XDR for Software Dev

[rkuo]

Regarding expenditures like this, I primarily write software for a living, but no matter what I do to earn money these days I'm largely staring at a screen.

So it is not as hard for me to make an investment in a monitor. I think it has a lot to do with what you value. People spend a ton on cars that depreciate badly and are mostly needed to commute for work, people don't take issue with this---its almost encouraged. These things sit idle most of the time and often require financing! So a super-high end monitor you stare at constantly seems a lot less crazy to me.

I actually think this whole thread is driving at something I've noticed which is that Apple has no display products for developers. The best they have right now is the LG screen and with the gloss and build quality it is just not amazing.

I'm actually looking to get the LG 5k anyway, (I use the P2715Q currently), though really what I'm hoping for is that Apple will announce a new mid-market cinema display focused on developers at WWDC. I thought I'd link out to that since there's clearly a market void in display tech for people who prefer Apple product quality.

I had one other note for this thread which is for developers I think PPI is crucial. Color and contrast can't make up for low PPI when you're looking at fonts all day (and night). This site, Pixensity, is the best I've found for tracking the highest PPI monitors available. It isn't pretty but I think the data is still up to date.

Looking at the top 10, you can see that higher PPI monitor product release has been pretty stagnant for while. Also the XDR's PPI is surprisingly beat by the Ultrafine 5k, though not by much.

If anyone is aware of a better site for tracking PPI please post.

I'm totally with you on this. Many things in technology have slowed down in terms of improvements ... and where else to better spend the money than on the device you look at for several hours a day.

I really don't find the PPI on the Ultrafine to require more improvement for me, however. Even now I can scale to basically any resolution and the loss in quality due to non-integer scaling is not an issue at my normal viewing distance.

 

[jukkhop]

Regarding expenditures like this, I primarily write software for a living, but no matter what I do to earn money these days I'm largely staring at a screen.

So it is not as hard for me to make an investment in a monitor. I think it has a lot to do with what you value. People spend a ton on cars that depreciate badly and are mostly needed to commute for work, people don't take issue with this---its almost encouraged. These things sit idle most of the time and often require financing! So a super-high end monitor you stare at constantly seems a lot less crazy to me.

I actually think this whole thread is driving at something I've noticed which is that Apple has no display products for developers. The best they have right now is the LG screen and with the gloss and build quality it is just not amazing.

I'm actually looking to get the LG 5k anyway, (I use the P2715Q currently), though really what I'm hoping for is that Apple will announce a new mid-market cinema display focused on developers at WWDC. I thought I'd link out to that since there's clearly a market void in display tech for people who prefer Apple product quality.

I had one other note for this thread which is for developers I think PPI is crucial. Color and contrast can't make up for low PPI when you're looking at fonts all day (and night). This site, Pixensity, is the best I've found for tracking the highest PPI monitors available. It isn't pretty but I think the data is still up to date.

Looking at the top 10, you can see that higher PPI monitor product release has been pretty stagnant for while. Also the XDR's PPI is surprisingly beat by the Ultrafine 5k, though not by much.

If anyone is aware of a better site for tracking PPI please post.

Good post. Pixensity tells the hideous truth: between 2016 and when the XDR display came out, no new high PPI monitors were released. The time is ripe for a new mid-market display from Apple.

That said, looks like I'll be working remotely for the foreseeable future, so a new iMac might make more sense for me short-term. I'll see the WWDC card first and if I don't like what I see, I'll probably get an XDR and make the 16" MBP my main.

 

[Adult80HD]

Are you aware LG also makes the panels for the XDR?

