Reviews for Apple LED Cinema Display (27" flat panel)

This display is lovely to look at and fine to watch movies on, but if you want to work on it you would be far better off looking for a professional display.

I have been using this for a while now and I've noticed my productivity go down due to the headaches and fatigue that are caused by the reflections on the glossy display. I am constantly having to get up and move around to let my eyes recover from the constant strain of trying to focus on my work rather than the reflections.

I am now looking to buy a professional display that is designed to be used in a working environment.

132 of 145 people found this useful

The visual quality of the display is stunning. Deep, deep blacks and rich colors. Super accurate color profile. Brilliant super high contrast screen. I have found mine to be reliable and it just works. I have not found the reflection noted by others to be a problem if your workstation is set up properly.

The 3 foot cord is not an issue for me since my MacPro sits sideways next to the monitor, however, I do know lots of office set ups that the CPU sits under the desk/worktable, and this requires an extension to do. For a 1K USD display this a hassle no one needs and makes no logical sense. I do find it strange that there is no height adjustment for ergonomics. Since I am very tall, >2m, this is not good. I find that the old height boosters used for the old CRTs work fine, but again for a one grand machine, it is a hassle no one needs. I take note that the new iMac8s still don't have height adjustment... On the electronics side, I note that this thing still has USB2 ports, again for the price you would think it have USB3 ports,...but on the other hand my nearly new MacPro doesn't either... But for ordinary stuff connected to the monitor, like keyboards, drawing pads, etc it works OK. I hate to say this, but with Steve Jobs gone, Apple does need a real computer geek with attention to detail to make the final call on what goes in the machine, not the mad money men.

My monitor does what I need it to, and does it better than anything else out on the market, and its design limitations I can and do work around with no problem. I suspect most everyone else can as well. I do strongly recommend that everyone that gets this monitor or its Tbolt twin buy Apple Care, since it the reliability seems to be less than normal Apple standards.

116 of 123 people found this useful

just one more vote that the glare is unacceptable. if you are looking for a mirror, this is a really really good one.

125 of 148 people found this useful

I'm so bummed about this display. Its build quality and design is top notch. I love the pixel real estate too!

Unfortunately, I think I'm going to have to take it back due to eye-strain/headaches I get when using it. After just 15 minutes I haven horrible eye strain. My eyes feel like I've been staring at the screen for 15 hours when it's only been minutes.

These displays have the ability to get super bright. I've tried turning it way, way down and seeing it it helps but it didn't. There's also an issue where I can perceive a faint flickering of the screen. It's like the flickering you see when looking at florescent bulbs. I almost think this is what is causing my eye strain, not the brightness or glossy screen. Searching the Apple forums turns up posts of other people experiencing a lot of these same issues.

I probably spend 10 hours a day in front of the computer. My old 23" ACD gave me zero eye strain. It looks like I'm going to have to switch back to it and return this 27". It bums me out, but I don't think I'll be able to get used to this. I prefer to stay with Apple products, but I guess I'll have to look elsewhere now.

Another thing I was disappointed in are the built-in speakers. The speakers are on the very bottom of the display so the sound coming out of them shoots straight down. The result is really muffled audio. This was immediately apparent to me when listening to music in iTunes. Messing around with the eq in iTunes can help mitigate the issue, but it's not a great fix since audio outside of iTunes will still be muffled. Unfortunately, OS X currently doesn't provide a way to eq the system audio on a global level which would be a potential workaround for this. I'm not a fan of muffled audio so I switched back to using my laptop speakers which fortunately (or unfortunately) sound better.

The built-in isight camera is cool and the build quality on this is outstanding. Sadly I have to return it though. Just can't get around the eye-strain : (

139 of 179 people found this useful

When the display works, it's great - great visual quality. However sometimes when I plug in the thunderbolt cable to my 2011 macbook pro, the cinema display just flickers uncontrollably, to the point it is totally unusable. The only remedy I've found is to unplug it and plug it back in, sometime 20-30 times in a row, until the display becomes steady.

I expect better from Apple.

105 of 120 people found this useful

If I would work at night only, I would give it 5 stars for the image quality. However, I'm not. Even moderate light coming into my windows from behind diminishes the viewing experience significantly.
I understand that Apple likes the glass front from a design and manufacturing perspective, but they should provide an anti-glare option like on the Macbook Pro. I upgraded or should I say downgraded from the 30" cinema display and after using the 27" for 2 month I have to say I want it back. I'm currently looking on eBay.

Comparison 27" vs. 30":

Real Estate 30" + 11% (23 % for Photo editing 1.5 aspect)
Aspect Ratio 30" + unless you watch HD movies.
Power 27" - 50% (Led and integrated power supply)
Power button 30" (Can turn it off when not in use)
Connectivity 27" (No DVI converter, no external power for monitor and Macbook Pro)
Sound is not much different from my 17" Macbook, 49 Watts ???

Apple, please keep the 1.6 aspect ratio for the Macbook Pros and build a 30" LED monitor with anti-glare screen in 1.6.

103 of 117 people found this useful

After a long wait and long hours of research and frequent stops to the Apple store, I listened to those who said the glare wasn't that bad and finally decided to purchase this monitor.

Let me begin by saying that I never regretted buying an Apple product until now... The glare is simply unbearable. Apple really needs to provide an alternative. There are still some of us who use computer for prolonged hours. Yes, it's big and pretty but it's not practical... Please give us a matte alternative Apple...

109 of 133 people found this useful

Apple has left the professional behind. Yay, an iSight camera! Who cares! What about the professional video editor trying to color correct on this over-colored glossy monitor? If you like iMovie and making stuff for YouTube, this is the monitor for you. If you've dropped 1,400 bucks on Final Cut and do real editing, look elsewhere. I am such a huge Apple fan and have spent so much money on their products that this just sickens me. Why not still offer the old one (30 inch cinema) for professionals and offer this kiddy monitor for kids making flip cam skateboard iMovies? It saddens me. I guess I'll go with the Dell monitor instead and try to pawn this off on eBay or something.

117 of 151 people found this useful

It is a very nice display, except for the fact that there is no matte option....it does make a huge difference for me....if I only watched videos, glossy would be fine....but matte is much better for almost all other uses....not to mention much easier on the eyes...it would be great if Apple would offer a matte option...

88 of 94 people found this useful