The Mac Studio is an impressive lump of Mac computer, but it lacks one key thing in the box – one of the best Mac Studio monitors. Unlike the iMac or the best MacBook, it's a standalone PC, just an aluminum cuboid filled with an M1 Ultra and loads of RAM. You'll also need one of the best keyboards, as well as one of the best wireless mice, but those are for different lists. Here, we've got all the best monitors that will show off all the strengths of your shiny Mac Studio. There are monitors here at all price points, so there's really one for everyone. Especially if you've just dropped thousands of dollars on a top-of-the-line Mac Studio, and need to save some money. we get you, and we're here to help – these are the best monitors for Mac Studio.
The Mac Studio is even better with one of these fantastic monitors
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Best all-around monitor
If you want a monitor that does a little bit of everything (all the time), then the LG 27UP850-W is a great monitor at a great price. Its 60Hz refresh rate on the 4K IPS panel makes images look nice and smooth, and it displays colors nicely thanks to its P3 color gamut. Plus, it has a wide variety of ports on the back, including USB-C, which can deliver up to 96W of power, and HDMI ports. Its DisplayHDR 400 is nothing to brag about, but the monitor is ultra-crisp if you're watching a movie in a dim room.
Ultrawide 5K
Want an even bigger 5K monitor? The LG 34BK95U-W is a 34-inch Nano IPS display with a 21:9 aspect ratio. Its 60Hz refresh rate and 5120 x 2160 resolution make it crystal clear whether you're just working on your projects or doing some gaming. It comes with a good set of ports, including an HDMI port, a DisplayPort 1.4, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and USB-C, making it a decent hub for your Mac Studio as well.
Affordable and color accurate
One of the best affordable monitors is the ASUS ProArt Display PA279CV, which sports a 27-inch 4K IPS display. It has a tilt and height-adjustable stand, comes with a DisplayPort, HDMI port, and USB-C port, and has a 75Hz refresh rate. What's most impressive about this monitor is its color accuracy. With its 100% sRGB and Rec.709 support, the color accuracy of ∆E < 2, and the calibration done for you, it's ready to go right out of the box.
Fantastic monitor for media
The BenQ EW328OU is a 32-inch 4K UHD monitor with a 16:9 ISP display. It uses proprietary HDRi technology to provide various high-dynamic brightness options for activities you may want to use your monitor for. It has a 5ms response time and a 24P cinematic frame rate. It's a great way to watch your favorite media. In our review of the BenQ EW328OU, we do mention the included speakers could be a little better, but all in all, we were impressed with its performance.
The obvious choice
Yes, it's expensive, but the Apple Studio Display has pretty much replaced the LG UltraFine 5K monitor that you may know and love. It's a 27-inch 5K display with four ports in total — 3 USB-C ports and one Thunderbolt port that can deliver up to 96W of power — and it comes with a 6-speaker array that sounds great. It also has a 12MP camera at the top, but at launch, it had some image processing issues. It comes with a tilt-adjustable stand, but unfortunately, a height-adjustable stand is extra. There are certainly cheaper monitors out there, but Apple did design the Studio Display for the Mac Studio specifically, and it is a heck of a monitor if you have the dough.
A portable monitor
While you may not think about the Mac Studio as a portable computer, you can totally carry it around from place to place if the situation calls for it, and the ASUS ZenScreen is the perfect portable monitor. You can rotate between landscape and portrait mode, and it's compatible with Thunderbolt 3, making it a great companion to the Mac Studio that you can travel with.
What to look for in a monitor for your Mac Studio
When you decided to purchase a Mac Studio, you were probably sold on the superior performance promised by its M1 Max or M1 Ultra chip. One major component of this is how well the Mac Studio's GPU performs with creative apps such as Final Cut Pro, Compressor, Affinity Photo, Boris FX Sapphire 2022, Maxon Cinema 4D, and Blackmagic DaVinci Resolve Studio.
To fully appreciate this raw power, the Mac Studio needs to be matched with a superior monitor; otherwise, what's the point? Therefore, check the Mac Studio specs with the monitor requirements most important to you at a price point you can afford.
What to avoid for a Mac Studio monitor
In a word, don't go "cheap" when it comes to buying a monitor for your Mac Studio. Otherwise, you're going to be missing out on many of the features that make the Mac Studio great in the first place. And remember, you're paying for those features.
Lots of screens to go around
There are so many great monitors out there, all for different uses, that what you ultimately decide on will mostly be up to personal preference; however, we have a few things we'd like to highlight for you.
The LG 27UP850-W is the updated version of the LG 27UK850-W, which we loved when we reviewed it. It truly is a monitor that can handle a little bit of everything. The 60Hz refresh rate isn't the highest available on the market, but it's still perfectly acceptable for gaming and other uses. Its added ports, plus its power-transferring USB-C make it a fantastic de-facto USB-C hub while also being a monitor.
If you love watching movies and other content on your Mac Studio, it's really hard to go wrong with the BenQ EW3280U. Yes, we mentioned that the speakers aren't super great at handling really heavy bass, but they are still some of the better small speakers you can find in monitors regarding how loud they can get.
Lastly, suggesting a portable screen like the ASUS ZenScreen for the Mac Studio may seem silly, but a quality portable screen offers you flexibility. Maybe you need to show a client a finished design at a coffee shop, and it's just easier to bring your Mac Studio, or maybe you have a MacBook that also needs a monitor sometimes. Even if you never take your Mac Studio off your desk, a small portable screen like this is a great second monitor that can handle all your boring day-to-day tasks. Put your email and Slack on this 15.6-inch screen and save that giant monitor for your actual work!
