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PSA: Studio Display Stands Are Not Interchangeable
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Have you shopped around? I can't say how many options would really look nice/stylish with one ... but for YEARS, they've sold monitor stands that let you attach any VESA compatible display to them.
I've got one sitting around in my basement that lets you mount two displays side-by-side, of up to 27" each, on a black metal stand.
This is why God created Dell/Samsung/Sanyo/etc. Simply pick a manufacturer that's aligned with your concerns/views and find total happiness. Will you do it?
Yes we know that it can't be rotated with either stand.
VESA is the only option.
Does anyone know of a nice looking VESA, height adjustable and rotating stand that cost less than $400 ?
I'm genuinely debating both options.
Thanks
Mind pointing us to the 27" 5K displays offered by Dell/Samsung/Sanyo/etc? And no 4K please, that's not integer-scaled for QHD sized desktop.
Haven't seen either of these in person, but ratings seem decent and each is $26 or less:
VIVO Single Monitor Desk Stand, Holds Screens up to 32 inch Regular and 38 inch Ultrawide, Freestanding VESA Steel Mount Base, Adjustable Height, Tilt, Swivel, Rotation, Black, STAND-V001H
Elevate your monitor to a comfortable viewing height with the Single Monitor Desk Stand (STAND-V001H) from VIVO! Constructed of high-grade steel, this stand was built to resist scratches and support monitor screens weighing up to 22 pounds. The modern appearance blends well with many home and off...
www.amazon.com
Single LCD Computer Monitor Free-Standing Desk Stand Mount Riser for 13 inch to 32 inch Screen with Swivel, Height Adjustable, Rotation, Vesa Base Stand Holds One (1) Screen up to 77Lbs(HT05B-001))
Single LCD Computer Monitor Free-Standing Desk Stand Mount Riser for 13 inch to 32 inch Screen with Swivel, Height Adjustable, Rotation, Vesa Base Stand Holds One (1) Screen up to 77Lbs(HT05B-001))
www.amazon.com
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I'd love to see a 3rd party develop a nice looking stand specifically for the VESA option that fits Apple's aesthetics. It'd be funny if someone comes up with Apple-like stand that's height adjustable, swivels, and rotates all for $99/$199 or so.
It's silly Apple went this direction just so it can look pretty. Not too many people are looking at the back of their display when it's up against a wall. Either way, I'm sure it would have been possible to have interchanging options and still look good. I never thought I would be converting my displays to be VESA mounted until I switched to a home office and got a new desk. So it's definitely nice to have that flexibility for those unplanned situations where your desk layout might change in the future.
It's silly Apple went this direction just so it can look pretty. Not too many people are looking at the back of their display when it's up against a wall. Either way, I'm sure it would have been possible to have interchanging options and still look good. I never thought I would be converting my displays to be VESA mounted until I switched to a home office and got a new desk. So it's definitely nice to have that flexibility for those unplanned situations where your desk layout might change in the future.
I think it is ridiculous that Apple didn’t use standard VESA mount points (or even offer an adapter, as asinine as the one for the iMac Pro was) and think $400 for an adjustable stand is just silly, but I do encourage people who know they want flexibility to always order the VESA option, be it for an iMac or this new Studio Display. You can quibble on the iMac (as I said, if you know you want the flexibility, consider it), but for the Studio Display, spending $200 on an Ergotron LX (it is light enough IMO to not need the pricier HX arm) makes sense ergonomically and economically.
I’m on my 4th 27” iMac and was finally smart and got the VESA option in 2020. Paired with an arm, it’s great on my desk and if I had to sell it with a $30 stand for slightly less money to someone, I would take that resell hit over all the benefits it has brought me. I’ve almost purchase a 24” iMac a few times (I’m waiting for an M2 refresh at this point b/c it will be completely for show/fun, not need based) and unless I decide to put it in my kitchen (which is a possibility), I’ll be getting the VESA option there too.