There may be some better QC going on under the hood for the Pro Display XDR (in fact I would dearly expect so), but these displays tend to be calibrated to an accuracy below any noticeable thresholds when they come out of the factory. So it's hard to believe this is really apples to apples. Perhaps you are:

A. seeing the difference between a display that is factory calibrated vs one that hasn't been for a couple of years. In which case you are going to face similar calibration issues with your Pro Display XDR eventually.
B. Observing the FALD black levels and contrast vs a regular display. The FALD certainly does have contrast advantages ... those are mostly going to be visible in darker environments tho. I love the FALD, but at a lower price point and really feel like I need the professional option to disable it for certain types of work.
C. Seeing the difference between a less well QC'd 1300 dollar monitor vs 5000-6000 dollar one. There's always going to be some element of this, especially in regards to dirty screen effect, etc. However 1300 is certainly not cheap for a monitor to begin with and one would hope there's less "panel lottery" going on there to begin with.

Of course, that's the point I was trying to make: The FALD *is* better, it *is* a higher QC'ed display (I would bet that Apple's standards are higher than LG's, and have to be at the price point), and as I pointed out, even if I calibrate the LG I still can't get it to feel as accurate as the XDR. So yes, it's a much better display. Is it so much better that it's worth the extra cost? Putting aside the fact that the more advanced technology costs more, I personally think so, but everyone can reach their own conclusions based on personal preferences and use cases.

 

[syndr0me]

After nearly year of coveting, ordering, cancelling and waiting, I finally picked up a glossy XDR with the stand. It arrived yesterday and I stayed up entirely too late messing with it. I've been WFH for 5 years now, mostly as a developer, though more accurately as DevOps, so I'm not in a single IDE all day long, but close. I've been using an LG5K that was one of the batch that came out right after the wifi issues were solved. It's been mostly alright aside from really bad image retention and crappy build quality. In the past 6 months or so, it's been more or less reliable plugging/unplugging from my work and personal MBPs (last 2019 15" for work and 16" maxed out for personal). I thought about waiting to see what the new iMac offers, but the reality is that I spend nearly 100% of my time using the work machine. My personal MBP mostly collects dust.

When I first plugged in the monitor, it didn't power on. It wouldn't connect to either mac. I thought I had a dud. I tried pulling the power cable and lightning cable several times. Nothing. On a whim, I plugged it into a different outlet and it finally came to life. This is strange to me since my office was newly built last year, and part of the process was city inspection of the electrical which is all new. Nonetheless, I picked up an outlet tester, so we'll see. Once the monitor did start working, I plugged it back into the problematic outlet and it's been fine ever since. Not sure what to think. I'll keep a close eye on it.

I immediately tried to change the monitor from the 1600 profile to the 500, and it crashed. Needed to be power cycled. I've since tried it a few more times and it's been fine, though it does take a while to light up after switching.

Now that it's all working, and I've spent some time with it, my overall impressions are good. The build quality is amazing, and it looks great on the desk. The picture quality hasn't been game changing for me yet, but it does have better contrast and makes things seem like they pop off the screen. I spent most of my time so far in vscode though, so not a lot of variety in what I've been looking at. I imagine as I do more casual use, or edit some media, I'll start to notice the differences more. Right now, it seems like a nice perk, but not worth upgrading for all on its own if you already have a 5K. I haven't noticed anything related to the endless chatter regarding backlighting issues or off axis color, but I'm not really in that space, so I either don't notice or don't care enough for it to register.

The big thing though, and the reason I got and plan to keep this monitor is that the increased size over the 27" is exactly what I needed. I'm constantly bumping into the edges of the LG5K, but wanted to keep the beautiful PPI in a larger package. I'm not really into multiple monitors, and I prefer to keep my desk setup somewhat compact. So for me, this was the only upgrade path without sacrificing picture quality. If you're not opposed to multiple monitors and your main desire is more space, it's hard to say this is a big enough upgrade over 2x LG5Ks or something similar to justify the cost. This is with developers in mind, not creative professionals that might legitimately use the improved accuracy, lighting and such.

