2: Options, experiences...what would you do in my place?
Hi!
I'm about to order a Mac Mini with an M4-Pro chip, 48 GB of Memory and a 1TB SSD, and I can't find any 5K monitor with a 24 to 27-inch Thunderbolt port to avoid spending the 1,770 euros that the Apple Studio Display costs.
I have tested and returned the LG 32UN88A-W Ultrafine 32/4K because in addition to being too big, it's a million miles from looking like any Apple monitor. And it also only has one USB-C port, which is not the same as a Thunderbolt port.
A few days ago I also returned an iMac 24 with the M4 chip and a 24-inch 4.5K monitor, which worked very well, but it didn't convince me because it didn't have an HDMI port, and it had Thunderbolt-4 ports, instead of the new Thunderbolt-5 ones.
Also,I recently sold an iMAC with a 5K display from 2019, and I really miss that quality of monitor.
Now I have to buy the Apple Display, which seems excessively expensive to me, or another brand that is similar... and if something like that doesn't exist... well, I'm thinking of buying a MacBook-Pro with M4, and maybe one day
find a decent 5K monitor.
QUESTIONS:
1: Has the same thing happened to anyone?
2: Options, experiences...what would you do in my place?
Thank you very much in advance!
MATT.
NOTE: I live in Spain after more than 30 years in California
Hi!
I'm about to order a Mac Mini with an M4-Pro chip, 48 GB of Memory and a 1TB SSD, and I can't find any 5K monitor with a 24 to 27-inch Thunderbolt port to avoid spending the 1,770 euros that the Apple Studio Display costs.
I have tested and returned the LG 32UN88A-W Ultrafine 32/4K because in addition to being too big, it's a million miles from looking like any Apple monitor. And it also only has one USB-C port, which is not the same as a Thunderbolt port.
A few days ago I also returned an iMac 24 with the M4 chip and a 24-inch 4.5K monitor, which worked very well, but it didn't convince me because it didn't have an HDMI port, and it had Thunderbolt-4 ports, instead of the new Thunderbolt-5 ones.
Also,I recently sold an iMAC with a 5K display from 2019, and I really miss that quality of monitor.
On 17/12/2024 11:37, Matt wrote:
Hi!
I'm about to order a Mac Mini with an M4-Pro chip, 48 GB of Memory and a 1TB >> SSD, and I can't find any 5K monitor with a 24 to 27-inch Thunderbolt port to
avoid spending the 1,770 euros that the Apple Studio Display costs.
I have tested and returned the LG 32UN88A-W Ultrafine 32/4K because in
addition to being too big, it's a million miles from looking like any Apple >> monitor. And it also only has one USB-C port, which is not the same as a
Thunderbolt port.
A few days ago I also returned an iMac 24 with the M4 chip and a 24-inch 4.5K
monitor, which worked very well, but it didn't convince me because it didn't >> have an HDMI port, and it had Thunderbolt-4 ports, instead of the new
Thunderbolt-5 ones.
Also,I recently sold an iMAC with a 5K display from 2019, and I really miss >> that quality of monitor.
Now I have to buy the Apple Display, which seems excessively expensive to me,
or another brand that is similar... and if something like that doesn't
exist... well, I'm thinking of buying a MacBook-Pro with M4, and maybe one day
find a decent 5K monitor.
QUESTIONS:
1: Has the same thing happened to anyone?
2: Options, experiences...what would you do in my place?
Thank you very much in advance!
MATT.
NOTE: I live in Spain after more than 30 years in California
I fully understand your dilemma!
Might you be tempted by this?
https://eshop.macsales.com/configure-my-mac/apple-imac-retina-5k-27-inch-mid-2020?sku=UACN2FS7XX11XXA
On 17 Dec 2024 at 11:37:51 GMT, "Matt" <matnomail@myemail.invalid>
wrote:
2: Options, experiences...what would you do in my place?
There isn't anything that provides what you want in a single package, so you're going to have to get a screen for screen things and a separate
docking adapter for the ports. No one makes 5k monitors right now except Apple, and they update their screens once a decade or so.
