XDR for Software Dev

[JDHiro]

Another necro bump here, but I made the leap from LG UltraFine 5K to Pro Display XDR this week, 99% for coding duty. I was fortunate enough to find a glossy display and pro stand in stock at local Apple stores - the wait times are pretty long otherwise right now.

I decided to make the leap for the following reasons:
1. I'm going to be WFH forever now, and I look at my monitor all day every day, so I'm willing to invest in the best.
2. The LG does have a good bit of IPS "panel glow" that bothers me sometimes.
3. I have issues with waking the LG from sleep sometimes.
4. With the 27" 5K I always feel like I need just a BIT more room for all my workflows.
5. The stand on the LG is just too short.

The XDR has handily resolved every one of those issues for me. I wouldn't say that dollar for dollar it's objectively worth the added cost, but I'm also really pleased with the purchase and love using the XDR. You can tell that these are really special components, right from the second you open the boxes.

One little thing I've noticed is that the LG display wake from sleep issues seem to have vanished when using the Pro Thunderbolt cable. I was so impressed with this that I bought a second Pro Thunderbolt cable to set up the LG in my second office. Both the Apple cable itself, and the Thunderbolt connectors on the XDR monitor are so much more firm and Clicky than the weak LG counterparts.

---

Another fun detail. I'm running a 16" MacBook Pro for work, but I do my personal side projects on an M1 MacBook Air 8GB. I just wanted a cheap M1 to hold me over until the Apple Silicon pro machines came out.

I am BLOWN AWAY at how well the little M1 MacBook Air can drive demanding workloads on the Pro Display XDR. Everything from building iOS apps and running simulators to playing some games. This little thing is mighty impressive.

 

[- rob -]

I decided to make the leap for the following reasons:
1. I'm going to be WFH forever now, and I look at my monitor all day every day, so I'm willing to invest in the best.

This was my primary motivator.

 

[DesertNomad]

I have an XDR (standard glass) for coding. It is hooked up to a 16" MBP (64GB, 4TB, 5600M) and while it is indeed expensive, it has been well worth it. Super colors, deep blacks and crisp text has made everything great to work with. I am working with this full time and it's been a worthwhile investment.

 

[podfrog]

Another WFH developer living life through a monitor. Have had the XDR for a few months. Absolutely no regrets.

Was admittedly an extravagant purchase for someone who lives in SublimeText and Terminal, but it's the window through which I live my professional life and now and it's tremendously good as a canvas for whatever I have on the go. Expansive and sharp as a tack. You can spread out and for a guy who's eyes aren't what they used to be, this display is super comfortable to work on.

Worth mentioning - it's connected to a 2020 16" MBP (2.3 i9 + 32GB + Intel UHD 630 1.5GB) - I eventually got a BlackMagic eGPU because the fans on the MBP would become audible too often (I blame MSFT Teams more than the MBP, but still...)

 

[tskwara]

My 10h/day iOS development work has been a real treat using the XDR. I recently bought a second one to use at home to duplicate my work setup. Nice to cut out early from the office and wrap up from home.

 

[tskwara]

…

 

[kelvin.lau]

Another necro bump here, but I made the leap from LG UltraFine 5K to Pro Display XDR this week, 99% for coding duty. I was fortunate enough to find a glossy display and pro stand in stock at local Apple stores - the wait times are pretty long otherwise right now.

I decided to make the leap for the following reasons:
1. I'm going to be WFH forever now, and I look at my monitor all day every day, so I'm willing to invest in the best.
2. The LG does have a good bit of IPS "panel glow" that bothers me sometimes.
3. I have issues with waking the LG from sleep sometimes.
4. With the 27" 5K I always feel like I need just a BIT more room for all my workflows.
5. The stand on the LG is just too short.

The XDR has handily resolved every one of those issues for me. I wouldn't say that dollar for dollar it's objectively worth the added cost, but I'm also really pleased with the purchase and love using the XDR. You can tell that these are really special components, right from the second you open the boxes.

One little thing I've noticed is that the LG display wake from sleep issues seem to have vanished when using the Pro Thunderbolt cable. I was so impressed with this that I bought a second Pro Thunderbolt cable to set up the LG in my second office. Both the Apple cable itself, and the Thunderbolt connectors on the XDR monitor are so much more firm and Clicky than the weak LG counterparts.

---

Another fun detail. I'm running a 16" MacBook Pro for work, but I do my personal side projects on an M1 MacBook Air 8GB. I just wanted a cheap M1 to hold me over until the Apple Silicon pro machines came out.

I am BLOWN AWAY at how well the little M1 MacBook Air can drive demanding workloads on the Pro Display XDR. Everything from building iOS apps and running simulators to playing some games. This little thing is mighty impressive.

100% resonate with your points. The only concern I have right now is that my triple monitor setup was only possible due to the two external eGPUs.