Apple makes a damn nice monitor. The build is so superior to everything else out there, it really reminds you how crappy other companies are at making things. A 5K version of this thing without some of the XDR features, but similar build quality is really a glaring hole in their product lineup. They've done everything required to make MBPs the perfect mobile/desktop hybrid with the single cable life, and then don't offer a reasonable monitor to complete the package. It's a surprising omission, especially in these strange days.

 

[Adult80HD]

After nearly year of coveting, ordering, cancelling and waiting, I finally picked up a glossy XDR with the stand. It arrived yesterday and I stayed up entirely too late messing with it. I've been WFH for 5 years now, mostly as a developer, though more accurately as DevOps, so I'm not in a single IDE all day long, but close. I've been using an LG5K that was one of the batch that came out right after the wifi issues were solved. It's been mostly alright aside from really bad image retention and crappy build quality. In the past 6 months or so, it's been more or less reliable plugging/unplugging from my work and personal MBPs (last 2019 15" for work and 16" maxed out for personal). I thought about waiting to see what the new iMac offers, but the reality is that I spend nearly 100% of my time using the work machine. My personal MBP mostly collects dust.

When I first plugged in the monitor, it didn't power on. It wouldn't connect to either mac. I thought I had a dud. I tried pulling the power cable and lightning cable several times. Nothing. On a whim, I plugged it into a different outlet and it finally came to life. This is strange to me since my office was newly built last year, and part of the process was city inspection of the electrical which is all new. Nonetheless, I picked up an outlet tester, so we'll see. Once the monitor did start working, I plugged it back into the problematic outlet and it's been fine ever since. Not sure what to think. I'll keep a close eye on it.

I immediately tried to change the monitor from the 1600 profile to the 500, and it crashed. Needed to be power cycled. I've since tried it a few more times and it's been fine, though it does take a while to light up after switching.

Now that it's all working, and I've spent some time with it, my overall impressions are good. The build quality is amazing, and it looks great on the desk. The picture quality hasn't been game changing for me yet, but it does have better contrast and makes things seem like they pop off the screen. I spent most of my time so far in vscode though, so not a lot of variety in what I've been looking at. I imagine as I do more casual use, or edit some media, I'll start to notice the differences more. Right now, it seems like a nice perk, but not worth upgrading for all on its own if you already have a 5K. I haven't noticed anything related to the endless chatter regarding backlighting issues or off axis color, but I'm not really in that space, so I either don't notice or don't care enough for it to register.

The big thing though, and the reason I got and plan to keep this monitor is that the increased size over the 27" is exactly what I needed. I'm constantly bumping into the edges of the LG5K, but wanted to keep the beautiful PPI in a larger package. I'm not really into multiple monitors, and I prefer to keep my desk setup somewhat compact. So for me, this was the only upgrade path without sacrificing picture quality. If you're not opposed to multiple monitors and your main desire is more space, it's hard to say this is a big enough upgrade over 2x LG5Ks or something similar to justify the cost. This is with developers in mind, not creative professionals that might legitimately use the improved accuracy, lighting and such.

Apple makes a damn nice monitor. The build is so superior to everything else out there, it really reminds you how crappy other companies are at making things. A 5K version of this thing without some of the XDR features, but similar build quality is really a glaring hole in their product lineup. They've done everything required to make MBPs the perfect mobile/desktop hybrid with the single cable life, and then don't offer a reasonable monitor to complete the package. It's a surprising omission, especially in these strange days.

I wonder if the first time you started it up it went black because it was updating the firmware, and that made you think it was the outlet. Check what firmware it's running now; I just got a brand new glossy last week and it was still on the original launch firmware. I think Apple got stock of the glossy displays during the COVID crisis as sales probably dropped way off, and those stock displays were all shipped out with launch firmware.

Overall I agree with your assessment of the display. I personally think the brouhaha about off-axis color, and backlighting was mostly just a lot of hot air from either folks that a) couldn't afford or justify spending the money on the display and therefore wanted to piss and moan about something b) somehow managed to really believe that Apple wasn't using their typical marketing hype, and thought that a $5000 display could really replace a $40000 display or c) a tiny fraction of high-end pros who in reality should have known better than expect it to be so good for so cheap, and have the needs and skills to pick up on those issues.

