Hi Rod,
I’d second what Peter said – I’ve bought a couple of external monitors over the last 14 months and both have just connected and worked with both my late 2009 27” iMac and my new 13” M1 Macbook air. I think the best approach is really to just think about: what sort of display real estate you want/need what is the resolution of your computer what is the driving capacity of your computer For myself: My iMac has a native resolution of 2560x 1440 and simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to a 30-inch display (2560 by 1600 pixels) on an external display My MacBook Air has a native resolution of 2560 × 1600 and simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and one external display with up to 6016x3384 resolution at 60Hz My Phillips 273v7qdsb has Native Resolution of 1920 x 1080 and HDMI, DVI-D and D-sub inputs. My Lenovo D32qc-20 has Native Resolution of 2560 x 1440 and HDMI and Display Port inputs. For my main iMac, I am frequently running multiple Excel spreadsheets and/or multiple browser windows with many tabs in each – so my need was for an extended desktop to maximise viewing area. Initially I had the Phillips attached with a direct mini display port to hdmi cable - which all worked fine but I found the discontinuity of tracking from the 2560x1440 iMac screen to the 1920x1080 monitor screen sufficiently annoying that I ended up reducing the iMac resolution to 1920x1080 to match the monitor – which I found much more useable. However it seemed a shame to have to resort to downgrading the iMac resolution – so, given that the iMac can support video output up to 2560x1600 - I decided to upgrade the monitor and bought the 32” Lenovo. As per my previous post, when I initially connected the Lenovo, using the same direct mini display port to hdmi cable, I found that the maximum resolution that the iMac could see was 1920 x 1080 but I then bought a mini display port to display port cable – which unlocked the full 2560 x 1440 resolution of the monitor – which now gives a seamless extended desktop of 2x 2560x1440 – which works great for me. I now use the Phillips with the MacBook Air at home - I have a USB-C hub with an HDMI port and an HDMI cable to handle the connection and I have the monitor set as the main display and the MacBook display just set to mirror the monitor – I find the 13” screen hard to view without glasses but the 27” is great. So, as you see, different setups for different purposes – but, if you are looking to use an extended desktop with 2 displays/monitors, I do find having the same vertical resolution makes for a seamless pointer transition between the two screens and avoids the annoyance of the pointer ‘banging into the brick wall”. I did see if the Macbook air would drive both the external monitor AND the Luna Display connected 27” iMac – but the Luna display app just told me that I had reached the display limit of my computer. The Luna Display app obviously makes the iMac just look like an external display and, since the MacBook air will only drive one external monitor, it is either/or but not both! I’m not sure what size your 2021 MacBook Pro is – the 13” seems to have the same capability as my MacBook Air whilst the 14” and 16” obviously have greater resolutions AND the ability to drive multiple displays. So, I hope some of that may help your considerations – and there is no need to spend $600, or more, on the monitor – I paid $227 for the 27” Full HD Phillips and $355 for the 32” curved Lenovo (flat is even cheaper) with 2560 x 1440 resolution – all at OfficeWorks. Cheers Neil From: <[email protected]> on behalf of Peter Crisp <[email protected]> Reply-To: WAMUG <[email protected]> Date: Monday, 16 May 2022 at 16:34 To: WAMUG <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [WAMUG] External Monitor for MacBook Pro Hi Blitto, I bought a pair of Lenovo 24” regular monitors around 18 months ago when I had to work from home due to you know what. I use my Windows work laptop but they work equally well on my Macbook by plugging into an HDMI port. Mac OS figures out what you’ve got and does a pretty good job of setting up. Sometimes a few tweaks needed to get scaling correct, but no fundamental flaws. A lot of sellers don’t actually know if they work with Mac OSX, can check on the manufacturers site for specifics and compatibility. I’d be surprised if there was a monitor for sale now that isn’t compatible. At worst you may have to download some drivers off the manufacturer site or wait for Mac OSX to auto get the drivers for you. If using multiple external monitors, you might need a third party adaptor to have two HDMI ports connect via a single input to the Mac. Regards Pete. On 16 May 2022, at 2:34 pm, Rod Blitvich <[email protected]> wrote: Hi Folks Please can anyone give recommendations on an external monitor for a 2021 MacBook Pro? Can one buy any external monitor (~$600) or does it have to be mac compatible (~$1000)? Thanks Blitto <image.gif> Rod Blitvich - Amy & Sam’s Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 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