnt have hdr where this would actually matter.

 

[deevey]

I can think of just about anyone who professionaly edits. And then I do mean people using industry standards not just some wedding photographer.

WHat professional would need to extra few nits of brightess, it doesnt have hdr where this would actually matter.

Sound engineers, Visual Artists. Hell, how about stockbrokers, lawyers, web designers, doctors, scientists, programmers etc ...

Basically any professional who's job does not involve color grading.

 

[HDFan]

Does Apple not realize that their mediocre display + stand is close to price of some excellent, and much better professional monitors?

Such as?

 

[jiminoz]

Such as?

This is my question. Is the ASD overpriced, yes. Is the price of an adjustable stand too expensive; yes absurdly so; in fact it should have been included as standard. Should they have included HDR, mini-led, higher refresh rate, or something else to justify this price, probably. For me, I wish they had sold the ASD for about 30% less or dropped the speakers and camera and made it 40% less. By now all of us should know that when it comes to pricing, Apple is not our friend.

There are other monitors that excel in one way or another, but for me and my workflow, nothing checks as many boxes as the ASD; i.e. the crispest text because of the 5K, brilliant and accurate colors, excellent construction and good looks, and ideally suited for a Mac. It may be be overpriced or not provide for some of the "wants" you have in a monitor, but is most assuredly not a mediocre display and stand.

I fully understand those who decide to spend less money; the cost of the ASD is extreme and other displays may meet your needs perfectly. But what professional monitor (at this price point or less) is better?