The reality is that if you go out and try to find a 32" class display with high resolution, there are almost no options at all. Throw in HDR capabilities, high color fidelity, etc. and the market becomes tiny, and the few options that exist are all very expensive as well. I do agree that there is a hole for Apple to fill--and a 5K version of this display in a 27" format would be a killer product for them if they chose to make one. Even without the HDR it would be great, but the HDR would help distinguish it in the market.

 

[syndr0me]

Firmware is 3.3.23. Not sure what it shipped with, but if it did update, it did so silently.

What's the preferred profile for desktop use? The 500 one seemed more dim than the LG5K which I typically ran near full brightness.
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Although now that I'm trying P3-500 again, it seems plenty bright, so maybe I just caught it on a bad day?

 

[Adult80HD]

Firmware is 3.3.23. Not sure what it shipped with, but if it did update, it did so silently.

What's the preferred profile for desktop use? The 500 one seemed more dim than the LG5K which I typically ran near full brightness.
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Although now that I'm trying P3-500 again, it seems plenty bright, so maybe I just caught it on a bad day?

I bet the black screen was the firmware update. It can do that; I have three and one did it the same way as yours, just went black and updated.

The standard P3-500 is fine, just turn off TruTone unless you love it (I hate it, I want full control of the color and brightness). I do a lot of photo editing on two of mine that are side by side (both Nano) versions and I have made a custom profile for those; for my video editing setup I'm using one of the standard video profiles depending on the type of content being produced.

I also initially felt the LG was brighter until I turned off TruTone and set them side by side for a while. I checked with a X-Rite i1Display Pro Plus, which is designed for high brightness HDR displays, and the XDR is very true to the nits listed. The LG was, too, so I think it's something perceptual about how the FLAD lighting works vs the LG with just straight up uniform backlighting.

 

[syndr0me]

I bet the black screen was the firmware update. It can do that; I have three and one did it the same way as yours, just went black and updated.

The standard P3-500 is fine, just turn off TruTone unless you love it (I hate it, I want full control of the color and brightness). I do a lot of photo editing on two of mine that are side by side (both Nano) versions and I have made a custom profile for those; for my video editing setup I'm using one of the standard video profiles depending on the type of content being produced.

I also initially felt the LG was brighter until I turned off TruTone and set them side by side for a while. I checked with a X-Rite i1Display Pro Plus, which is designed for high brightness HDR displays, and the XDR is very true to the nits listed. The LG was, too, so I think it's something perceptual about how the FLAD lighting works vs the LG with just straight up uniform backlighting.

Hope that's the case. The thought of doing an RMA sounds awful!

Yeah, P3-500 seems fine now. I turned off true tone and automatic brightness and it seems great. Not even needing full brightness on P3-500. I like the idea of true tone, and I run it on my iPad, but it sure made things seem super yellow with the color of my office lighting. Nothing I'm doing right now requires color accuracy, so I'll just roll with it. Quarantine has made me so lazy about using the nice camera gear that I cancelled my Adobe CC subscription.

 

[radus]

I really don't know what is better for the eyes:
1. high screen resolution or
2. a flicker reduced screen (120Hz or more) ?

 

[syndr0me]

I assume a number of people reading this thread are software developers, or something similar, that can afford this monitor, but are having trouble with the mental gymnastics to justify it. That was me too, for the longest time. I'll share my opinions on the state of things and how I ultimately justified it. I really enjoyed similar posts from other people along the way and figured I'd contribute.

