Best Monitors for Your MacBook Pro

Finding The Best Monitor For Your New MacBook Pro

So you got yourself the brand new MacBook Pro (with that fancy Touch Bar) and now you are asking yourself: Which is the Best Monitor for MacBook Pro?

MacBook Pro (New Model with Touch Bar)

No doubt, you are at the right place! Because we just reviewed and compared the best external monitors for MacBook Pro Laptops.

Regrettably, Apple has put it’s thunderbolt monitors to rest (aka stopped production & sales) and surprisingly entered into an agreement with LG to exclusively distribute the LG UltraFine displays. The problem? The Apple LG UltraFine monitor launch was a big mess, and user ratings haven’t been that good (at the time of writing this post, 264 Apple customers gave the UltraFine display only 2.5 out 5 stars).

This Dell monitor is a great monitor and we picked it as the “best monitor for the MacBook Pro” .

The Dell U3417W FR3PK 34″ Screenhas a curved display which improves your field of view by reducing reflections. The monitor is ideal for photo editing work (the color gamut is 99% sRGB) and connects well with the Apple MacBook Pro (by using a USB C to HDMI Cable).

No doubt, the Dell IPS monitor is an ideal external display for your MacBook Pro. It is a great monitor for photo editing work, considering the following tech specs:

First and foremost, the color gamut is 99% sRGB (pre-calibrated), which is close to perfect for photo editing tasks;

Second, the resolution is 3,440 x 1440 pixels, which provides a crisp and clear picture;

If you are not fond of a curved Dell display, you may want to consider the Dell Ultra HD 4K Monitor P2715Q 27″ as the best display for your MacBook Pro and all your photo and video editing work.

High Screen Resolution & 99% sRGB

The P2715Q is not the newest model (this LED-lit monitor was introduced in November 2014), but the monitor is still very good especially because of its high screen resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels, which at 27 inches result in over 163 pixels per inch (or Ultra HD 4k).

Furthermore, the sRGB color gamut is really good. It is 99%, which is as good as the curved Dell U3417W monitor covered above. Plus, the display is based on the ISP technology, supports a high bit rate and the color contrast ratio is really high (2 million to 1).

Great Connectivity

Another plus point of this best-selling monitor is the connectivity: four USB 3.0 ports, a display port, mini display port and HDMI to connect your laptop. You can even connect (daisy-chain) another monitor through the DispalyPorts in and out ports (this won’t work however with your Apple Mac Book Pro, as it works only when using Windows systems).

Furthermore, the FreeSync technology makes it a very fast response time monitor ideal for gamers. Even if you are not a gamer and just want a great monitor for your laptop/desktop and do your photo editing work, this monitor is a great pick!

The resolution looks as good as my iPad which is what I was looking for because I edit photos for web use and since most web users are using mobile devices, I needed what I was seeing as I was editing to match the end displayed result for the average user. This does it!

Bright, sharp, good color. Using for photo editing. Read more reviews.

USB 3.0 Quick Charge (Charge Your Mobile Devices up to four times faster).

On-Screen Monitor Settings Control.

Screen Split 2.0 Functionality (display multiple windows at once.

Easy Setup and tilt/height adjustments.

Not so good about the LG 34UM88-P:

The built-in speakers are not that great.

For heavy video editing, it may be difficult to connect two displays to your MacBook Pro 15″, as running two of these monitors at their native resolution (3440 x 1440 @ 60 frames per second refresh rate) may not work.

The New MacBook Pro only has USB-C Ports. Consequently, you may have to look for the best HDMI – USB-C connection cable if the monitor does not have USB-C.

What Is USB-C?

USB-C is equal to Thunderbolt 3 and is a next-generation industry standard that allows charging, data transfer, and video (all in one connector). For more information read the details on the Apple Website.

How Many Monitors Can The New Macbook Pro Connect?

Only the new 15-inch MacBook Pro with Radeon-Pro-GPU can control two external 5K displays or four external 4K displays (according to Apple’s specifications). The 13-inch model with integrated Iris graphics supports an external 5K monitor or two 4K screens – always at 60 Hz.

The BenQ 32″ IPS 4K HD LED Monitor is a notch better the the BenQ SW2700PT 27″. Apart from having a larger diplay, the BenQ 32″ is having a higer resolution and 100% vs 99% sRBG Color spectrum coverage allowing you to work with more than 1 billion vibrant colors.

