ey op

Long time pro Mac user looking to retire my ’07 Cinema display and my ’09 MacBook Pro (matte screens) for the current models (glossy screens, Thunderbolt).

Glossy screens seem daft to me, but I have no choice with the MBP***. I presumably have a choice with the monitor tho, it doesn’t have to be Apple, and the glossy screen is making me pause.

Any thoughts on this please, specifically on using the glossy screen monitor? In practice, does it matter? Is there a better (Thunderbolted ideally) alternative?

Usage is mostly programming, very occasional gfx work, don’t do gaming (no time!). Several hours most working days.

Thx.

*** don’t bother posting “you’re mad, Apple’s a scam, buy a Windoze/Linux/something else box”. Not gonna happen.

Mine has not been a problem although I would have had an anti-reflective screen given the choice. As long as you aren’t going to put the screen directly facing a window or light source you should be ok.

I’d prefer a matte screen too but it’s rarely much of an issue TBH.

I have a similar first world issue. I’m very tempted by Dells 27″ displays but the Apple Thunderbolt setup of having everything docked into it would be the perfect solution for me with a MBP.

Are the apple screens really worth the pennies?

Are the apple screens really worth the pennies?

Don’t know, but over the lifetime and the amount of usage it well get, a moderate price difference isn’t material for me. It’ll even out to pennies a day.

Yeah I fancy the simple dockability too. Six cables are plugged into my MBP as I type this.

I already have good audio though, I don’t need the Apple display’s speakers.

You may as well buy the 27″ iMac rather than the display. Not a lot in it price wise and you can remote the 27″ screen.

^^this! + ipad

Unless you really need a fully fledged portable computer…

Thinking of that, a juiced up iMac (16gb RAM and SSD) comes out about a hundred quid more than the top MBP, or 800 quid less than the MBP + Display.

But the bottom line is this isn’t all about the bottom line, it’s about what’s best for getting the job done.

iMac’s CPU seems an older model than the MBP’s – that could be an issue as I run a lot of CPU intensive test suites that are on the critical path for productivity.

Unless you really need a fully fledged portable computer…

Not often. But when I do, I do.

Also, wait new iMac “due” soon
Should resolve the processor issue

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/

I’m doing the same, and stripping down my old mbp, putting in a ssd and only putting on the minimum software for when I very occasionally do need a full portable computer (rare occasions I still dj)

Is the old one the 30″ one with better resolution than the new one and otherwise similar specs?

Can’t you just drive the old monitor off the new macbook?

If so, it seems like quite a lot of money to spend for slightly tidier cables and a webcam (which the macbook has anyway)?

Yeah but is there any benefit to the iMac route apart from cost?

I SSD’d my MBP a couple of years ago, good VFM upgrade. Big difference on boot time and app startups.

(DJs need computers? Huh?)

I believe update announcements are due next week, including a processor upgrade to MBP.

Is the old one the 30″ one with better resolution than the new one and otherwise similar specs?

No, 24″, with the chrome borders (before they switched to black).

Full signed up Apple fan here .

I went for MacMini vs iMac (in 2009 admittedly),I switch between a cheapish monitor (£100) used when I need to do “serious work” and connecting it to flatscreen tv for most of time (web browsing, email, streaming media). The MacMini’s arent quite as powerful as the iMacs. The thunderbolt screens are fabulous but overkill for programming (perhaps they’re better for your eyes) I couldn’t bring myself to pay the price and prefers the flexibility and portability of the MacMini (recently upgraded by me to 8gb ram and 750gb HDD.

With Mavericks you are gong to be able to use your tv (via apple tv) seemlessly as an additional screen to your MacBook / other mac computer so movies and online content will be readily playable.

Edit: have a search on MacRumors forum

The thunderbolt screens are fabulous but overkill for programming (perhaps they’re better for your eyes)

Not necessarily. I spend a lot of time looking at it, and eyes are important!

No need for the Apple -> telly thing, barely watch any telly.

I don’t watch hardly any broadcast tv either, almost all streaming online content and movies.

As you say eyes are important …

Thought about it but aesthetics weren’t that important so went for a Viewsonic VP2770 instead. Got a new stand for it too that clamps to the back of the desk so takes up no desk space which is nice. Same resolution as the 27″ apple display, no glossy screen and works great with my mac mini.

Edit: oh but it’s not thunderbolt but is display port which is sort of the same thing… sort of. Depends why you want thunderbolt I guess.

Have they fixed the problems with the displays ? We just took delivery of a new (replacement) imac today after the last display packed up…

I got one with a glossy screen but it’s hard to see with lights about so got a magnetic matt screen which works really well.

We have three iMac’s in the studio at work, which has south facing windows on one side, but the way the tables are laid out, and the positions the three staff have their computers set up, none have any issues with reflections on the screens.

They are poor value for money and not the best for colour critical work.. You can get an Eizo CG class monitor for the same £’s and get a far superior monitor with a mat screen, 5year warranty, Adobe 1998 colourspace, inbuilt control of colour/uniformity and the ability to select gamma/white point/black point and contrast ratio.

