“I have been on a crusade for the ultimate (or at least an excellent) display for my 2013 Mac Pro,” John Martellaro writes for The Mac Observer. “The interim result was [a] Hewlett Packard Z27i display, (27-inch, 2560 x 1440) which I paired with my (2009) Apple 24-inch Cinema display.”
“I thought I was done. But then Hewlett-Packard announced some new displays in 2015 that really turned my head,” Martellaro writes. “The first was the Z27s, a 27-inch 4K (3840 x 2160) display that worked beautifully with the Mac Pro.”
Martellaro writes, “I liked it a lot, but I didn’t buy it after the review because what I really wanted was the subject of this review, the object of my affection, a drop-dead gorgeous 34-inch curved display that’s a bit short of 4K: 3440 x 1440.”
The HP Z Display Z34c 34-inch Ultra Wide Curved Display
MSRP: US$1299, $778 at Amazon
“HP has done a great job here,” Martellaro writes. “A gently curved display with this size and 110 dpi is amazing, pleasing, and extraordinarily beautiful.”
Tons more in the comprehensive full review – recommended – here.
MacDailyNews Take: Hey, if Apple won’t do it, at least HP will!
So if apple wont do it ill have to have my imac under the table to use one of these?
2 monitors rock! You should try it.
Most definitely.. But two monitors that match in their design…
I just happen to care how things look.
An all in one imac 27 next to one of these will look ridiculous , disproportionate and clumsy .
Imo
I just picked up an HP 22xw monitor, same size as my iMac 21.5″, and has a nice Apple-like silver design. Yes, having a second monitor makes a big difference when you’re driving the truck on your desk….
I already have the curved LG 34″ 21:9 Thunderbolt display and I think I like it better than the HP one because when I get a second one soon there won’t be a foot-wide bezel between the two of them. It’s amazing too by the way.
I remember when Apple used to offer droolworthy displays. Let’s see, that was back about 2010: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/07/27/apple-releases-27-inch-led-cinema-display/
In the last 6 years, Tim and his team just couldn’t find the time to offer anything better for Mac Pro users.
Thank goodness Dell and HP are interested in continued product improvement. What a shame Apple leadership isn’t doing anything but iOS deck chair rearranging and social events.
Wake me up when apple has a videocard/driver that compensates properly for curvature.
still looks nice I guess. even it its warped.
Wake me up and give me a dram of scotch when Apple ships a MacPro that can take top of the line nVidia CUDA computing GPU cards, preferably four.
The iPhone is great but where is the love for Macs and displays?
An Apple Car is an interesting idea, but surely better Macs, voice controlled AI assistance around the home, and virtual/augmented reality devices are the next steps in personal computing?
Apple, focus focus focus…
I’ve got a curved screen LG 34UC97 hooked up to my mid 2014 15″ retina MBP and it is bbbbeeeeaaaaauuuuttttiiiiffffulll.
On the top of my desk right now are two Dell Ultrasharp monitors. They are pretty good for what I do. What is the advantage of a curved monitor? Does that increase GPU demand to reprocess the image for a non-planar display? I guess I can see it might look good from a specific distance, but if you move around a bit, wouldn’t the view angles of curved monitors be a hindrance?
I mentioned curved because, well it’s curved, but honestly when sitting in front of it the curve goes unnoticed. I only notice it’s curved when I get up and move away from it. Is it an advantage? Probably not. Curviness aside it is a beautiful monitor. I love all the real estate. 🙂
And look at all the garbage they’ve released since 2010. Would have done better with a nice display.
After having worn out two 30′ cinema displays, this could very well be my next purchase. It’s really a pity how Apple just doesn’t give a single shit about cutting edge stuff anymore. QuickTime is dying, OpenGL is being ignored, GPU options are non-existing, and the joke that is the OSX finder forces everyone to use PathFinder, and the MacPro is 20 minutes away from being discontinued. Meanwhile, fuckin iTunes gets an update every two weeks. Yay!
Sadly, Apple no longer cares about Mac hardware.
Realize that Apple is all about mobile and the iPhone now. It’s well over 50% of their profits. It’s a shame that company as big as Apple continues to look for virgin markets as “growth” opportunities and shuns the backs’ of long standing loyal Mac users.
Oh well, S. Jobs dead and gone and so too the unifying direction. Now, Apple is just another large company.
I’m afraid you’re right…but you gotta admit, when Steve-o was at the helm, it was a helluva ride.
