You have a desk, you have a Macbook.
But why not a monitor?
Okay, we're not all millionaires.
There are a load of other options out there, but they're all ugly.
And it's a problem for us design obsessed Mac users.
It can be a big challenge to find a good monitor to set up at a nice desk, at home,
or work, or at home for work. So I'm going to go on a journey
to see if I can find a monitor that can feel at home beside all my other Apple devices.
This predicament is really confusing because Apple has made a range of beautiful monitors before.
Demonstrating the future of LCDs, the Apple Cinema and Studio displays
were offered in a range of different sizes at prices that shrunk slightly as the technology matured.
Their last branded monitor, the Apple Thunderbolt display,
priced at $1,000, was perfectly suited for laptop deskers,
sporting an IO hub at the back and a MagSafe connector to charge your laptop.
But in 2016, after putting that screen to pasture,
Apple was fine to just throw their hands up in the air and stock Apple stores with this,
the LG Ultra Fine Display. It's available with either a 27-inch 5K panel
or 24-inch 4K one. But just look and feel it.
This is almost a moto rocker situation, unbecoming of what Apple users
would like to have on their desks. With charcoal plastics,
a weirdly thick forehead bezel to hold a webcam,
it's a monitor that almost gets there in so many respects,
but never completes the journey. With the wonderful high-resolution 5K panel from the iMac,
it could be a fantastic Macbook companion like the old Thunderbolt screen,
but there's just so much missing, like nice materials,
an Ethernet port, SD card reader, or even any USB-A ports,
all things that would have made this a fantastic and useful screen.
So what happens when we leave the Apple Store and look at the hundreds of other options
out there in the monitor sphere? There's gotta be something nice.
What I'm looking for is a monitor with good industrial design,
good cable management, and support for USB-C,
all for less than $800. And after looking through all the options,
I've arrived at these three.
Now, the first option I wanna show comes from Razer.
Despite being gaming focused, this monitor is really stunning.
The back is clad in fabric. The stand, though quite heavy,
has integrated diffused RGB light that tastefully glows against the desk.
Cable management looks like a set of spillways that the bright green cables flow down.
If you have a space gray Macbook and matching keyboard and mouse,
this will look great on your desk.
As it is a gaming monitor, it does retain those priorities,
like temporal resolution over spatial resolution. This monitor is only 1440p, not 4K.
This one, the latest model, has a 165 Hertz refresh rate,
and it'll set you back $800, but a 1.44 Hertz model is also available
for $1 to $200 less if on sale.
And that one offers 15W of charging over USB-C.
That's a mere trickle compared to the 96W, the big 16-inch MacBook Pro charger outputs,
but better than this newer model that doesn't charge at all.
This Razer is still kind of expensive, and if it's money you wanna save,
might I suggest the MSI Modern Monitor?
It's 24 inches and 1080p, which is the largest I would recommend anyone go
at this resolution. The panel is nothing to write home about,
and the cable management could be a little bit better with a hole in the stand or something.
Also, this logo, kind of meh.
But it costs around $160, and at that price,
it's very hard to find something this attractive that includes a USB-C input.
Though, it doesn't come with a USB-C cable, so you're going to have to find one
that supports DisplayPort, which is harder than you think.
How am I supposed to know it's DisplayPort? Do I just have to test all these?
It too will only send a 15W trickle to your laptop.
Perhaps the most exciting thing about this monitor is the potential for color.
A few months ago, MSI posted a short animation to Facebook
previewing five familiar looking options.
And when I asked MSI about it, they didn't have much information other than to say
that they're in the process of releasing other colors and that the post was to gauge interest.
So please let them know your interest in the different variants because that'll be great.
If you're looking for an ultra-wide, the Samsung CJ791 is really compelling,
which unfortunately I don't have here. It supports Thunderbolt 3
with an extra port for daisy chaining. It is quite attractive
and has really decent cable management. Priced at $700, sometimes less on sale,
I haven't been able to find a more compelling ultra-wide.
So these monitors are all good, but there is one that stands out among the rest,
providing what I think is the most attractive package
at a decent price. And it's this, the Dell Ultra Thin 27-inch monitor.
Now most of Dell's monitor designs are competently generic,
but with an MSRP of $550 or on sale in the $400 range,
I don't think you'll find a more attractive companion
for your Mac book. Yes, it's only got 1440p resolution.
I kind of wish it was at least UHD, but it is quite bright
at up to 400 nits brightness, 600 if you use the HDR mode under HDMI.
This is truly the spiritual successor to the old LED cinema display.
I love how the ports are tucked behind the stand ARM and that the cables can neatly be fed through it.
I love how you can connect your Mac with one USB-C cable
and provide 45 Watts of power. I love that there are two USB-A 3.0 ports
for peripherals and drives. If I had a Mac book that I wanted to set up on my desk,
this would be the monitor I'd get, no doubt. In fact, the design is so good
that I think it's worthy of the Fruit Logo sticker itself.
There are rumors that Apple might have a less expensive
consumer-oriented monitor in the pipeline, or not.
And without powerful Apple's ARM-equipped laptops are now,
there's less reason than ever to buy a desktop instead of a more convenient Mac book.
It's just too bad it can't be an Apple made, attractive,
perhaps even colorful screen, just like the iMac we all know and love.
But in the meantime, at least to my taste,
all we have are these.
Thanks for plugging your DisplayPort-compatible USB-C cable into this Mac Address.
Make sure to like and subscribe. And if you think you know of any monitor
more attractive than the options I presented, sure, you can put them in the comments below.
I'm curious what you'll come up with.