I have a MacBook pro (2012) with a 27″ Cinema display of that era. I would love more screen real estate via a larger monitor or 2nd display. I’m not using any graphic intense applications, large screen real estate is a priority for viewing multiple applications at once (multiple safari windows, excel, email,) and having the ability to position the screen vertically would be nice. (ie; see more of a webpage)
Gary and other users, care to share the products and setups you use? Or perhaps how you accomplish this with built-in MacOS features?
Thanks, Brad
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Brad T.
I use three screens with my Mac Pro. The main one is a 27-inch UHD (retina display) showing 4K. So it is 3840x2160 but the equivalent to 1920x1080. I can’t express enough how much better it is to use a retina-style display like that. Having 4 pixels instead of 1 for every point on the screen makes text smoother, images more like printed photos on paper and everything easier on the eyes. You just won’t get that with an old Cinema Display.
My other two screens are standard 1920x1080 23-inch displays turned vertical. As long as the display physically has some way to turn it vertically, it is easy to do as you can change the orientation in System Preferences easily. I use these for Mail, Messages, Finder windows and tool palettes and such. I try to “work” on my main screen.
I think the 4K screen cost me $300 and each of the 2 side screens less than $200.
You won’t be able to do so many on an old MacBook like that, and I’m not sure what you’ve got inside and whether it can drive a 4K screen right now. Maybe as since it is 7 years old and it sounds like you do some serious work on your Mac, it is time to consider a new model before upgrading the screens.
Thanks for the detailed answer, it is very helpful.
Yes, I'm anticipating upgrading my MacBook, though this one has served me well.