Hi Daniel,
After seeing Stephen Chape's heads-up about Microsoft Office 2019 files
entering a "reduced functionality mode," becoming read-only, on July 13
- I realised that I could no longer keep my 2009 27" iMac going until
Apple released a new 28" or 32" Apple silicon iMac (I kept hoping...) -
the old i7 iMac still works pretty well after upgrading to an internal
SSD for OSX & apps, plus 3TB internal drive for data, plus RAM upgrade
to 20GB (was 24GB until one 4GB chip got flaky) but an upgrade of the
17 year old machine is long overdue.
I had been contemplating a Mac mini or Mac Studio when the M5 versions
came out - however my overriding requirement was to keep MS Office
going - all accounting and reporting for my SMSF is handled by a large
Excel workbook - 35 (and rising) linked worksheets, and some 20 years
of invested work, generate the Annual Report, Annual Tax Return, and
all audit worksheets - so I decided to bite the bullet on a M4 machine.
So, late on 9 June, I ordered:
Mac Studio with M4 Max chip
Hardware:
36GB unified memory
Accessory Kit
1TB SSD storage
14-core CPU, 32-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
Down here, in Albany, I’m used to things taking a bit longer so the
estimated delivery of 20^th to 28^th August was as soon as I expected,
given your warning about special orders.
Well, for once, Apple under-promised and over delivered! The computer
was picked up in Shenzen (China) at 7:35pm on 1 July and landed on my
doorstep at 10:40am this morning – so less than 6 days after pick-up in
Shenzen and not even 4 weeks after placing the order!
One thing I am really looking forward to is having a multiple monitor
set-up – I am frequently working with several large Excel
workbook/worksheets open and at present I am limited to my 27” iMac
screen and a 32” QHD monitor (same res as the iMac screen) but with the
new studio I will have (as a starting minimum) three 4k monitors (one
28” and two 32”).
All 3 monitors have both HDMI and DisplayPort inputs and I am
envisaging driving one from the Studio HDMI port to the Monitor HDMI
input via a standard HDMI cable – this will probably be the 28” monitor
which I have already been using with our MacBook Air, via a USB-C hub
and HDMI cable.
So, what I am wondering is the best way to connect the two new 32”
monitors to the Thunderbolt ports on the Studio? Two options seem to
be simplest:
* USB-C to Display Port cable
* USB-C to HDMI cable
I am aware that either option is physically compatible – ie they can be
plugged into each other – but I am wondering if either option is
preferable from the signal protocol point of view. I was caught out
when I first tried to connect my 32” QHD monitor to the iMac (which has
a mini Display Port video output) I first used a mini Display Port to
HDMI cable but the iMac would not recognise the native QHD resolution
of the monitor – the best it would do was FullHD. A bit of Googling
later (this was pre AI) I found that a mini Display Port to Display
Port cable was recommended – new cable bought – full QHD resolution
enabled. I believed that this was because this connection used the
display port signal end to end – whereas the initial set-up required a
Display Port to HDMI conversion and my hardware for this (in the cable,
I presume?) was OK at FullHD but couldn’t handle QHD.
This is my first experience with the Thunderbolt interface, but
Wikipedia tells me that it uses the Display Port interface for the
video signal. Wikipedia tells me a lot about HDMI – most of which went
over my head – but it included this:
Adapters and active converters are also available for connecting HDMI
to other video interfaces, including the older analog formats, as well
as digital formats such as DisplayPort.
My first reading of this seems to suggest that I would be better with a
USB-C to Display Port cable than a USB-C to HDMI cable? However the
USB-C to HDMI cables seem to be much more common.
I was also surprised with a quick peruse of Office works (which we have
in Albany) to see the reviews of this
[1]https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/comsol-displayport
-to-usb-c-4k-cable-2m-codpum02 which says that the cable only works one
way (the wrong way for me) – the computer has to have the Display Port
and the monitor has to have the USB-C
Looking at places like Amazon shows a HUGE selection of different
brands and prices from around $10 to hundreds of dollars! Some saying
4k and some saying 8k but often the 8k items are much cheaper than
other 4k items.
Anyway that is more than enough rambling from me, I guess that my
questions are:
What are the pros/cons of using either the HDMI or Display Post input
on the monitor when driving from the Thunderbolt output on the Studio
Are there any particular brands to avoid or recommended or will any do
the job
Many descriptions refer to cables including chips and being
one-directional – is this a general thing or just with cheaper cables.
If anyone has any recommendations/horror stories I’d love to hear.
I figure with his many corporate clients, Daniel probably has a lot of
experience with this – any input most welcome :o)
TIA
Neil
-----Original Message-----
From: WAMUG <[2][email protected]> on behalf of Daniel
Kerr via WAMUG <[3][email protected]>
Reply to: WAMUG <[4][email protected]>
Date: Thursday, 04 June 2026 at 18:24
To: WAMUG <[5][email protected]>
Cc: Daniel Kerr <[6][email protected]>
Subject: Re: [WAMUG] Delay on login window becoming active ?
Good luck getting a Mac mini (or Mac Studio at the moment). Most
options have an “at least” 12 week wait time for special orders. :))
Also,..waiting for the M5 to go into the Mac mini and Mac Studio
currently too.
I had a Mac Studio on order for a client (with 64GB RAM upgrade).
Ordered it mid-March. It was delivered today.
The run on component parts from AI server farms has made delays in
a lot of products (and let’s not get started on what it’s done to SSD
pricing.!!! I nearly fell off my chair the other day when I had to
price one up for a client!!
But yes,..that Mac mini and external screens are good options. I’ve
done a lot of them for my clients. (Replaced a whole business from
2012/2013 iMac 27” models to all Mac minis with 3rd party various
screens). Plenty of range and choice available for different budgets
(and depending on “features” wanted. :)
They’re great little machines’ the little Mac mini.
Kind regards
Daniel
---
Daniel Kerr
MacWizardry
p : 0414 795 960
e : <daniel AT [7]macwizardry.com.au>
w : <[8]http://www.macwizardry.com.au>
**For everything Apple**
NOTE: Any information provided in this email may be my personal
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References
1.
https://www.officeworks.com.au/shop/officeworks/p/comsol-displayport-to-usb-c-4k-cable-2m-codpum02
2. mailto:[email protected]
3. mailto:[email protected]
4. mailto:[email protected]
5. mailto:[email protected]
6. mailto:[email protected]
7. http://macwizardry.com.au/
8. http://www.macwizardry.com.au/
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