Help me decide on some monitors for my MBP?

[jrm27]

Hello all,
My work just furnished me with a new MBP, and they want to get me a couple of monitors to go with it. I'm kinda lost in the choices and would surely appreciate some input.

The computer is a brand new 16 inch MBP (m1) that I use for all sorts of creative work.. graphic design, photography, videography, motion graphics, etc... They'd like me to have two monitors and I'll likely run in clamshell mode. I'd love it if the two monitors could daisy chain off a USBC so I have fewer cables to deal with. I'll be color calibrating on my own, so hopefully they stay pretty consistent between the two.

So basically, I'm looking for two 4k monitors (probably 27 inch), that are solid workhorses. In the past I've generally always just picked up a Dell Ultrasharp, and it has been fine. However, I'm open to other ideas. Looking at about $700 per monitor. My initial research brings up this Dell monitor, and it seems to have mixed reviews. However, it also seems that new firmware upgrades have helped solve many of the issues out there. https://www.amazon.com/Dell-U2723QE-UltraSharp-USB-C-Monitor/dp/B09TQZP9CL

Anything else I am missing, or other options I should check out?

Thanks for any direction you might be able to give!

 

[simont90]

Mac’s have a weird scaling issue with 4K especially at 27” you might find yourself going to your MBP screen more and more. 4K at 22” might be better to retain ‘retina’. It’s why Apple’s iMac is 4.5K for 24” and 5K for 27”, 200PPI+ is pretty much what you need to retain that same clarity.

If you can afford it, you’re probably best going with the Apple Studio Display a single 27” display to retain the crisp picture and accurate colours

 

[Prototypical]

If it helps, I'm looking at the 32" version of the Dell you mentioned (U3223QE) compared against:

• BenQ PD3205U
• Asus ProArt PA329CV

All three have virtually identical 27" equivalents, appear to be in a similar ballpark on specs, and are similar in price. That said - I'm stumped on what to get too. Everyone says 32s are too big to render sharp text on a MBP, while 27s are too small (and scale strangely).

The Studio Display might technically be the "right" monitor but the price and specs aren't... especially if you need the screen real estate of two 27s (or a 32) for a reasonable price.

 

[jrm27]

Yeah, as much as I'd love a Studio Display, that just isn't in the cards. Even though one studio display would equal (roughly) the budget they want to spend on two monitors, that's not a possibility. The specific approval is for two monitors. As much as I'm sure I'd love a 32" monitor, since it has to be two, I don't have the desktop space for two 32" monitors for work, and my own 27-inch monitor for my personal laptop.