If you weren't already working from home full-time, it's pretty likely that you are now, and will be for quite some time to come. So long, in fact, that once this SARS2 thing is over, WFH will probably become permanent for a lot more people, or at least an option that's common enough that you can reliably find good WFH jobs if that's something you want to do. And while we hopefully never experience another pandemic, clearly they can still happen at anytime, and are capable of breaking the world. So with that in mind, spending some money to make your home office perfect for you seems well worth it. Obviously this entirely my opinion, and many will disagree, but that's my approach to things now.

If your income is tied to your work as a software developer, chance are everything you have and own basically orbit around your monitor and computer. The office it's in. The place you live. All your possessions. All made possible through this portal with which you get paid handsomely to think and type. It all starts with that interface. And you probably spend a lot more time than just working hours with that interface. So why not make the experience as nice and frictionless as possible? Why squint at monitors that look like you're staring through a screen door, or deal with something flapping around on your desk or unreliably connecting? The literally gateway with which you reach your hand through and pull out fists full of dollars every day? Kinda makes the decision seem easy. Nobody blinks when someone buys a fancy watch or car or boat or recreational vehicle. Yet when it comes time to buy the piece of equipment you'll interact with more than anything else in your life, suddenly we hit the brakes and panic.

Yes, it's overpriced for people not taking advantage of the pro features. Yes the stand is expensive, but wow is it wonderful, and overwhelmingly addresses issues other monitors have with their stands. No, you probably shouldn't buy it. But yes, you probably should.
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Now that I'm casually browsing, looking at pictures on Twitter and such, the differences are a lot more apparent. The dark spots are _so dark_ it's almost jarring to look at. Things really pop off the screen with their contrast. Very much like watching an OLED TV for the first time. Gonna take some getting used to!

 

[radus]

I assume a number of people reading this thread are software developers, or something similar, that can afford this monitor, but are having trouble with the mental gymnastics to justify it. That was me too, for the longest time. I'll share my opinions on the state of things and how I ultimately justified it. I really enjoyed similar posts from other people along the way and figured I'd contribute.

If you weren't already working from home full-time, it's pretty likely that you are now, and will be for quite some time to come. So long, in fact, that once this SARS2 thing is over, WFH will probably become permanent for a lot more people, or at least an option that's common enough that you can reliably find good WFH jobs if that's something you want to do. And while we hopefully never experience another pandemic, clearly they can still happen at anytime, and are capable of breaking the world. So with that in mind, spending some money to make your home office perfect for you seems well worth it. Obviously this entirely my opinion, and many will disagree, but that's my approach to things now.

If your income is tied to your work as a software developer, chance are everything you have and own basically orbit around your monitor and computer. The office it's in. The place you live. All your possessions. All made possible through this portal with which you get paid handsomely to think and type. It all starts with that interface. And you probably spend a lot more time than just working hours with that interface. So why not make the experience as nice and frictionless as possible? Why squint at monitors that look like you're staring through a screen door, or deal with something flapping around on your desk or unreliably connecting? The literally gateway with which you reach your hand through and pull out fists full of dollars every day? Kinda makes the decision seem easy. Nobody blinks when someone buys a fancy watch or car or boat or recreational vehicle. Yet when it comes time to buy the piece of equipment you'll interact with more than anything else in your life, suddenly we hit the brakes and panic.

Yes, it's overpriced for people not taking advantage of the pro features. Yes the stand is expensive, but wow is it wonderful, and overwhelmingly addresses issues other monitors have with their stands. No, you probably shouldn't buy it. But yes, you probably should.
[automerge]1592073246[/automerge]
Now that I'm casually browsing, looking at pictures on Twitter and such, the differences are a lot more apparent. The dark spots are _so dark_ it's almost jarring to look at. Things really pop off the screen with their contrast. Very much like watching an OLED TV for the first time. Gonna take some getting used to!

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Oled-Tv --- and why not using a 65" or 75" 120Hz oled-tv as the monitor ? using HDMI 2.0 or Displayport - wall mounted behind the desk.

