Best monitors for Mac mini: budget visual heavyweights for the smallest Mac

AppleInsider

If you've acquired an M4 Mac mini, you probably want a display to match. Here are the best monitors for the Mac mini that you should be looking at to go with your new hardware.

Pick up a budget-friendly monitor to go with the M4 Mac mini - Image credit: Apple, ASUS, Samsung

The Mac mini is an ideal device if you're switching over from PC, but it's also a great workhorse for Mac traditionalists. However, while it's a very capable device, you do have to supply your own display.

If you're switching, you've obviously got one at hand, but it may be too old or too low-resolution for modern computing needs. If it's for a brand-new setup, a monitor's a must-buy.

However, since you've gone to the trouble of getting a great value and lowest-cost Mac Apple sells, you won't necessarily want to blow the bank on the display. With options easily ramping up in price, it can be daunting to get the right one.

What follows are AppleInsider's recommendations for budget-friendly displays to go with your wallet-pleasing Mac mini purchase. The best bang for your buck in terms of visuals.

Best Mac mini monitor for tight budgets - Acer KB272 EBI 27-inch

If you want a low-cost monitor to save on cost, or you fancy using two monitors, consider the Acer KB272 EBI. It's a display with a 27-inch IPS panel, making it large enough to be easily seen by most users.

Acer KB272 EBI 27-inch - Image credit: Acer

It has a 1080p resolution, complete with a refresh rate of 100Hz, as well as a 1ms response time for gaming and 250 nits of brightness. Ports consist of a single HDMI 1.4 port and a VGA connection.

It has a stand with a tilt range between -5 degrees and 15 degrees. If needed, you can also use it with a standard 100mm VESA mount.

Buy on Amazon

The Acer KB272 EBI doesn't have the fancy bells and whistles of other more expensive monitors. But, at $99.99 on Amazon, it does the job at a very cheap price.

Best portable Mac mini monitor - Asus ZenScreen 15.6

While the Mac mini isn't really designed to be carried around between workplaces, the small size makes it entirely possible to do. To go with that, you'll need a display that's equally as portable.

The Asus ZenScreen 15.6-inch Portable USB Monitor is, as the name describes, one such option. Rather than being a larger display, you instead have a smaller screen that can fold up flat for easy transportation.

Asus ZenScreen 15.6-inch Portable USB Monitorn- Image credit: Asus

Its 15.6-inch screen is anti-glare with an IPS panel, with its 1080p resolution being usable on such a small scale. The screen is also certified to be flicker-free and uses low blue light technologies to aid with eye fatigue.

Buy on Amazon

The screen plugs in using USB-C and uses DisplayPort Alt Mode to run off a host Mac, as well as supplying the screen with power. You don't even have to use it in landscape, as it can be rotated to a portrait orientation.

Amazon is currently selling the Asus ZenScreen 15.6-inch Portable USB Monitor for $89.

Best Mac mini monitor with a wide screen - Samsung 34-inch Viewfinity S50GC

Two monitors can be great for productivity, but sometimes just having one larger screen is better. The Samsung ViewFinity S50GC offers the best of both worlds, by being an extremely wide display.

Using a 21:9 aspect ratio, it has a QHD Ultra Wide 1440p resolution, and can easily take the place of two screens side by side. By using its two HDMI 2.2 and one DisplayPort 1.2 inputs around the back, you can even view two different video sources at the same time with picture-by-picture or picture-in-picture mode.

Samsung 34-inch Viewfinity S50GC - Image credit: Samsung

The display also has HDR10 support, can display over a billion colors, has a 300-nit brightness, and a static contrast ratio of 3,000:1. It uses an ambient light sensor to adjust the brightness, as well as having flicker-free and eye-saver mode features to save your eyesight.

Buy on Amazon

The Samsung 34-inch Viewfinity S50GC is priced at $219.99 on Amazon.

Best Mac mini 4K monitor - Samsung 32-inch UJ59 4K

If you need a lot of digital workspace on one screen, it's hard to go wrong with a 4K screen. The Samsung UJ59 is one such example, with a resolution of 3,840 by 2,160.