The funnest was experiencing his return. Remember how exciting each Apple event used to be? Now days, I feel like Apple is just responding to others’ innovations rather than leading. To me, everything at Apple is a mess (e.g. iTunes, Mac Pros, iPhone development cycles, iCloud with Pages, Keynote, Numbers, etc.) and seriously lacking and lagging. I’d love for Apple to spend a year like they did a few years ago with Mac OSX just to get things working extremely well, refocus, and gain direction to go forward. Apple today feels to me, like a V8 engine with all cylinders firing in different intervals. Nothing seems unified and moving forward as a life tech juggernaut that it once was.
How do you calibrate this thing? What’s the surface finish, max/min brightness, gamut, and color accuracy? Looks groovy, but I’ll stick with NEC professional displays.
Found the MacObserver article (why no link here?).
http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/review/the-display-youve-always-wanted-for-your-mac-hp-z34c
Max brightness 350 is fine, but min not specified. Uh oh. Gamut is sRGB. Surface not specified. Color accuracy not reported. Calibration not discussed. Height adjustment not included. Panel type is VA, not IPS.
This thing might be nice for watching movies and editing multi-page text documents, but it’s likely unsuited for working on photos or doing other graphics work where color accuracy, print matching, and freedom from geometric distortion are important.
Like others, I wish Apple had a current display offering. But looking at some of the options people have mentioned above (as well as this one), it becomes clear that Apple no longer has anything to offer in this space, nor any reason to go there. It is nicely covered by competitors, and face it, Apple doesn’t have anything that could use such a display besides the obsolete Mac Pro and Mac mini and laptops. If you’ve been holding out for the next Apple Display, I think its time to lay down your flag and look elsewhere.
It doesn’t take a person of deep penetration tech wise to understand that Apple has dropped the ball on the Pro market… it seems as time progresses that Apple has dissed the segment altogether. Apple really needs to unscrew themselves and fix the Mac Pro line, end the fetish with thinness and weight for laptops and concentrate on power and reopen the Mini to user upgradability. I like several Apple products but have always hated their approach in failing to give the customer the Burger King service – “Have it your way”. In Apple’s world they like to say to the loyal base and potential customers, “We’re not Burger King. You don’t get it your way, you get it OUR way or you don’t get the Mutha Fkr” which in the long run has always caused significant amounts of dissatisifaction. As for displays they should have partnered with a company long ago and this failure is a shame.
Unfortunately, you seem to be correct.
I have multiple 30″ Cinema Displays (ancient, I know). If Apple would ship a 5K display at 30″ or larger, I’d move to them. Otherwise I’m keeping the old 2560×1600 Cinemas until they die. Then I’ll get the best I can get my hands on even if it’s not Apple hardware.
I can understand the “closed platform” for the masses. People who want to buy a $2,000 or less computer for the most part don’t want to tinker with their system. They just want it to work. And they want to buy something that will be functional for 5+ years before buying something else.
This rationale is 100% (NOT 99% or even 99.999%) wrong for people who want a high end computer that costs $3,000 or more all in. People who invest that much in a computer want to be able to customize it for their needs. Apple’s Mac Pro does NOT meet that benchmark.
Further, people who will put up to $10,000 into the computer (plus more for monitors and other accessories) want to have that computer evolve over time with adding in new technologies (e.g., new graphics cards or faster SSDs) as they become available. Again, Apple’s current Mac Pro is 100% wrong.
The unfortunate circumstance harkens back to Autodesk’s port of AutoCAD to the Mac in the early 90s. There were many, many engineering professionals clamoring for a Mac port of AutoCAD. So… Autodesk thought that could cash in with the loudly proclaimed demand. But… Autodesk’s port to the Mac was a true “brute force and ignorance” and “brain dead” port of the prior DOS version (not even the then current version) of AutoCAD. Autodesk’s concession to the Mac windowing environment? The asinine DOS port of AutoCAD ran *INSIDE* a single Mac window! Thus… when virtually no one bought the truly ridiculous product Autodesk’s response was 1) “We knew it, and we told you no Mac users wanted AutoCAD!, and 2) they pulled the product plus discontinued support for the Mac version.
It is not TOO far a stretch for the same thing to happen with the Mac Pro. Apple produces a Mac Pro that very few professionals want, and Apple does not upgrade it for three years. This results in extremely poor sales for the Mac Pro. With extremely poor sales, Apple can justify discontinuing the Mac Pro all together.
Apple sets up the Mac Pro to fail spectacularly. It does fail. Apple internally says, “We knew sales would be poor.” Apple kills the Mac Pro line completely.
I hope it’s not true, but the writing may already be on the wall!!!