 

[syndr0me]

[automerge]1592078622[/automerge]
Oled-Tv --- and why not using a 65" or 75" 120Hz oled-tv as the monitor ? using HDMI 2.0 or Displayport - wall mounted behind the desk.

Those are options for sure. I use one like that as a monitor for my gaming PC and it looks great. Even supports G-Sync with a modern LG. Wouldn’t want to code on it though.

 

[Adult80HD]

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Oled-Tv --- and why not using a 65" or 75" 120Hz oled-tv as the monitor ? using HDMI 2.0 or Displayport - wall mounted behind the desk.

Two simple words: Burn-in. OLED's are still not really ready for daily computer usage, where you have stuff on the screen in the same spot for a long time. Even my top of the line Sony OLED TV will show ghosts; I left the Amazon Prime Video screen up for about 5-10 minutes the other night and when it switched to a show with a dark black background of I could see a ghost of a yellow box from the previous screen.

 

[chabig]

A good portion of my work includes coding and I’ve found the XDR to be absolutely amazing for the job. Is it overkill? Probably, but it makes looking at the screen for hours much more pleasant.

I have one in landscape and one in portrait, plus a Thunderbolt Display in portrait as well (PLP setup).

Get two XDRs. You’ll love them.

 

[rkuo]

I assume a number of people reading this thread are software developers, or something similar, that can afford this monitor, but are having trouble with the mental gymnastics to justify it. That was me too, for the longest time. I'll share my opinions on the state of things and how I ultimately justified it. I really enjoyed similar posts from other people along the way and figured I'd contribute.

Part of the mistake might be trying to justify it. . A Porsche salesman once told me that. Some things you just stop trying to justify if deep down you really want them. I'm OK with that at some level.

If your income is tied to your work as a software developer, chance are everything you have and own basically orbit around your monitor and computer. The office it's in. The place you live. All your possessions. All made possible through this portal with which you get paid handsomely to think and type. It all starts with that interface. And you probably spend a lot more time than just working hours with that interface. So why not make the experience as nice and frictionless as possible? Why squint at monitors that look like you're staring through a screen door, or deal with something flapping around on your desk or unreliably connecting? The literally gateway with which you reach your hand through and pull out fists full of dollars every day? Kinda makes the decision seem easy. Nobody blinks when someone buys a fancy watch or car or boat or recreational vehicle. Yet when it comes time to buy the piece of equipment you'll interact with more than anything else in your life, suddenly we hit the brakes and panic.

Let's be serious here ... the increase in screen size is easily accomplished with multiple monitors, and the experience of a 5K display is not THAT bad. If we're talking about the jump from 1080p/1440p to HiDPI of some sort, I've always found that justifiable.

Yes, it's overpriced for people not taking advantage of the pro features. Yes the stand is expensive, but wow is it wonderful, and overwhelmingly addresses issues other monitors have with their stands. No, you probably shouldn't buy it. But yes, you probably should.

Wait ... what does the stand do? Forget about the price for a second ... I think it's laughably underfeatured compared to a fully articulated monitor arm and actually, a lot of thrown in monitor stands have sliding height adjustment, the ability to pivot left to right, and rotation built in. The only thing it has going for it is the unified design language with the monitor.

 

[straightMacin]

Get two XDRs. You’ll love them.

I have three 🥰

 

[codehead1]

I really don't know what is better for the eyes:
1. high screen resolution or
2. a flicker reduced screen (120Hz or more) ?

I'd say #1, easily. But how much and why depends on what you're doing...

The difference for #2 is for fast movement—smoother. Smoother is more satisfying with motion, but probably not easier on the eyes, versus 60 Hz at least. You're not seeing flicker on a 60 Hz LCD anyway, but things like animation can be smoother, assuming you can actually attain higher rates.

Brightness and focus affect eyes more than smooth movement (if something's moving quickly, you can't scrutinize it closely anyway).

Or, there's no difference—for a stationary image that's not high-res, for instance—no advantage either way.

