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

The quality of the display is top-notch. However, there are 2 issues I have with this display. 1.) I would prefer matte over glossy to avoid the reflection problem since most of us do not work in a completely dark room. 2.) The built-in microphone does not offer ambient noise reduction. This is a huge problem for me because I tend to close my Macbook Pro 17 and only use the 27" while working. The built-in microphone on the Macbook Pro has the ambient noise filter. I've tried both while on conference calls using Skype and everyone complains of too much background noise when I try to use the Cinema Display mic. They can even hear cars drive by outside of my house! Unfortunately, I do not see it mentioned as a feature on the new Thunderbolt 27" display either.

75 of 88 people found this useful

I owned a HP LP 2465 (which swivels and rotates) which is very good. After calibrating it I was able to produce prints without any problems. Editing was easy on the eyes, but i always wanted a bigger screen. I was about to purchase the 30" ACD, but when the 27" rolled out I decided to give it a try.

I have mixed feelings. @1000, i can see how this would be a steep investment, especially when the 30" ACD, MATTE can be found cheaper and the 16:10 aspect ratio is perfect for editing.

great, but missing a few things, matte screen, price

65 of 79 people found this useful

I see many reviews here with the same issue: the high pixel density and the glossy surface strain my eyes after less than 30 minutes of work. I have had 3 large LCD displays from Apple over the last 10 years, first the beautiful 22" Cinema Display, then the 30" model, and most recently this one. I still use the 30" model (non-glossy), and largely prefer the latter. Apple has made it impractical to read pages in browsers with the standard small lettering that they default with (yes, this can be changed, but not as a default). I work all day with this screen and end up having severe eye strain, to the point that I am seriously thinking of getting another display. It is too bad, because otherwise for color fidelity and resolution, it is a superb screen. I am a photographer and appreciate the accuracy of colors for this screen after the usual calibration.

58 of 75 people found this useful

The glossy screen can look pretty at first, but when you begin to work on it for hours, it begins to take a toll. My head constantly hurts, never had that before. My eyes become more easily fatigued. The people aren't lying, it's basically a mirror.

They say skinny is prettier, and Apple like a good anorexic has been trying it's best to thin down, in the name of vanity. The gloss move is in the name of vanity, ultimately.

I think they forget though: Dead will always be skinnier. Just a thought.

123 of 144 people found this useful

I just bought one and hooked it up. It's stunningly beautiful, and although I could use double the number of USB ports on the back, overall it's got everything I need (more video inputs would be nice).

However, I only give it three stars because the glossy screen has far too much glare. I'm going to have to spend a small fortune (in addition to what I already spent on the display) to re-do the lighting in my office. Blah.

50 of 57 people found this useful

There's a lot of reasons to like this monitor, the glossy glass
cover isn't one of them.

35 of 39 people found this useful

Picture quality is excellent. Not such a fan of glossy but one could argue either way.
However the sound keeps dropping off seemingly at random. I need to shut down the system unplug the displays power, unplug the USB connection in order to get the sound back. Furthermore when this happens the whole system seems to lag.
Please fix this bug Apple.

57 of 67 people found this useful

I love this screen, the display is stunning. Audio has been an issue, Sometimes when the computer (2010 Mac Pro 3.33 GHz 6 Core 6 GB 1333 MHz DDR3) wakes from sleep the audio fails to work, no sound. The only fix I have found for this thus far is to shutdown unplug the screen and plug it back in. Doing that seems to reset the audio. I have only had this occur a few times, If you are using external speakers Buy this screen and love it, If you happen to get one without audio issues you'll be sure to love the crisp sound it produces.

43 of 47 people found this useful

If you bought this display knowing that it was glossy, and there was no matte option, why would you give it a bad review? It's like buying a Prius and complaining that it won't go off-road.

This display does have its issues, nonetheless. It eats CPU cycles! I've been wondering why my MacBook Pro runs hot all the live long day. It turns out, the screen saver has been running in the background, even while the display is sleeping. I couldn't figure out what it was until i turned off the screen saver on a hunch. I fixed it but it's still only a workaround. Mind you, this has NEVER happened with my previous display.

I tried playing with the webcam using photobooth and when the screen turns white as a pseudo "flash", it overexposes. Sup with that, Apple?!

Just today, the speakers on the display decided to stop working. I had to unplug, then plug it back in for the darn thing to reset. Oh yeah, btw, there is NO power button on this display since Mr. Jobs hates buttons, so unpluging/plugging was the only way to reset it.

I'm running the latest firmware update on this display, and until Apple fixes these issues, I can only give it 3 stars. As a display, this thing is AWESOME! It's got a little too much tech in there for things to go wrong though.

35 of 46 people found this useful