Consequently, the BenQ 32″ IPS 4K is ideal for professional photo editing and image viewing and a preferred choice for those looking to add an external monitor to their MacBook Pro.

As a matter of fact, the 32inch BenQ is getting very positive reviews on Amazon.com; here is one such review comparing the monitor to the iMac:

Absolutely Stunning. That’s all I can say. I use this monitor side by side with a 27″ iMac with 5k display. Looking at one another, they look like a match made in heaven.

The clarity of the screen is simply amazing! Watching 4k content on sites like YouTube are fantastic. The base for this monitor feels like it’s solid steel. It weighs more than the screen! The rotation is butter smooth as is the tilt and riser. […] Read all reviews here.

The ASUS Designo MX27UC 27″ 4K is a great pick in the category “best display for MacBook Pro 15-inch” because it has a superb display clarity, amazing 4K resolution (3,840 x 2116), IPS technology, and USB Type-C Connector (even though it works only with MacBook Pro 15″, not 13″).

Very Positive User Reviews

As a result of the great tech specs, the Asus Design is getting raving reviews on Amazon.com. Here is one example of a recent buyer:

Best External Monitor for MacBook Pro 15″ Users & Photographers

All specs considered, theASUS Designo MX27UC 27″ 4K is the best monitor for multimedia & photo enthusiasts and works perfectly for those who want to hook up their new MacBook Pro with a great external monitor.

The 27″ may not be as big as the below covered Dell 34″, but 27″ is in our opinion enough for all your photo editing task, especially if you are used to working on a 27″ iMac.

Love this monitor! I connected this to my MacBook Pro using a Hedgedock. It works great as soon as I plugged it in the screen is very vibrant. There is very little frame and the screen goes almost all the way to the edge. Read all reviews here.

When we selected the best monitors, we paid special attention to the screen resolution and the color gamut; both these parameters are very important for a good viewing experience, especially for photo & video enthusiasts.

Monitor Tech Specs Glossary

As a photographer or photo enthusiast, you may or may not know what some of the tech specs mean when it comes to monitors (or displays, as they are called more recently). Therefore, we made a small glossary for you that briefly explains the most important parameters when choosing a new display:

Resolution: Number of pixels on a display (e.g. 3,440 x 1,440); The more pixels, the sharper the image. This rule of “more pixel = sharper images” however only works up to a point though. Once you have 220 pixels per inch (ppi), your eye can’t see any more improvements. That’s why Apple calls their screens now “Retina”, referring to the maximum resolution your eye can process. (In this review blog post we calculated the ppi of all the monitors using the true.com Display PPI calculator).

sRGB: The sRGB color space/profile is based on how the three primary colors (red, green, and blue) play together and store data when they are combined with different new colors and shades. The sRGB value goes up to 100%, in which case there will be no mismatch when the data profile is sent to another device, e.g. printer or web browser. (There is a similar standard called Adobe RGB, but in this monitor review, we stick to sRGB, as it is the world’s default color space).

Static Contrast: The contrast ratio describes the luminance of the brightest white to that of the darkest black that the display can reproduce. Everything above 800:1 is considered to be sufficient for photo editing work. It’s important however to cross check that the contrast is static and not dynamic.

Response Time: This reference to how long it takes for the pixels to respond to the electrical impulses that change the color and creates a new picture. (This is more important for gamers and not so much a criteria for photo & video enthusiasts).

IPS: In Plane Switching Panels or IPS refers to a consistent viewing angle from different viewing angles. Having an IPS monitors is great for photo editing and superior to TN (Twisted Nematic) or VA (Vertical Alignment) panels displays.

Color Depth: This says how many distinct colors a monitor can display. The higher the bit the better the monitor (e.g. 10-bit color support is better than 8-bit).

Ideal Set-Up for Photographers

Laptop Stand & Monitor

You could potentially retire your desktop computer by creating a “spaceship-like workstation”.

By using your laptop as a “desktop station” connected to an external monitor you remain fully mobile (no syncing between desktop & laptop required). At the same time, you remain fully operational when working on your home or office desk, just like working on a 27″ iMac.

Place Your MacBook Pro like this on a Laptop Stand next to your External Monitor of Choice and you have the perfect workstation.

Once you have the monitor and the MacBook Pro Display setup side-by-side you can drag open windows between the screens and use both the displays for optimal task management.