Anyway, I do software development (and music and video) on my Mac Pro. I wrestled with whether to get the XDR versus a couple of LG ultra fine 27", I don't regret going XDR one bit (I like the larger unbroken expanse of the 32"). And if XDRs disappeared from the planet tomorrow, I'd still go with high-res ("Retina") displays, I won't buy another monitor of the old standard res.

I find the Retina so much easier on my eyes, even when I'm just reading. It's easier to focus on the text, the eyeballs don't hunt focus like they can on standard resolution anti-aliased text, which always seems slightly blurry. I'm nearsighted, work at the computer with no correction in order to not get worse, can be tough when I'm tired. But since getting the XDR, even though the text is significantly smaller that my old Mac Pro with Apple standard-res displays (Cinema LED), the XDR is far less fatiguing. I just woke my old Mac Pro to look at the screen—there is just no way I'd go back to that.

 

[kaans]

Reading random 3 posts on this thread: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/16-macbook-pro-ghosting-smearing.2212842/

4K 120Hz with a low response time would be >> 5K - but honestly I didn't test the XDR

So the fatigue comes from the IPS ghosting etc. too - on any regular IPS monitor it's there, it's supercharged on Macbook Retina's

------

I wish I bought the XDR around the time I stumbled onto this thread tho, they price matched later on with FX rates, it's 20% more expensive now

Unless Micro-Led screens roll out next year, it would've been a good purchase with assumably good resale value

 

[Dreday24]

I wish osx supported the dell 8k monitor. I use it for my windows set up and its lovely.

 

[Maxim Glukhov]

Like some of the posts here, after being on the fence for almost 2 months I ordered one myself and it arrived yesterday. I gotta say, the display is just gorgeous to look at.

With looking at the monitor all day long, for my daily job and my personal projects I didn't want to compromise on the display. Especially with WFH which is going to stick with us for at least a few more months.

My previous setup was a 2017 5k iMac for personal usage and a MBP 15" from work and I really wanted an upgrade from the 27", more so to have a display for my work MacBook.
With the display I am able to pair a MBP 16" to it and switch to the work MBP 15" in a matter of seconds.

For those who work with text all day long, software developers especially, IMO this is a great investment. With so many great features and outstanding build quality - this is probably going to last you many many years.

 

[- rob -]

Like some of the posts here, after being on the fence for almost 2 months I ordered one myself and it arrived yesterday. I gotta say, the display is just gorgeous to look at.

I have been using it for sw dev for some time now and I would not go back.

Please come say hi / intro yourself in the XDR owners thread.

 

[RainbowSWE]

Sorry for the thread Necro...

I’ve read that the Nano-Texture makes text less sharp. Anyone have that experience?

I am a Software Engineer working on high performance GPU video decoding considering the Pro XDR.

I have been waiting for the Asus PA32UCG for over a year now. The damn thing never came out. I’m now eye’ing the Pro XDR again. Currently working with an LG W650-UK 4K monitor. I spend most of my time writing lots of code but also verifying raw output from time to time so color and HDR are important. With WFH I no longer have access to our lab with our Sony HDR reference monitor.

I just wish the Asus PA32UCG was available as VRR is also important.

 

[likegadgets]

After nearly year of coveting, ordering, cancelling and waiting, I finally picked up a glossy XDR with the stand. It arrived yesterday and I stayed up entirely too late messing with it. I've been WFH for 5 years now, mostly as a developer, though more accurately as DevOps, so I'm not in a single IDE all day long, but close. I've been using an LG5K that was one of the batch that came out right after the wifi issues were solved. It's been mostly alright aside from really bad image retention and crappy build quality. In the past 6 months or so, it's been more or less reliable plugging/unplugging from my work and personal MBPs (last 2019 15" for work and 16" maxed out for personal). I thought about waiting to see what the new iMac offers, but the reality is that I spend nearly 100% of my time using the work machine. My personal MBP mostly collects dust.