Apple could design their stuff so that it could be fitted with a VESA adapter (they used to back in the day and again, see the iMac Pro, as poorly designed as that adapter kit was), it just chooses not to. In turn, I’ve decided to just buy the VESA option at jump.
I’m on my 4th 27” iMac and was finally smart and got the VESA option in 2020. Paired with an arm, it’s great on my desk and if I had to sell it with a $30 stand for slightly less money to someone, I would take that resell hit over all the benefits it has brought me. I’ve almost purchase a 24” iMac a few times (I’m waiting for an M2 refresh at this point b/c it will be completely for show/fun, not need based) and unless I decide to put it in my kitchen (which is a possibility), I’ll be getting the VESA option there too.
Apple could design their stuff so that it could be fitted with a VESA adapter (they used to back in the day and again, see the iMac Pro, as poorly designed as that adapter kit was), it just chooses not to. In turn, I’ve decided to just buy the VESA option at jump.
Yup. I see no modularity at all, just more cables and stuff on my desk. And what if you want two or three of these displays lined up, like they show in the video? Two would be horrible for both soundstage and camera use, and three … just plain needless overkill. You're not gonna want three sets of speakers and cameras. Hope they come out with a cheaper dummy display, but I doubt it. Besides the MacPro, Apple really isn't into to modular anymore. In this case, the term is simply deceptive.
Note to Apple: Sometimes people's needs change.
Someone might start with a single-display setup and move to a dual-display setup using a VESA mount. But instead of giving them an option to simply unbolt the stand and add a VESA adapter, you're making them buy a whole different version of the display?
That's just bad design.
I was considering one of these displays, now I am not.
Also, please make a version without the spatial sound system and the webcam, for under $1000. This is the display most pros are going to want in their studios. A display should not need its own CPU.
Someone might start with a single-display setup and move to a dual-display setup using a VESA mount. But instead of giving them an option to simply unbolt the stand and add a VESA adapter, you're making them buy a whole different version of the display?
That's just bad design.
I was considering one of these displays, now I am not.
Also, please make a version without the spatial sound system and the webcam, for under $1000. This is the display most pros are going to want in their studios. A display should not need its own CPU.
This is indeed a great deal, especially for something as light as the Studio Display. Because I’ve gone down this rabbit-hole and because I have a bunch of Ergotron arms (and some from Amazon Basics too), I will note that the one notable difference between the Basics arm and the LX (aside from color options — Amazon just offers black) is warranty. Ergotron’s warranty is 10 years on the LX (and the upgraded HX), whereas Amazon is one-year. For most people, saving $70 is probably more sensible, but I figured I’d point that out.
Otherwise, the LX and the Basics is exactly the same and it’s a very high-quality arm. I’m using an HX for my iMac out of extreme caution, but I bet the LX would hold it. I wound up swapping one of the Basics out for a white LX because I decided I needed an all-white aesthetic on my desk, but that’s just me being silly and I’ve got the Basics in-use on another screen on another desk.
I guess they need a way to justify the Pro Display's $1000 stand? That magnetic attachment is cool tho...
Apple really dropped the ball here. Makes no sense we cannot switch the stands. All their displays had that option. Not sure what is the rationale on this one. I guess I'll wait for the XDR 2.0 to see what happens there.
I don't understand Apple and monitors. The monitors themselves tend to be really nice. The ergonomics are always bad. $400 for the stand that should be the standard. There's nothing about that stand that justifies the price bump. (Mind you, with the cost of wheels for the Mac Pro and the stand for the XDR this should come as no surprise.)
At least the VESA option won't require some weird adapter and doesn't bump up the price (except, of course, that you have to have a mount).
The LG 5K came with a decent stand and VESA mounting options out of the box. It was one of the most welcome things about that monitor versus what Apple tends to ship.
During the presentation, every time I had to hear "this is something only Apple can do," this is the kind of thing that came to my mind. Yeah guys, it's not necessarily tech. It's the fact that your brand is so powerful you can charge $400 for a monitor stand.