That's put onto a 32-inch display panel, giving ample space for the massive resolution, without looking too small. There's also seamless upscaling so you'll see SD, HD, and Full HD content at the UHD resolution.

Samsung 32-inch UJ59 4K - Image credit: Samsung

Supporting a billion colors, it also has AMD FreeSync support for gaming, a low input lag mode, a game mode that optimizes screen contrast, and picture-by-picture and picture-in-picture modes for multi-source viewing.

Buy on Amazon

While the UJ59 is a 2018 model of display, the core features still hold up to modern standards. The $218.99 price tag on Amazon also makes it an attractive prospect for productivity-focused consumers who don't want to shell out too much on a screen.

Best Mac mini monitor if money is no object - Dell 6K or Apple Studio Display

If you've decided to blow the budget on the highest-specification M4 Pro Mac mini, you'll probably want to do the same for the display. In this case, we have two recommendations for you.

First, there's the Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor, also known as the U3224KB. It's a 32-inch display with a 6K resolution and an IPS black panel. It's capable of displaying 1.07 billion colors and covering 99 percent of the P3 wide color gamut, at a brightness of up to 600 nits.

Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor - Image credit: Dell

Supplied on a height-adjustable stand that can also rotate 90 degrees, it has a pair of dual 14W speakers and echo-cancellation microphones for audio. Camera-wise, there's a built-in one at the top that uses on-device AI to mimic Center Stage.

Buy at B&H

For connectivity, it has HDMI 2.1, Mini DisplayPort 2.1, a quartet of USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A ports, Ethernet that can work at up to 2.5Gbps, a Thunderbolt 4 upstream with 140W of PD and DSC support, a Thunderbolt 4 downstream with 15W of power, and a USB Type-C data-only port.

The Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor is on sale at B&H, with a limited-time discounted price of $2,049.99.

Best Mac mini monitor made by Apple

The other high-priced option on this list is the Apple Studio Display. This is intended as the option to get if you want all of your hardware to be made by Apple.

There is the Pro Display XDR, of course, but the Apple Studio Display offers a lot without the massive price tag.

Apple Studio Display

A 27-inch 5K Retina display, it can display 14.7 million pixels and over 1 billion colors covering the Wide Color (P3) gamut. For image editors and videographers, there are also multiple reference modes available to use.

Buy at Best Buy

On top is a 12MP Center Stage camera, while audio is handled by a six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers and Spatial Audio support. There's also a trio of microphones in an array, complete with a high signal-to-noise ratio and directional beamforming, which certainly helps its support for "Hey Siri."

Around the back are four ports, with one Thunderbolt 3 upstream connection with 96W of host charging joined by three USB-C ports.

The Apple Studio Display starts from $1,599 with standard glass, or $1,899 with Nano-texture glass. You can also choose from three stands, including a Tilt-adjustable stand, VESA mount, or a Tilt- and Height-adjustable stand for $400 more.

You can get the Apple Studio Display for $1,299.99 at Best Buy, a $300 discount that's valid on Dec. 12 only. Read our full Apple Studio Display review to learn more about the 27-inch display.





Read on AppleInsider

eriamjh

The Dell UltraSharp 32 6K Monitor is on sale at B&H, with a limited-time discounted price of $2,049.99.

I was wondering if a 32" 6K display for less than $5-6K was available.   

I just can't bring myself to spend it.

LuvMacs

Not included is the LG UltraFine 27MD5KLB-B 27" 5K IPS Monitor. I wonder why?
This is very similar to the Apple Studio Display (in fact the screen is the same). 
After a great deal of research, I have just purchased it to use with my M4 Mac Mini.

AlexeyV

LuvMacs said:

Not included is the LG UltraFine 27MD5KLB-B 27" 5K IPS Monitor. I wonder why?
This is very similar to the Apple Studio Display (in fact the screen is the same). 
After a great deal of research, I have just purchased it to use with my M4 Mac Mini.

