*** Show Off Your Apple Hardware ***

[GMac11]

For those of you using monitors, what do you recommend?
I‘ve read comments that MacBooks don’t work well with 4k resolution and scaling, but at the same time, many seem to use them anyway.
Is it actually a noticeable issue to much of a degree?

Not strictly (fully) Apple hardware but I just picked up a Huawei MateView 28 to accompany my 16“ M1 Pro:



Initial impressions are I’m very happy with it. It’s my first 4K monitor for a MacBook and it hasn’t disappointed. The aspect ratio is quite a departure from my Alienware 34 UW but after years of trying different monitors for both work and play I recently moved my Sim Racing onto VR so I’m now finally able to buy a monitor just for work.

As was mentioned, for out and out quality and performance I doubt you'll beat the Studio display - although whether or not your bank account agrees is another story!
I'm still using the Huawei Mateview 28 and am very happy with it. It's definitely the best monitor I've used (to date) for MacBook and represents excellent value when it's on sale which is quite regularly and often runs between £350-400.

 

[ajf]

Thank you both for the responses.
I would love the Apple display but just can’t justify the cost.
was really looking in the £400 - £600 range at most.

I had seen this one as well which seems to have got decent reviews:

OcUK sell monitors so this link has been removed.

It’s mainly for general use and Lightroom editing and seemed to stack up well with colour accuracy etc.

 

[Feek]

Sorry @ajf, that definitely counts as a competitor link.

 

[ajf]

Apologies, I never thought about that.
Can I just mention the model?

 

[Feek]

Can I just mention the model?

Of course. Just no hints about suppliers please.

 

[ajf]

To move on from my little indiscretion, I was looking at one of the ASUS ProArt series monitors.
Still 4k but they seem to get very favourable feedback for colour accuracy etc, which would be good for my Lightroom use.

Anyome had any Mac specific or just general experience of these?

 

[GMac11]

Picked up the iPad Pro 12.9 last week and thought I'd try the Logitech Combo keyboard case this time:




I couldn't decide which keyboard to get so I bought both and will return one. I have the Magic Keyboard for my iPad Air and, while it's an absolutely superb keyboard, after a couple of years I have grown tired of the limited ergonomics. So I figured I would try the Logitech offering this time. So far I'm 50/50 on it. The versatility of the Logitech keyboard is second to none but as far as out and out build quality goes I would say it's around 80-90% of the Magic Keyboard.
So I'm just weighing up versatility vs build quality...

 

[Jay85]

Got apple watches while in the US recently. Got my Series 8 GPS 45mm for $359 and my wifes SE 2 GPS 40mm for $199 (not including tax for both at 6.5%). Can't believe how much cheaper it is over there, would have been a mistake not to buy them at that price. Also got the 3rd Gen Airpods for the wife for $169.

 

[Zeebedy]

@Jay85 good choice mate, once you get used to the Apple eco system, its hard to use anything else!

 

[Jay85]

@Jay85 good choice mate, once you get used to the Apple eco system, its hard to use anything else!

Yeah pretty much been using Iphones since the 4 so getting everything else now just kinda made sense especially at that price.

 

[apple_man77]

I'm finding that too having had apple watches for a good few years I treated myself to a Garmin 965 watch now I'm running a lot more - superb watch in terms of what it can do and its battery life blows the apple watches out the water (15 days or more on a single charge) but I still can't get used to navigating through half the stuff now!!

 

[Stu999]

 

[GMac11]

So, lately I've been experimenting with a 'modular' setup featuring no monitor. I've grown increasingly tired of trying to find an external display that can come close to the XDR Display of the MacBook Pro (without having to spend £5-6k!).
So since I had the 12.9 iPad Pro kicking around I thought I would give sidecar a proper go for when I need a second display (which isn't that often to be fair).
Obviously, in the interests of tidiness/minimalism I could run sidecar wirelessly but I prefer the more robust cabled option.

 

[DataVampire]

What happens when I’m lying down and on some weights.. then my keys fall onto the ground (which I won’t hear as my buds will be in) and I finish, get up, walk away.. and then I go to leave the gym, and..

Where are my keys??

i always find, The find my app very slow at times/ i once left my bag at home by the time i got the notification. i was in town and drinking coffee.

 

[Raymond Lin]

Just putting this here as I put the last of the Apple Leather case on my iPhone 14 Pro last week. Weirdly wanting to know what this will look like as it patina.

Will update photo in a year or so I guess!

 

[shiver]

Just putting this here as I put the last of the Apple Leather case on my iPhone 14 Pro last week. Weirdly wanting to know what this will look like as it patina.

Will update photo in a year or so I guess!

If I remember I'll take a photo of my one year old one when I get home, I actually quite like the wear on it. Ironically, I am not using a case at all on my iPhone 14 Pro at the moment to trick me into feeling like it's a new phone

 

[a66as]

So, lately I've been experimenting with a 'modular' setup featuring no monitor. I've grown increasingly tired of trying to find an external display that can come close to the XDR Display of the MacBook Pro (without having to spend £5-6k!).
So since I had the 12.9 iPad Pro kicking around I thought I would give sidecar a proper go for when I need a second display (which isn't that often to be fair).
Obviously, in the interests of tidiness/minimalism I could run sidecar wirelessly but I prefer the more robust cabled option.

I like your setup, I am not sure what model your iPad is but I have noticed if you run sidecar with a cable then it uses pro motion on the iPad and it feels smoother to me, whereas if you connect wirelessly via bluetooth it's not as smooth, so I think the cable can do higher refresh rates.

which stands are you using out of interest?

 

[GMac11]

I like your setup, I am not sure what model your iPad is but I have noticed if you run sidecar with a cable then it uses pro motion on the iPad and it feels smoother to me, whereas if you connect wirelessly via bluetooth it's not as smooth, so I think the cable can do higher refresh rates.

I can't say I noticed if it runs at 60 or 120hz - I did some research previously but found no firm answers. If I had to guess I'd have thought it was still running at 60hz even with the cable. It's the M2 12.9 Pro iPad.

which stands are you using out of interest?

Nothing too exciting here I'm afraid, just a couple of very bog standard offerings from Amazon. In fact, the stand the iPad is sitting on in my post is actually a MacBook stand (for clamshell mode), I just had it lying around so thought I'd try it.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0C4XXJMDD/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've had the clamshell stand/holder that long now I can't even find a link for it.

 

[a66as]

Thanks, I use my macbook connected to a 32 inch 4k ATM which seems to be ok ( at 2560x1440p hi dpi), however its still a bit blurry looking and do much prefer using the macbook screen.

 

[pingwing]

Went a bit wild on the referb store last week, m2 13" MacBook Pro with 24 gig of ram!!! It's a tidy 2 year stop gap till the main pro lineup gets that dream screen redesign whilst I still get the Touch Bar and a reasonably priced access to both apple silicone and an obnoxious amount of ram (makes civ6 run very well). Plus it's a very nice upgrade in performance from the 16" Intel Mac (even if the speakers aren't quite as nice)

Also some rev 3 AirPods on the side