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

I bought the new 27" iMac with i5 processor. This is the finest display I have come across. Please do not convert it to anti-glare. The main reason I bought this computer is the beautiful display. Glass is best.

Some people don't like the reflective properties and have trouble due to lighting but I am not one of them.

If Apple decides to offer a anti-glare screen I really hope they continue to offer the current one as an option as well. OSX Snow Leopard runs great, I really like it after using Windows 7 too. I run Windows 7 apps on the OSX desktop using Parallels with Coherence. It really is the best of both worlds.

21 of 50 people found this useful

I know a lot of people want to complain about the fact that it only works with Mini Display ports and the glossy screen is very reflective, but the bottom line is they say the monitor has a glossy screen so if you do not like that then do not buy it. Do not buy the glossy screen then bash the product because you do not like that because you knew very well what it was! The Mini Display Port is a somewhat annoying problem but i bought a nvidia GT 120 i believe and it has DVI and Mini Display so i was fine. It once again clearly says to you works with every NEW Mac not every 1 Year old Mac or every 2 Year old Mac so stop acting like they are tricking you because they give you all of the information right here and expect you to actually read it.

The quality of the monitor is unbelievable its dark blacks are great and even at full brightness it looks fantastic. At night with my lamp on i turn off the backlight because it doesn't even need it. The clarity is also just perfect and the speakers surprised me. I normally use Bose computer speakers and so i am used to great sound so i thought trying the built in ones would disappoint but they do not. They still sound great and are very usable as well as the Isight camera it is very good quality and its all built in to the monitor so you cant lose. I also enjoy that there is no buttons on the monitor because then you just turn off the computer and it is off as well and same thing for when it goes to sleep.

I recommend this monitor without question and the money is not that big of an issue when you know you are getting quality like this.

14 of 22 people found this useful

loving this new monitor!!! Just received last night and very impressed...blows away all the others I 've looked at in this price point! i have a brand new 15" fully loaded macbook pro courtesy of apple care because my 2008 had a minor glitch when I opened the lid of flickering. They couldn't seem to fix it after 3 attempts and sent me a brand new model which I upped to 8gb ram. I thought I would treat myself to this monitor, wired keyboard, and magic mouse, and "bam" I now have the best of both worlds! This led was made to work together and I am very impressed. As far as all the complaints regarding glare and glossy, go back to 1990 you can keep your matte screens. After all you can't please everyone. I do agree Apple should increase cable lengths as well as add some other port compatibility but other than that you get what you pay for and thats quality. i though about saving a couple of hundred on the 24" but I am glad I didn't, much better quality with the 2560x 1440. If you can afford this is the way to go! Thanks APPLE!!!

17 of 23 people found this useful

If you haven't invested in blockout blinds, dark purple Ralph Lauren wall paint and track lighting, I can't help you. But I have and this monitor is the greatest ever. The cord could be longer.

33 of 46 people found this useful

I'm a pro photographer and having this screen is great asset.
Yes, there is a problem with reflection, but with any screen you should good lighting condition. The colors are really nice and my photos looks great and sharp. It's really nice to have only one cable on my table that also charging my MacBook Pro.
I returned my new Dell U2711 27' HD UltraSharp 2 month age just because it was hard to see if the image is sharp or not.
Apple display is one more great product that you mast to have for photography business.

32 of 42 people found this useful

I've read all the reviews and was hesitant to purchase due to the glare, limited port availability and mostly inability to use for PC. I decided to go into my local Apple store and give it a shot.

The port limitation isn't much of a big deal for me though. If I need hdmi, etc I'll go to my 55" Samsung. I would've like to have seen 1 or 2 USB ports built-in though.

I'm loving this thing. The images are as crisp as I've even seer. The colors pop off and are extremely vivid. I have no glare issues but my office is situated in a way to mitigate this problem others have expressed.

My one gripe is the lack of a power button and short cabling. I tend to leave my MBP on but would like the option of powering off the display. I suppose I can adjust the power setting to control the monitor going to sleep though.

All in all, very happy customer. I haven't seen a Dell monitor which can compare to this yet, and if it did, the price point is more than the Apple unit. I'm satisfied and will be keeping mine.

26 of 35 people found this useful

Well, at first i was mad that it's glossy, but couldn't pass up the features. Now that I've been using it for a week, you know what? I'm starting to become a fan of glossy. It's actually very clear, good colors and my eyes don't feel like they are blurring out. All, in all, i'm going to have to say I'm becoming a glossy fan. No headaches, and I've been a hardcore matte for a while. Color calibration went fine, and the thing is a beauty. The auto brightness is great for coding, text is crisp and clear and this things just beats the u2711 (seems much clearer). No dead pixels, no issues, a+

103 of 138 people found this useful

Pros
Huge.
Color temperature and grayscale tracking are excellent.
No inverter noise.
Does not generate significant heat.
Brightness range is incredible - more than comfortably usable in pitch dark rooms.
Amazingly easy connection to macbook pro. the magsafe charger is a godsend.
Built-in speakers surprisingly good quality. can easily surpress need to connect to a real audio system.
Uniformity is surprisingly good to the naked eye. Only some edge bleeding near the bottom, visible only on test patterns. No yellow tinging.
Sleek and sexy design, second to none, apple elegance all the way.

Cons
No height or left-right swivel adjustment
Only one display port input, no HDMI, no HDCP, cannot display video game material without some serious conversions.
Extremely glossy coating makes it unsuitable for watching dark material (eg movies) in harsh lighting.
More usb ports would've been nice.

75 of 97 people found this useful

I had the 27" inch LED display for two days know and I love it, The glossy screen does NOT bother me at all, I own a 2010 12-Core Mac Pro with ATi 1GB 5870 and my Mac is on the floor and the cable on the 27-Inch LED Cinema was long enough to hook up the display onto my Mac Pro didn't need any extension, Now i can enjoy using Photo Booth and ichat on the Mac Pro without any external webcam.

12 of 30 people found this useful

This monitor is great! The width is wide enough to place 2 documents or web pages side-by-side plus another chat or Twitter client on the side. Yes, there are glares but it's not any worse than the glare that you already experience on your current, modern Macbooks or MBP's.

Although the price tag is $1,000, comparable Dell or Samsung monitors with 2560x1440 resolution are sold for $1,200 to $1,300 - so this is actually cheaper if you want a 27" monitor with resolution higher than the standard 1080p or 1920x1080 pixels. Size wise it's comparable to the 30" Cinema Display - that monitor seems to be taller... but for almost 1/2 the price and more features, you really can't beat this one.

54 of 84 people found this useful