When I first plugged in the monitor, it didn't power on. It wouldn't connect to either mac. I thought I had a dud. I tried pulling the power cable and lightning cable several times. Nothing. On a whim, I plugged it into a different outlet and it finally came to life. This is strange to me since my office was newly built last year, and part of the process was city inspection of the electrical which is all new. Nonetheless, I picked up an outlet tester, so we'll see. Once the monitor did start working, I plugged it back into the problematic outlet and it's been fine ever since. Not sure what to think. I'll keep a close eye on it.

I immediately tried to change the monitor from the 1600 profile to the 500, and it crashed. Needed to be power cycled. I've since tried it a few more times and it's been fine, though it does take a while to light up after switching.

Now that it's all working, and I've spent some time with it, my overall impressions are good. The build quality is amazing, and it looks great on the desk. The picture quality hasn't been game changing for me yet, but it does have better contrast and makes things seem like they pop off the screen. I spent most of my time so far in vscode though, so not a lot of variety in what I've been looking at. I imagine as I do more casual use, or edit some media, I'll start to notice the differences more. Right now, it seems like a nice perk, but not worth upgrading for all on its own if you already have a 5K. I haven't noticed anything related to the endless chatter regarding backlighting issues or off axis color, but I'm not really in that space, so I either don't notice or don't care enough for it to register.

The big thing though, and the reason I got and plan to keep this monitor is that the increased size over the 27" is exactly what I needed. I'm constantly bumping into the edges of the LG5K, but wanted to keep the beautiful PPI in a larger package. I'm not really into multiple monitors, and I prefer to keep my desk setup somewhat compact. So for me, this was the only upgrade path without sacrificing picture quality. If you're not opposed to multiple monitors and your main desire is more space, it's hard to say this is a big enough upgrade over 2x LG5Ks or something similar to justify the cost. This is with developers in mind, not creative professionals that might legitimately use the improved accuracy, lighting and such.

Apple makes a damn nice monitor. The build is so superior to everything else out there, it really reminds you how crappy other companies are at making things. A 5K version of this thing without some of the XDR features, but similar build quality is really a glaring hole in their product lineup. They've done everything required to make MBPs the perfect mobile/desktop hybrid with the single cable life, and then don't offer a reasonable monitor to complete the package. It's a surprising omission, especially in these strange days.

I am curious - did you try running the XDR at the same tima as the LG5K (each on connected to different sides or your MBP)? I currently have 2 x LG5K's and want to replace one with an XDR, but maintain the 27" for additional side real estate. Curious if it works and how it feels/looks.

 

[likegadgets]

I am curious - did you try running the XDR at the same tima as the LG5K (each on connected to different sides or your MBP)? I currently have 2 x LG5K's and want to replace one with an XDR, but maintain the 27" for additional side real estate. Curious if it works and how it feels/looks.

Answering my own question. I got the XDR and it runs fine with an LG5K. I have a MBP 2019 16" with the AMD Radeon Pro 5500M 8 GB and so far - smooth graphics on both monitors (each connected to separate T3 sides)

 

[- rob -]

Sorry for the thread Necro...

I’ve read that the Nano-Texture makes text less sharp. Anyone have that experience?

I am a Software Engineer working on high performance GPU video decoding considering the Pro XDR.

I have been waiting for the Asus PA32UCG for over a year now. The damn thing never came out. I’m now eye’ing the Pro XDR again. Currently working with an LG W650-UK 4K monitor. I spend most of my time writing lots of code but also verifying raw output from time to time so color and HDR are important. With WFH I no longer have access to our lab with our Sony HDR reference monitor.

I just wish the Asus PA32UCG was available as VRR is also important.

I spend a lot of time staring at code on the xdr with the nano treatment. Text is sharp as I've seen it on a monitor. As for being less so than the regular, you might ask in the XDR owner's thread. There's at least one person with both side by side.