Apple
Out of context: Reply #3143
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- nb1
Actual questine:
My work got me a 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro. Lovely powerful machine but I prefer to work on a larger, sharp monitor. In the past, I keep the laptop closed and work on a 27” Dell Ultrasharp ~2880x1440 monitor.
So, to be clear: I want to work on one single monitor, roughly around the 24 to 27” size... but it has to be sharp AF.
I want to upgrade to a sharper monitor because text and UI will be sharper. So I start looking at 4K monitors, but I’m reading on forums that 4K isn’t optimized for Mac – That for the BEST scaling of MacOS you want to scale down to 2.5K or up to 5K.
So I start looking at 5K monitors, and the only good option is the LG 5K that is available on apple.com for $1299.
But Apple makes a new iMac M1 24-inch with a 4.5K screen – which is of course optimized for working with MacOS. A different aspect ratio but ultimately a better screen than the LG 5K monitor. And beautiful. And the price is $1299.
So, I could get an iMac with the display I want for the same price as the
THE PROBLEM: my work won’t let me use my own personal iMac for work. It is a security issue. There is no way around it. Even if I pay for the iMac myself, I can’t use it for work. I am required to use the 16-inch MBP that they sent me.
THE QUESTINE: is it possible to buy myself an iMac and use it for personal use but then also somehow use the iMac as a single external monitor connected to my work MacBook?
Note: I can’t install any software on the MacBook and I can’t even do something like signing into my personal Apple ID. I can connect Bluetooth and stuff but I can’t install software.
- Nope. Sadly not. The old iMac's have target display mode, but the M1's don't allow that. Unless anyone has updated info.Ianbolton
- I wanted to use my 5k iMac as a separate display, but no chance.Ianbolton
- Dang itnb
- Ian: there are software options: Duet or Luna. But I can’t install software.nb
- I got my wife and myself https://www.benq.com…, No USB-C, BUT price is right and image is great.ideaist
- Is that (sort of) a remote access solution? I worry about lag with thatIanbolton
- One of them has a dongle but I’m not sure if that removes the lagnb
- Get a Dell?
https://www.dell.com…grafician - Graf, that is not a 5k monitor. It’s 4k and as I said, people online say 4k doesn’t scale well from macOSnb
- Hey, you wanted a sharp monitor working great with MBPs...grafician
- People say the UI doesn’t scale to 4K as well, that Apple optimized the UI scaling for ~2.5K to 5Knb
- I meant ~2.5K or 5K. But 4K is weird, apparently. I have not seen this myself.nb
- Why not try a 4k or 5K monitor plugged into your laptop and see what YOU think. The forum commenters might be idiots.comicsans
- Yeah that’s a lot of effort thonb
- It’s not just forum commenters. This is a well-documented Mac issue (scaling rounding)nb
- I'm waiting for LG's new C2 42" TV to use as a display (coming out soon). Should be plenty crisp when back enough, be around $1k, and larger.fyoucher1
- ^ will connect via HDMIfyoucher1
- Is the LG UltraFine 5K not an option? It's all I've worked on for the past couple of years and it's really the only choice. Highly recommended.bogue
- @bogue yeah I’ll probably buy one. Just waiting to see if Apple announces a new cheaper display next month.nb
- oh yes, I was reading about that. very curious what "cheaper" means to apple.bogue
- Had the Dell 27" + MBP 16" Intel Big Sur, doing UI work no rounding or sharpness issues you keep referring, now waiting for the new Macbooks to switch againgrafician
- They best thing to do would be just try it yourself. buy a 4k and/or 5k monitor from a local best buy or Costco. Take back what you don't like.dbloc