Currently, the M1 laptops only support 1x XDR, and don't offer support for eGPUs. I'm actually quite concerned at the relevance of my current setup...

Has anyone heard anything new on eGPU support?

 

[Maxim Glukhov]

View attachment 1826949

100% resonate with your points. The only concern I have right now is that my triple monitor setup was only possible due to the two external eGPUs.

Currently, the M1 laptops only support 1x XDR, and don't offer support for eGPUs. I'm actually quite concerned at the relevance of my current setup...

Has anyone heard anything new on eGPU support?

Impressive to see triple XDRs
I recently added a second XDR to my setup and was curious whether there are people who use 3 of them in a single setup.

Are you using this setup mostly for software dev? Could you share some details regarding your experience with those 3 amazing displays?

 

[podfrog]

View attachment 1826949

100% resonate with your points. The only concern I have right now is that my triple monitor setup was only possible due to the two external eGPUs.

Currently, the M1 laptops only support 1x XDR, and don't offer support for eGPUs. I'm actually quite concerned at the relevance of my current setup...

Has anyone heard anything new on eGPU support?

That's an impressive setup. Have had fleeting thoughts of adding a 2nd XDR. But wow, 3. Pixel overload!

Hope there's a good eGPU solution moving forward (or a post M1 variant that can support more monitors)

 

[kelvin.lau]

Impressive to see triple XDRs
I recently added a second XDR to my setup and was curious whether there are people who use 3 of them in a single setup.

Are you using this setup mostly for software dev? Could you share some details regarding your experience with those 3 amazing displays?

Yup, iOS dev. I love the screen estate, and I'd get another two if the computers supported it.

It's not perfect though. The colors on one of the XDRs are slightly off compared to the other two. I think it has to do with the fact that one of them is wired directly into the laptop, whereas the other two are wired into the eGPUs.

It doesn't bother me that much, but if you have a white background on all three monitors you will notice a slight yellow tint in the off-accuracy one.

There's also very occasional flickers of a solid horizontal green bar that happens occasionally on the monitors. All three show it. I'm not sure why this happens, but you'll see it maybe a few times an hour (usually during heavy loads).

___

Like the other fellow, I rationalized the purchase by considering the time I spend on the screen. I spend over half my life looking at a monitor, so I better be investing in something that feels great to look at.

 

[rkuo]

Impressive to see triple XDRs
I recently added a second XDR to my setup and was curious whether there are people who use 3 of them in a single setup.

Are you using this setup mostly for software dev? Could you share some details regarding your experience with those 3 amazing displays?

I use triple 5k monitors and find it a bit overkill as the aspect ratio and size of the screens forces the edges of the side monitors outside my comfortable field of view. I don't enjoy twisting my neck that far on a regular basis. At 16:10 or 4:3 there would be less wasted space, but of course that option does not exist.

 

[Maxim Glukhov]

Yup, iOS dev. I love the screen estate, and I'd get another two if the computers supported it.

It's not perfect though. The colors on one of the XDRs are slightly off compared to the other two. I think it has to do with the fact that one of them is wired directly into the laptop, whereas the other two are wired into the eGPUs.

It doesn't bother me that much, but if you have a white background on all three monitors you will notice a slight yellow tint in the off-accuracy one.

There's also very occasional flickers of a solid horizontal green bar that happens occasionally on the monitors. All three show it. I'm not sure why this happens, but you'll see it maybe a few times an hour (usually during heavy loads).

___

Like the other fellow, I rationalized the purchase by considering the time I spend on the screen. I spend over half my life looking at a monitor, so I better be investing in something that feels great to look at.

I totally understand the rationalization, that's what pushed me to get 2 of those when I was on the fence
And now your post got me considering a third one 😂
I am powering my monitors through MP 7,1 with W5700X so I hope there won't be an issue if I would connect a third monitor.

Could you share about the ergonomics of the setup? Do you always keep one monitor vertically like in the picture?
I experimented with 2 at the center with slight tilt towards me, now with one centered and another to the side. It makes more sense since one monitor is getting more attention than the other.

I use triple 5k monitors and find it a bit overkill as the aspect ratio and size of the screens forces the edges of the side monitors outside my comfortable field of view. I don't enjoy twisting my neck that far on a regular basis. At 16:10 or 4:3 there would be less wasted space, but of course that option does not exist.

The challenge really is to get the ergonomics right. Do you feel the three monitors increase your productivity?

 

[rkuo]

The challenge really is to get the ergonomics right. Do you feel the three monitors increase your productivity?

I actually went all out on the setup with Humanscale monitor arms mounted on a slatwall to float the monitors above my desk. So I think the setup is as good as it's going to get.

Productivity wise, the move from 1 to 2 monitors is hugely important, let's just call that 2x. The downside of that is the asymmetry of the monitors on the desk isn't the best in terms of aesthetics. Going from 2 to 3 monitors feels like 2.4x to me.