MrSmith most of that is double Dutch to me but if you have a link to said product that would be handy ta.

Try colour confidence or native digital and look at the CG class Eizo’s these bypass the graphics card in the computer and are the highest quality monitors they make. you will need a Spyder/eye-one puck for the ones that don’t come with an inbuilt profiling device.
There is the CX range just below the CG’s that now includes the colour navigator software that comes free with CG monitors that you used to have to pay for.
There were a few CG241 and CG243 monitors going cheap(all relative) as they had new models coming out so might be worth tracking one of those down.

Update: I bought a Retina display 15″ MacBook Pro, I held off on the Thunderbolt display. The Retina screen on the MBP is so crisp I am now finding myself reluctant to connect it to my old Cinema display, plus I find the ergonomics of the downward view onto the MBP screen, and the close proximity keyboard/trackpad layout (very little hand movement needed to switch between keyboard and tracked) superior to a ‘desktop’ set up anyway.

So it’s starting to look like I’ll stick with the MBP in ‘clamshell’ mode full time and I’m done with external monitors.

I just got a Dell UltraSharp U2413 for £370 to use as second monitor for video editing with my MBP. Resolution (1920×1200) obviously looks a bit loose compared to Retina, but, relatively, the quality is great with 1 Billion+ colours and pretty decent contrast ratios. Calibration from the factory was excellent and very close to the MBP.

for the current models (glossy screens, Thunderbolt).

The ‘current’ TBolt display is hardly current. I’d wait until it’s refreshed, or get something else. That said, I have two of the 27″ Dells on my desk at work, but whilst cheaper, they’re not as good as my new 27″ iMac’s display. (Which, BTW, with the top end CPU, 16 GB RAM, and an SSD is everything a computer should always have been – i.e. turn it on, and it’s ready to use in the blink of an eye, ask it to load something, and it happens in about the same timeframe etc).

INRAS but you said:

Mac’s CPU seems an older model than the MBP’s – that could be an issue as I run a lot of CPU intensive test suites that are on the critical path for productivity.

That’s not a real reason to wait for Haswell iMacs. Haswell is mostly a win for low power, absolute performance or IPC doesn’t change in any real meaningful way at the high end. Also the very high end Haswell parts aren’t out yet. And a high end SNB iMac will out-perform a high end Haswell MBP on CPU bound work anyway.

FWIW I do a lot of CPU bound work, and recently got a new work machine, didn’t bother waiting for Haswell for this reason (and if you need a new machine, you need a new machine, regardless of what’s coming).

For me I didn’t go Mac as I couldn’t get the performance I needed, but I have niche needs (my personal machine’s a MBP).

For reference, typing this on a i7-3940XM – not likely to be bettered in performance by anything haswell for a while, and it’ll be a gen or two till there’s a meaningful performance bump. So yes, I’m at the eye-bleedingly expensive high end of the CPUs, but it applies lower down the range too where you care about CPU perf.

EDIT: actually read the thread and that’s redundant advice now, but I’ll leave it there for others 🙂 Oh and the haswell macs are out now

Regarding being “spoilt” by the rMBP – you can buy 4K displays with comparable pixel density and they’ll only come down in price.

Just using the laptop screen is awful for your back (certainly for me as a taller person).

INRAS

If you had, you’d have read that the OP was two months old, and that he’s now bought a shiny rMBP.

If you had…

Where would this forum be if people bothered to read the posts, eh?!

😉

INRAS ?

yes a shiny new rMBP

I’m not a tall person, one of my dislikes on the Apple screens is lack of height adjustment, I’d have them lower. Anyway I’ll see how I get on in the meantime.

I’m a programmer not a gfx guy so the fine detail of colour reproduction are lost on me.

INRAS ?

Typo, missing the T (I’m Not Reading All That….)

I’m a programmer not a gfx guy so the fine detail of colour reproduction are lost on me.

Same here (well not a programmer so much, but it’s part of my job) yet I still really appreciate the better colour of IPS displays (though not to the extent of calibrating them).

Typo, missing the T (I’m Not Reading All That….)

The trouble is though, if you type INRA TS out in full, you get:

I struggle with long sentences

Typo, missing the T (I’m Not Reading All That….)

The trouble is though, if you type INRA TS out in full, you get:

I struggle with long sentences

And you get a double post bonus Zokes.

@IA thanks from me for the post, always useful to have the “intelligence”, I’m considering an iMac having recently been using one at a friends, was very impressed with speed and screen and that’s in an older machine.

@matt always interesting to hear updates as to what final choice was made whether its bikes or not.

Just found this. Update: I bought a MacBook Pro with a retina screen. The Cinema looked pants next to it, so that’s gone. I love the MBP retina screen and it meets my needs so I don’t see the need for an external monitor any more.

Dell 4k ultrasharp monitors out soon. I’d be having a good look at one of those if I was looking to buy.

Dell 4k ultrasharp monitors out soon. I’d be having a good look at one of those if I was looking to buy.

+1 for this they look very good and reasonably priced for a 4K monitor