Agree. Also not mentioned Samsung Viewfinity s90pc

jeffharris

Just replaced a 27" Viewsonic IPS 1440p monitor with a recently released 27" Viewsonic IPS 4K monitor, VP2776T-4K.

I've only had it a few days, but it's absolutely great. It's got Thunderbolt 4 ports, USB-A, DisplayPort, HDMI. Excellent image quality.

My only issue is that Apple STILL hasn't made interface elements scalable for higher resolution monitors!
They were promising that 15 years ago or something. 

Advice on Apple.com forums? Use lower resolution.
Wow. Brilliant.

IanJoyner

I got a Philips 32E1N5800L 4K 32" monitor for $A400 (around $US300). Anything 5K was over $1,000. I avoid Samsung.

celia82

Best portable monitor with usb-c right now, at least for me, XReal One. Nothing more portable than a glass on your face.

charlesn

Very nice round-up of monitors... and THIS is why there will never be another 27" iMac. Consider this: the BASE iMac Pro of 2017 cost $5,000--that's $6400 in 2024 dollars. My last Intel BTO 27" iMac, also purchased in 2017, cost $3,000, which would be $3,900 in 2024 dollars. Today you could buy the highest spec M4 Pro chip Mac Mini that Apple offers, add on a 1TB drive and 10GB ethernet, pair it with the 27" Apple Studio Display, all for $3,500 -- and this setup would absolutely obliterate the iMac Pro on every level, to say nothing of the regular Intel iMac 27". And for those on tighter budgets, you can pair a lower end M4 Mac Mini with an array of less expensive monitors from 27-32" for less than $1500, and STILL have a set-up that would crush the last iMac 27". 

Question: is the current webcam in Apple's Studio Display an upgrade over what was originally used when it debuted? I recall a lot of complaints about image quality of the webcam, especially at the $1600 price point for a 27" display, and I'm wondering if Apple ever addressed that. Thanks for answering if you know.  

foregoneconclusion

charlesn said:

Question: is the current webcam in Apple's Studio Display an upgrade over what was originally used when it debuted? I recall a lot of complaints about image quality of the webcam, especially at the $1600 price point for a 27" display, and I'm wondering if Apple ever addressed that. Thanks for answering if you know.  

Apple released a firmware update for the Studio Display but didn't update the hardware. IMO, a lot of the complaints that I saw online would have image examples with intentionally bad lighting. Example: "natural" lighting where they would have a bright, unshaded window directly to the side of the person sitting in front of the camera and no other interior lights. In other words, normal lighting situations that would work well for an iPhone photo are also going to work well with the Studio Display camera. And vice versa. It's not going to magically make bad lighting look good. 

You can also use your iPhone camera as a substitute for the Studio Display camera if you choose. 

https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/use-iphone-as-a-webcam-mchl77879b8a/mac

apple4thewin

celia82 said:

Best portable monitor with usb-c right now, at least for me, XReal One. Nothing more portable than a glass on your face.

@celia82 ; How is it? I was thinking about getting one after hearing the announcement especially since it doesn’t require the beam for 3DoF

tht

For macOS, I think the absolute minimum is about 160 PPI. If you get a 130 PPI, 110 PPI, etc, monitor, macOS's font rendering will appear fuzzy. So, 4K at 27" works. 4K 32", it's going to be a little fuzzy. A 32" 5120x2160 should be ok at 174 PPI.

Apple can address font rendering on lower PPI monitors, but they won't. That train left the station a very long time ago.

Lastly, I think monitors with built-in docks, speakers, mics and front cams is big plus.

entropys

1080p @ 27 inches. No. If accepting fullHD as an option should have also gone for a smaller display option.
otherwise what Tht says..  

jeffharris

entropys said:

1080p @ 27 inches. No. If accepting fullHD as an option should have also gone for a smaller display option.
otherwise what Tht says..  

A 27” monitor (even 24”) at 1440p is really workable. 