 

[JDHiro]

View attachment 1826949

100% resonate with your points. The only concern I have right now is that my triple monitor setup was only possible due to the two external eGPUs.

Currently, the M1 laptops only support 1x XDR, and don't offer support for eGPUs. I'm actually quite concerned at the relevance of my current setup...

Has anyone heard anything new on eGPU support?

That's an epic 3x XDR setup!

I have a feeling the M1X will probably support 2x monitors, and we'll probably have to wait for the Apple Silicon Mac Pro to have lots of 6K monitors. I get the sense that Apple wants to keep all their GPU development in-house now.

 

[kelvin.lau]

I totally understand the rationalization, that's what pushed me to get 2 of those when I was on the fence
And now your post got me considering a third one 😂
I am powering my monitors through MP 7,1 with W5700X so I hope there won't be an issue if I would connect a third monitor.

Could you share about the ergonomics of the setup? Do you always keep one monitor vertically like in the picture?
I experimented with 2 at the center with slight tilt towards me, now with one centered and another to the side. It makes more sense since one monitor is getting more attention than the other.


The challenge really is to get the ergonomics right. Do you feel the three monitors increase your productivity?

I've always had one of the monitors in portrait. My desk doesn't have enough space to support it going horizontal 😅

Portrait mode lends well for stuff like reading documentation / writing docs. I never use it for coding interestingly enough.

In terms of ergonomics - yes it takes actual effort to get it right. I think three screens is still fairly straightforward to reap the benefits. For five+, you need to actually put effort into adopting habits on how you want to place your apps in each window, and train yourself to know where to look for a given app.

Here's my setup:

I rarely alt tab for anything - I just turn my head and/or move my mouse to a particular screen to work. I also have a separate iPad Pro in the middle of my table between my split keyboard for personal stuff

 

[- rob -]

View attachment 1826949

The only concern I have right now is that my triple monitor setup was only possible due to the two external eGPUs.

What eGPUs are you using? I see a Blackmagic, are you running two standard? What wiring configuration are you using for all the TB3 lines?

I run my single XDR with a standard Blackmagic and it handles seemingly quite well with a cpu maxed, 64gb ram 2018 mini.

Hope there's a good eGPU solution moving forward (or a post M1 variant that can support more monitors)

Me too. I don’t understand how an eGPU can’t be in the offing, since I don’t expect a near term M-series chip to have graphics output that can outshine even the now-discontinued blackmagic pro.

It's not perfect though. The colors on one of the XDRs are slightly off compared to the other two.

Have you run the color calibration tools?

There's also very occasional flickers of a solid horizontal green bar that happens occasionally on the monitors. All three show it. I'm not sure why this happens, but you'll see it maybe a few times an hour (usually during heavy loads).

Im a bit surprised to read this. Unless Apple doesn’t support this config, I would make them sort it out.

I couldn’t handle flicker or a green line ever on the xdr, I’d have them on the phone that day.

Have you tested them individually to see if the artifacts persist outside this bold setup?

 

[Luekutus]

After waffling about the same decision for months, I recently decided to go with an LG Ultrafine. Even as an admitted fanboy (and someone who is at his desk 12 hours a day), I just couldn’t bring myself to plop down $5-6K. Not sure why…never been “frugal" before. If it’d been $3k — or maybe even 4K (with the stand) — I might have gone for it…just couldn’t do 5. I guess now it’ll depend on how much I like/dislike the LG (when it gets here).

 

[JDHiro]

After waffling about the same decision for months, I recently decided to go with an LG Ultrafine. Even as an admitted fanboy (and someone who is at his desk 12 hours a day), I just couldn’t bring myself to plop down $5-6K. Not sure why…never been “frugal" before. If it’d been $3k — or maybe even 4K (with the stand) — I might have gone for it…just couldn’t do 5. I guess now it’ll depend on how much I like/dislike the LG (when it gets here).

The LG is great, I still use mine about 50% of the time. One thing I'd recommend is picking up the Apple Pro Thunderbolt cable. The one that came with the LG always felt floppy and had some connection issues for me.

 

[rkuo]

After waffling about the same decision for months, I recently decided to go with an LG Ultrafine. Even as an admitted fanboy (and someone who is at his desk 12 hours a day), I just couldn’t bring myself to plop down $5-6K. Not sure why…never been “frugal" before. If it’d been $3k — or maybe even 4K (with the stand) — I might have gone for it…just couldn’t do 5. I guess now it’ll depend on how much I like/dislike the LG (when it gets here).

The XDR is just not a good value for most people. Hopefully that's obvious. 3.7K extra or more over a 27" is just a terrible value relative to the way most people would use this monitor.

More to the point, the extra cost buys you a LOT of other Apple hardware if you want ... even if you are not frugal, you still have to spend the money in a reasonably productive way. Multiple 27" monitors gets you a lot more screen space for a lot less money.