At least the VESA option won't require some weird adapter and doesn't bump up the price (except, of course, that you have to have a mount).
The LG 5K came with a decent stand and VESA mounting options out of the box. It was one of the most welcome things about that monitor versus what Apple tends to ship.
During the presentation, every time I had to hear "this is something only Apple can do," this is the kind of thing that came to my mind. Yeah guys, it's not necessarily tech. It's the fact that your brand is so powerful you can charge $400 for a monitor stand.
I would love to see this but I don’t know how feasible/realistic it would be for Apple (or even someone else) to do for under $1000. I’m assuming LG is still the only place making the 5K panel and unfortunately, I don’t know if the volume there is such we could see it selling at that price point, at least, not with a 5K panel.
The stand is probably soldered to the RAM.
You aren't limited to their built-in stands. You literally just mentioned the VESA mount option. Are you seriously complaining that if you buy the one with the stand you KNOW is built in that you can't change it later? Come on man.
If you want one of Apple's built-in stands (essentially, an iMac without the computer part) you buy that in one of the options. If you want to change stands or have the option to later on, buy the VESA mount version. It's right there on the same page.
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Shhhh. People are whinging. Don't interrupt them with logic.
It’s an absolute joke that this monitor doesn’t come with a height adjustable stand and VESA mounts by default.
My LG at £349 did. Apple over engineered this and expects customers to pay for the privilege of changing the height of the screen. Ridiculous.
My LG at £349 did. Apple over engineered this and expects customers to pay for the privilege of changing the height of the screen. Ridiculous.
I like the height adjustable stand and don't mind paying a little extra for it but experience tells me I don't buy monitors very often. When I bought my 2012 iMac it did not have vesa. it was the first year they removed the vesa option. I was ok with that the day I bought it but over the period of about 8 years that I used it I wanted to switch between the base stand and a vesa about 6 different times. It was frustrating not being able to hook it to vesa later. The only option at the time was a clamp that attached to the stand with a vesa mount so the "foot" of the stand was floating in the air. This looked completely dumb. So sure I love the adjustable stand on the new display but experience tells me I will change my mind later. MY only viable option after that experience is to get vesa to start and lose out on the nice stand.
For a display touted as a "Studio Display", Apple sure dropped the ball in regards to stands...
Three choices, but none that can be changed down the road...?
Why not a single stand that offers height, tilt, and rotation...?
Seems like a lot of "Studio" folk might be doing some programming, might want to have their Studio Display in portrait orientation at times...
But then say you want to do some video editing, or kick around in Blender, landscape mode is where you want the Studio Display to be...
The REAL missed boat here though, a display mount that turns the Mac Studio & Studio Display into a modern representation of the 2002 iMac G4 "Sunflower"...
And it would also rotate between landscape & portrait...!
Three choices, but none that can be changed down the road...?
Why not a single stand that offers height, tilt, and rotation...?
Seems like a lot of "Studio" folk might be doing some programming, might want to have their Studio Display in portrait orientation at times...
But then say you want to do some video editing, or kick around in Blender, landscape mode is where you want the Studio Display to be...
The REAL missed boat here though, a display mount that turns the Mac Studio & Studio Display into a modern representation of the 2002 iMac G4 "Sunflower"...
And it would also rotate between landscape & portrait...!
You are limited to their built-in stand if you select it before purchase, and there are absolutely no way to change later for a VESA mount. This doesn't need to be this way, every monitor I know sell an included display, but with an option to remove it to use a VESA mount. My needs or setup could change in the future, and I can't believe that someone who buy the included stand could not do anything to mount it if he wants to.
So yeah, I could just buy the display with the VESA mount, which would be way more versatile and future proof than this stand. I still think it's a stupid design decision, because I would otherwise maybe order one of the stands. Everybody is loosing with that decision, I don't have versatility and Apple doesn't get extra money for selling separate stands or VESA mounts