OK, it’s not 4K, but given Apple’s inability to include interface element scaling, like fonts, readable Menu Bar and tiny iOS inspired dialogue boxes, it’s a very comfortable screen resolution to work with. I’ve been using it for about 8 years, paired with a 15.4” and 16” a MacBook Pros for palettes and email as a second monitor.

I launched the Apple Calculator today and couldn’t believe how tiny it is at 4K!

It’s shocking that Apple has failed to address this issue.

danox

Good luck the PC world is standardized on 4K at 120 Hz while Apple curated screens starts out at 4.5 K, 5K and 6k and probably soon 8k, because of the introduction of thunderbolt five which will allow one connection and one cable for the higher quality displays. 

Apple curates their designs/monitors from LG and Samsung they don’t get to do what they want, both can’t sell (real improvements) into the PC market because they can’t sell anything beyond 4K into the PC world at a profit with all the cheap Chinese knock offs. If you want higher quality in monitors it is going to cost you’re not gonna get a $500 monitor with great performance specs, and longevity that isn’t how standard mass produced non tandem OLED works.

 PS Samsung in their line of smartphones sells the Snapdragon SOC in America, but most of the world gets Samsung‘s cheap in house SOC in their smartphones bait and switch, if Apple didn’t curate and ride them (Samsung and LG) they particularly Samsung would pull a lot of cheap stuff against Apple. 

Marvin

jeffharris said:

entropys said:

1080p @ 27 inches. No. If accepting fullHD as an option should have also gone for a smaller display option.
otherwise what Tht says..  

I launched the Apple Calculator today and couldn’t believe how tiny it is at 4K!

It’s shocking that Apple has failed to address this issue.

Apple's way of scaling the whole system UI is the best route to go for an OS. There are too many possibilities for the scaling to go wrong by running at native resolution and scaling individual elements. Like old apps that haven't been updated to use a scaling API and then you are forced to change the whole display resolution each time.

Usually the 4th scaling option is usable. The "More Space" 5th option is sometimes usable on a laptop as the display can sit closer.

The main reason for Retina (aka HiDPI) displays is for sharpness and anti-aliasing rather than screen space but the 4th scaling option gives a good balance of both.

I'd like to see Apple make a 27"-32" OLED display that is around the same price as the Studio Display, even if it's only 4K. Running that at ~1440p would be ok. At 2:17 in the following video, it shows 5K vs 4K text clarity and the 5K is obviously sharper but minimally and it's influenced by the build quality of the display panel and black levels:



Having the perfect black levels and better colors of OLED makes more of a difference in image quality than sharpness.

There's an app reviewed here that says it improves text on external displays and has more scaling options:



https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay

4K OLEDs are getting pretty affordable:

Asus 4K glossy 32" OLED is $999
https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-Swift-Gaming-Monitor-PG32UCDM/dp/B0CV26XVMD/
LG 4K lightly matte 32" OLED is $999
https://www.amazon.com/LG-%E2%80%8E32GS95UV-Ultragear-DisplayHDR-DisplayPort/dp/B0DH8PT8TJ/?th=1
Samsung 32" 4K OLED is $949
https://www.bestbuy.com/site/samsung-32-odyssey-oled-g8-g80sd-4k-uhd-240hz-0-03ms-smart-gaming-monitor-with-hdr-silver/6573686.p?skuId=6573686

They can sell it with a holder on the back to place a Mac mini in. Shared/split power cable then one cable into USB-C for the display.

https://makerworld.com/en/models/761405#profileId-696089

xyzzy01

Does anyone know of a good, ultra widescreen monitor with two thunderbolt in connections?

I have a stationary Mac and also connect a laptop frequently (work), and I'd rather have Thunderbolt for both connections than having to use both USB and displayport, or USB and HDMI.

I've seen plenty of monitors having two thunderbolt connections, but then one of them is for daisy chaining monitors and can't be used as an input - and that's not what I'm interested in.

jeeves staub

I am so glad I saw a review of the ASUS PA27JCV ProArt Display 27” 5K HDR Monitor.