How to set up an Extended Desktop from Your Mac

Connect and turn on your additional display.

Click the Apple () menu and choose System Preferences.

Choose Displays.

Click the Arrangement tab.

Make sure that the Mirror Displays checkbox isn’t selected.

For more detailed instructions, visit the Apple Support Page on how to setup external monitors.

The New MacBook Pro (2016) USB-C Connection Ports – Few monitors support USB-C. That’s why you may need an HDMI to USB-C Adapter (see below).

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Thanks for the heads up. We will run more tests and update the post on how to troubleshoot potential conflicts. The Asus MX27UC is perfect for the new MacBook Pro late 2016 (with touch bar). Some user have however reported an issues or bug. Here is how to fix this (connectivity problem): In order for 60 Hz to work, go to Menu > Switch USB Modus to USB 3.1 > Then switch back to USB 2. Follow these steps and the 60 Hz will work, otherwise you may only get 30 Hz. Hope this works.

To clarify, it doesn’t work with a 13″ touch bar Macbook pro over usb-c at all, 30 or 60 Hz. No image and Causes two identical machines to crash. But works fine with 15″ MBP (different graphics card). 13″ works over HDMI or displayport, just not usb-c. Both Asus and apple blame the other.

I am buying this monitor (LG 27UD58-B 27-Inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor) to use with my new Macbook Pro 2017 with the TouchBar. I’m wondering if I need any additional cables that don’t come with the monitor. My primary purpose is graphic design with this computer – Adobe Suite. Setting up a docking station for the first time.

I noticed that your review states that the 27″ LG 27UD58-B displays 99% of the sRGB color gamut. The price point and feature set make this the best option for me since I need to but two (home/work)

However, when I click on the Amazon link in your review, the product info seems to indicate that the LG 27UD58-B uses an NTSC gamut (at 72%) and you have to go up one product level to the LG 27UD68-W to get that 99% sRGG gamut

So my question is: Who’s right? Your review of the Amazon listing? Any confirmation you could provide would be super useful. Thanks!

LG doesn’t provide the sRGB value in their tech specs, but only NTSC. “NTSC color encoding is used with the System M television signal, which consists of 30⁄1.001 (approximately 29.97) interlaced frames of video per second. Each frame is composed of two fields, each consisting of 262.5 scan lines, for a total of 525 scan lines.” Source: Wikipedia.

I have the 2017 15″ MacBook Pro. I am currently looking at either the Dell P2715Q or the P2415Q models. I am planning on getting into coding with Xcode or video editing as a hobby. I also do a little bit of gaming. I am kind of limited in space but not much that wouldn’t fit a 27″ monitor. I looked at these two monitors and am wondering how much of a difference 4K and a regular monitor would make. A 4K monitor isn’t that much more in cost, but I’m wondering if its good enough for gaming.

I have been using a Dell 24″ HD monitor that just went haywire 3 weeks after the 3 year warranty expired, and am looking for a good replacement.

My MacBook Pro is a 15″ late 2011 model, and I use it for editing wedding photos. Will these monitors work with my MacBook? I like the Asus MX27UC, LG27UD58-B and Benq BL3201PH reviews best, so am particularly interested in how they will work, cable wise, with my MacBook.

You would need to buy a “Mini DisplayPort (Thunderbolt) to HDMI Adapter”. Then you can connect the standard HDMI cable (which normally ships with new monitors) to the adapter which will connect to your MacBook Pro 2011.

I just unbox’d ASUS Mx27uc. It works perfectly with MacBook Pro 2017 13’. USB-c and charging and hibernating have no issue. I guess the usb-c quality is improved in latest bath of the mx27uc. It is 4K 60hz and I use it in 2k resolutions.

If I have a MacBook air 2011with thunderbolt 1 port, could I buy an adapter from usb-c (male) to thunderbolt 1 (female) to plug at the back of any usb type c display and still be able to use the connections at the back of the display as a hub? I am aware that I couldn’t use the full resolution of the display since thunderbolt 1 only supports 2K. Also, the price of the ASUS Mx27uc has not been update on the page, it is still 720$ and not 154$.

It would be great to know which of these monitors are capable for powering a 15″ 2017 MacBook Pro. At the moment, it is only mentioned in the description for the ASUS Designo MX27UC 27”. Is that really the only that provides sufficient power through a USB-C port? Also, a comparison table would be really handy.