Screenwise I'm extremely happy using a 3:2 ratio 28" Huawei MateView. It
has a great picture and costs quarter of the 27" Apple screen. It has
the nice "connect one USBC lead for signal and power" thing. Plus some
other ports that I don't use.
Cheers - Jaimie
Matt <matnomail@myemail.invalid> wrote:
Hi!
I'm about to order a Mac Mini with an M4-Pro chip, 48 GB of Memory and a 1TB >> SSD, and I can't find any 5K monitor with a 24 to 27-inch Thunderbolt port to
avoid spending the 1,770 euros that the Apple Studio Display costs.
I have tested and returned the LG 32UN88A-W Ultrafine 32/4K because in
addition to being too big, it's a million miles from looking like any Apple >> monitor. And it also only has one USB-C port, which is not the same as a
Thunderbolt port.
A few days ago I also returned an iMac 24 with the M4 chip and a 24-inch 4.5K
monitor, which worked very well, but it didn't convince me because it didn't >> have an HDMI port, and it had Thunderbolt-4 ports, instead of the new
Thunderbolt-5 ones.
Also,I recently sold an iMAC with a 5K display from 2019, and I really miss >> that quality of monitor.
I recently bought a 2015 5K 27" iMac for £112. It's doing fine as a Mac for the time being, but one day I'll turn it into a monitor and connect it to a Mac Mini (the M4 Mini is tempting).
For about £100 you can buy conversion boards on Aliexpress that hook up to the 5K panel and take HDMI/DP inputs, and then you can treat it like a regular monitor. Pages like this explain the process: https://ohmypizza.com/2023/04/converting-a-5k-imac-into-an-external-5k-display
(I'm actually a bit surprised that the Chinese folks haven't made a drop in replacement board to fit in the iMac's mounting, back panel etc - it
wouldn't take much work and would make the process much neater)
Why do you actually need a *Thunderbolt* display, over a USB-C display?
Are you bandwidth limited by the USB-C?
Are you hanging Thunderbolt peripherals (NVMe?) off the display?
Theo
On 17 Dec 2024 at 15:43:35 GMT+1, "Theo" <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> wrote:
Interesting, thanks Theo!
Too bad it's too late for me, as I sold my iMac 27/5K (late 2015) because I was tired of the problem that edition suffered, and it caused me some problems.
I sold it for only €600
Here the problem in question:
https://eclecticlight.co/2021/02/06/could-this-fix-firmware-updating-in-the-imac-retina-5k-27-inch-late-2015-imac171/
BTW:
Pretty much all monitors will work flawlessly on the M4 Mac Mini. If you want crispy text, you'll want a high DPI screen, so 5k at 27" is the best bet, USB-C won't work nice beyond 4K.
On 17 Dec 2024 at 15:24:11 GMT+1, "David" <David@example.net> wrote:
On 17/12/2024 11:37, Matt wrote:
Hi!
I'm about to order a Mac Mini with an M4-Pro chip, 48 GB of Memory and a 1TB
SSD, and I can't find any 5K monitor with a 24 to 27-inch Thunderbolt port to
avoid spending the 1,770 euros that the Apple Studio Display costs.
I have tested and returned the LG 32UN88A-W Ultrafine 32/4K because in
addition to being too big, it's a million miles from looking like any Apple >>> monitor. And it also only has one USB-C port, which is not the same as a >>> Thunderbolt port.
A few days ago I also returned an iMac 24 with the M4 chip and a 24-inch 4.5K
monitor, which worked very well, but it didn't convince me because it didn't
have an HDMI port, and it had Thunderbolt-4 ports, instead of the new
Thunderbolt-5 ones.
Also,I recently sold an iMAC with a 5K display from 2019, and I really miss >>> that quality of monitor.
Now I have to buy the Apple Display, which seems excessively expensive to me,
or another brand that is similar... and if something like that doesn't
exist... well, I'm thinking of buying a MacBook-Pro with M4, and maybe one day
find a decent 5K monitor.
