So hard to find a good monitor…

[Sensamic]

I want to buy a Mac Mini M2 Pro with 512GB SSD and 16GB RAM, but I’m having such a hard time finding a good monitor because I’m coming from a 2019 iMac 5K.

This time around I would prefer a 24 inch monitor, but it has to have high resolution and brightness. The best option I’ve seen is a Samsung LS24A600UCU, QHD IPS. It seems there are not much QHD options and 0 4K options in 24 inch size. Only the iMac 24, but I’d like to go Mac Mini route so in the future I only have to change the computer and not buy another monitor/display. This monitor doesn’t have high brightness (my studio has a lot of natural light from windows).

I could algo go 27 inch, but then again, the only 5K option I see in my country is the Samsung 5K display, which is also very expensive. Most 4K displays also don’t have high brightness (400/500 nits or more). I’d like retina resolution, I can’t stand seeing pixels… Studio Display is algo too expensive, as much as the base iMac 24, which is crazy.

What displays are Mac Mini owners using the most?

 

[OldCorpse]

It all depends on what you intend to use it for. If you are looking for an equivalent to the iMac experience, then you want at least 21” (like the old iMacs used to be), today’s 24” or the old 27” iMac size screen. So 21” - 27” (or even 32”). But for a good color reproduction, resolution, responsiveness, motion, brightness etc. you have to pick which aspect you want to prioritize. The more of these you want at a high level, the more money you’ll pay.

But there’s the other end of things. I bought an M2 Mac Mini 8/256, as a server. It’ll be headless 99% of the time. I have it on my home network and access it through my 15” MBA. However, I did buy a cheap portable monitor just to set up the mini, and it was fine. My wife saw it and wanted it as a cheap second monitor for her work laptop, so she took it.

And I realized that a simple portable monitor can be very useful to me. I can use it if I want to hook it up to the mini one day, and my MBA the next to either have a second monitor or even to work in clamshell mode. The key here is portability. It’s far more useful that way. Obviously that’s a completely different use case than it being part of essentially a desktop setup.

But to me that’s far more useful. I do word processing and online research for 95% of the time. That means I don’t need a big monitor - 15.6” is absolutely enough especially because of one key attribute of these cheap portable monitors: they can be used in portrait mode, which is perfect for my work, reading and writing. And for that, you need high resolution, brightness and contrast. And I found one with all those specs (at least on paper) for $300, just bought it and it’s arriving next week: crazy high resolution 4K, 600 nits, 1500:1 etc. We’ll see if it lives up to the billing. My wife is happy with the other one, and they’re so cheap you can buy them by bunches.

For me, this works. Rather than trying to reproduce the iMac, I thought critically about my actual needs rather than preconceived ideas of what a monitor “ought” to be. And I reached the conclusion that this cheap solution fits me much better… hey for the price of one of those 27” 6K Dells I can buy a whole bunch of these, lol!

It fits my actual work requirements perfectly! It’s not sexy, it’s not glamorous, it’s not expensive, but it works great, and that’s all that matters. Now, that may totally not work for you or fit your needs, in which case you need to look elsewhere; I’m just saying that sometimes it’s useful to think outside the box, you might be surprised at what comes up. The whole category of portable monitors is worth exploring, some cost about $1K, are OLED, or have touch functionality etc. - tons of options and possibilities. YMMV.

 

[EzisAA]

LG 23.7'' UltraFine™ 4K IPS Monitor, 24MD4KL-B. It's for Mac - 2xThunderbolt 3, 3x USB-C (5Gb/s), bullit in speekers(not good sound). I use this monitor 1,5 year with MacBook Pro and now thinking about buy another one, because with Thunderbolt you can theres use in daisy-chain conection.

 

[Starfia]

Sensamic –

My outlook was similar when upgrading to my first M1 Mac mini from a 27-inch Intel iMac.

Apple's 5K Studio Display was an expensive new display which was technically similar to the iMac's, but I noticed there were a lot of 4K 27-inch displays from decent names in the three-to-four-hundred-dollar range in the US. I tried one of those and enjoyed the advantages such as a second HDMI input, but after a week or two, I realized I just kind of "couldn't go back" from the quality of the iMac display. Also, stretching 4K across 27 inches seemed to make all the macOS system resolution options unideal.

I ended up deciding to go for a Studio Display from Apple's refurbushed store (one of the only ways I buy most Apple products). The cost of the display plus the Mac mini total more than the 27-inch iMac did, but I've had no regrets about spending that much; I feel the worthwhileness every day, and I have the knowledge this display could potentially stay with me through one or two more standalone Mac upgrades. Returning the cheaper monitor even cost me another 50 dollars – I'm pretty frugal, but I feel even that was worthwhile just to have laid my curiosity to rest for such a long-term decision.

(As one spot on the journey, Luke Miani had a remarkable video about converting an old 27-inch iMac to a usable display for a newer Mac for a cost of under 200 US dollars or so. I was genuinely considering the challenge for a while. There are also the LG UltraFines, but I'd heard enough about the odd plastic enclosure and the occasional bug that I didn't seriously consider them. For someone who needs 5K across 27 inches, though, it still seems one of the only other options.)

 

[avro707]

enclosure and the occasional bug that I didn't seriously consider

Yes, the Ultrafine plastic case is not great. My 5K one cracked at the corners of the case (left side).

I have a studio display, it’s excellent.

 

[robgendreau]

I'd consider a MBP 14" with the XDR monitor. It's an incredible display; you can't buy anything like it for resolution and brightness without say getting the 6k Apple display. And then add a less expensive second monitor, basically 4k but not as bright. The MBP 14" isn't that much more than the mini, and a better machine. And that display.

 

[picpicmac]

LG 23.7'' UltraFine™ 4K IPS Monitor, 24MD4KL-B. ... I use this monitor 1,5 year with MacBook Pro and now thinking about buy another one

LG lists it as out-of-stock (at least in the US.) On Amazon there are also now only a few dealers claiming to have them. When that stock runs out I do not know if there will be any others.

And the LG monitors have been getting a lot of negative reviews and also are subject to the interoperability issues with Apple Silicon Macs, if we are to believe posts here and on other sites.

 

[_timo_redux_]

I've got two LG 5Ks at home, and one more at work. Driven by M1 macs and one M3 mac.

No issues. Two of the LGs are from not long after they were announced in 2019.

 

[EzisAA]

LG lists it as out-of-stock (at least in the US.) On Amazon there are also now only a few dealers claiming to have them. When that stock runs out I do not know if there will be any others.

And the LG monitors have been getting a lot of negative reviews and also are subject to the interoperability issues with Apple Silicon Macs, if we are to believe posts here and on other sites.

I know there were complaints about the 21.5 4K USB-C and the first revision 5K. But I haven't heard a complaint about 23.7 4K.
What i read in coments is "it's expensive", "no HDMI". "too smol screen", "no webcam" 😂

 

[MacAttack5.1]

I know this thread is ancient but I just bought a studio Mac and am looking at a double Set of these. They don't come with stands but I am hoping I don't need an adapter for a vest arm. Do I?

24MD4KL​