External Monitor for Macbook Pro Retina 2015 and MacBook Pro/Air 2018+

[DoubleLegacy]

Any suggestions for a nice external monitor (4k resolution, <24 inches, compatible ports for 4k 60hz on both Late 2013-Mid 2015 and newest generation of macbook pros)?

Planned use: Safari, documents, media consumption, only light photo/video editing occasionally

I guess 24'' is the upper limit because 4K on 27'' has far worse ppi than "retina".

At the moment I am using a mid 2015 15'' but I am planning to upgrade in the next 1-2 years.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Stephen.R]

I'm pretty happy with my Dell P2415Q's (HDMI + DP + miniDP in).

The new LG 23.7" 4K seems quite good from the responses here on MR, but being USB-C/TB3 only, it won't work with any MBP's pre-2016.

 

[pshufd]

Any suggestions for a nice external monitor (4k resolution, <24 inches, compatible ports for 4k 60hz on both Late 2013-Mid 2015 and newest generation of macbook pros)?

Planned use: Safari, documents, media consumption, only light photo/video editing occasionally

I guess 24'' is the upper limit because 4K on 27'' has far worse ppi than "retina".

At the moment I am using a mid 2015 15'' but I am planning to upgrade in the next 1-2 years.

Thanks in advance!

I'm using a Dell 27 inch 4Kmonitors at native resolution and things are a little on the small side but I can display a lot of windows and documents at the same time. I use a 2014 MBP 15 and a 2015 MBP 15 on this monitors and they run just fine.

The 2019 iMac 21 is 4K I believe so that might be a solution for you. I think that finding small, 4K monitors is difficult as external monitors are usually best run in native mode. What is done with Retina models on laptops and All-in-ones is different from using a computer hooked up to an external display.

 

[Stephen.R]

I think that finding small, 4K monitors is difficult as external monitors are usually best run in native mode.

Ignoring that you think 24" is "small", they work fine in macOS' 'scaled' mode.

What is done with Retina models on laptops and All-in-ones is different from using a computer hooked up to an external display.

It really isn't. The only difference is the physical PPI - most aftermarket displays are somewhere between a little and lot lower PPI than the ones Apple uses for built-in displays.

 

[Luki1979]

Well I'm using 27" Dell 1440p monitor and it feels so much specious and defined than 13" MacBook screen even though there is more PPI on Macbook. It is a pleasure to work on a bigger screen especially in music production where you have multiple windows open.

 

[Stephen.R]

Higher PPI means denser pixels and (once it’s high enough) the ability to render a crisper picture.

It’s quite unrelated to “spaciousness”.