QUESTIONS:
1: Has the same thing happened to anyone?
2: Options, experiences...what would you do in my place?
Thank you very much in advance!
MATT.
NOTE: I live in Spain after more than 30 years in California
I fully understand your dilemma!
Might you be tempted by this?
https://eshop.macsales.com/configure-my-mac/apple-imac-retina-5k-27-inch-mid-2020?sku=UACN2FS7XX11XXA
Thanks David!
But I am in Europe (Spain).
And I think I have already found some solution with the Ben Q PD2730S, which I
hope in a short time will be available here.
Regards!
Matt.
Pretty much all monitors will work flawlessly on the M4 Mac Mini. If you want
crispy text, you'll want a high DPI screen, so 5k at 27" is the best bet,
USB-C won't work nice beyond 4K.
What's the problem with USB-C beyond 4K, I haven't come across that? One thing to bear in mind is that USB-C alt-mode carries Displayport, so you ideally want to connect it to a DP monitor so it's passed through direct
from the Mac. If you're using HDMI then it has to go through a conversion chip and it may be limited by the capabilities of that chip.
On 17 Dec 2024 at 20:21:33 GMT, Theo wrote:
Pretty much all monitors will work flawlessly on the M4 Mac Mini. If you want
crispy text, you'll want a high DPI screen, so 5k at 27" is the best bet, >>> USB-C won't work nice beyond 4K.
I'm in (or will be soon) in a similar situation to you. I don't think I could justify an Apple display, not so much on cost - more that I don't think I can appreciate the difference. I've got a cheap 28" Asus VP28U monitor I use on a Windows machine mainly for games. Close up, the 5k 27" iMac I use is obviously
streets ahead, but text doesn't look too bad at normal viewing distances.
On 17 Dec 2024 at 20:21:33 GMT, Theo wrote:
Pretty much all monitors will work flawlessly on the M4 Mac Mini. If you want
crispy text, you'll want a high DPI screen, so 5k at 27" is the best bet, >>> USB-C won't work nice beyond 4K.
I'm in (or will be soon) in a similar situation to you. I don't think I could justify an Apple display, not so much on cost - more that I don't think I can appreciate the difference. I've got a cheap 28" Asus VP28U monitor I use on a Windows machine mainly for games. Close up, the 5k 27" iMac I use is obviously
streets ahead, but text doesn't look too bad at normal viewing distances.
What's the problem with USB-C beyond 4K, I haven't come across that? One
thing to bear in mind is that USB-C alt-mode carries Displayport, so you
ideally want to connect it to a DP monitor so it's passed through direct
from the Mac. If you're using HDMI then it has to go through a conversion >> chip and it may be limited by the capabilities of that chip.
Come the time I'll take a look at:
https://www.techradar.com/computing/monitors/benq-pd2705ua
The Benq the OP's holding out for, and the Huawei mentioned by Jamie, also on the shortlist.
Matt <matnomail@myemail.invalid> wrote:
On 17 Dec 2024 at 15:43:35 GMT+1, "Theo" <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk> >> wrote:
Interesting, thanks Theo!
Too bad it's too late for me, as I sold my iMac 27/5K (late 2015) because I >> was tired of the problem that edition suffered, and it caused me some
problems.
I sold it for only €600
Here the problem in question:
https://eclecticlight.co/2021/02/06/could-this-fix-firmware-updating-in-the-imac-retina-5k-27-inch-late-2015-imac171/
BTW:
Pretty much all monitors will work flawlessly on the M4 Mac Mini. If you want
crispy text, you'll want a high DPI screen, so 5k at 27" is the best bet,
USB-C won't work nice beyond 4K.
What's the problem with USB-C beyond 4K, I haven't come across that? One thing to bear in mind is that USB-C alt-mode carries Displayport, so you ideally want to connect it to a DP monitor so it's passed through direct
from the Mac. If you're using HDMI then it has to go through a conversion chip and it may be limited by the capabilities of that chip.
Theo
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