Mac

Some thoughts on monitors, memory and storage from a Mac geek who over specs things but tells others not to over spec (as in waste money on capacity and features they don’t need).

Andrew Woodward

Recent discussions on the Mac Geek Gab and some personal experience have given me reason to give some thought to what equipment is best for the right tasks for home and small business computers.

As a Mac geek and hobbyist, I over spec on most equipment, as in I get more than I need, often but not always. I’ve always had a pretty good fix on memory (RAM) and storage but I have had some interesting learning in monitors in the last few years.

Monitor resolutions

We’re inundated with ads telling us we need 4k, 5k, IPS, HDR10, Power Delivery, curved and wide screen. And then there’s nits – as in brightness.

Most people are attracted to 4k and 5k screens because Netflix and others look great in 4k. Well, yes they do on a big screen on the other side of a dark lounge room or home theatre. Up close, on a monitor, you don’t need 4k or 5k unless you’re doing precise work with videos, photos or graphic design.

Your eyes don’t really have the ability to use anything above what’s known as QHD (I’ll explain shortly). So, all getting a 4k or 5k screen does is cost you more money, slows your computer down, increases energy consumption on your computer and in so doing costs you more money. You never hear of a laptop with 4k. That’s why. You eyes really can’t make much use of it. 

There are pretty much three main resolutions for monitors:

  • Full HD (FHD) – 1920 x 1080 pixels. This is what most TV’s are. At a distance, they’re fine for TV, but up close on a desk, the type looks grainy and ‘cheap’. So on a computer, a “FHD” is monitor is fine as a billboard for graphics (like in a shop window) or for a cheap workstation where you’re not fussed about quality.
  • Quad HD (QHD) – 2560 x 1440 pixels. This is the sweet spot. Remember when Apple introduced “Retina displays” on their MacBooks. 2560 x 1440 is what the Retina specification is. QHD is perfect for everyday email, browsing, work applications and more. It’s both sharp and smooth as well as being easy on the eye (in terms of strain). And why “Quad”? It’s four times the resolution of 720p (which is what many of the previous generation TVs were.
  • Ultra HD (UHD) – 3840 × 2160 pixels. 4k is awesome but way more than what 95 per cent of people need. As I said, if video, photo and other graphic intensive tasks are your thing, then yes, get 4k, but if you’re doing ‘everyday’ tasks, QHD is more than enough.

As for colours, look for abbreviations like IPS and HDR. These make for better screens.  As for the “refresh rate” and “nits”, the higher then better. These have to do with speed and brightness. 

Interestingly, my brand new M5 MacBook Pro 14 inch boasts a screen resolution of 3024 x 1964. That must look pretty good, right? Well it does but guess what, its default resolution is 1512 x 982 (half of what it’s capable of). If you run it at full resolution, everything on the screen is tiny. 

If you want to know more about monitors and associated terminology, check out these articles by HP and Samsung. 

Power delivery

Power delivery is an interesting aspect of monitors. “PD” involves a USB-C cable going between your Mac and monitor. The monitor sends power to the MacBook (eliminating the need to use the charger) while the same cable sends video, audio and other data to the screen. It’s a handy feature.

Up until recently, I had a M2 MacBook Air which needed only 30 watts of power. My new M5 MacBook Pro comes with a 70 watt charger. 

I purchased a Philips QHD monitor which delivered 65 watts via a USB cable. That was fine for both the M2 Air and new M5 Pro. I also have a LG QHD 27 inch monitor but it only delivers 15 watts, which is next to useless (but it’s a handy charger for AirPods, iPhones and iPads). It pretty much runs a MacBook Neo and iPad but that’s about it. LG offers QHD and 4k monitors with 65 and 90 watts PD.

So, if you’re getting a monitor with PD make sure you get one that can deliver what your MacBook wants.

RAM and storage

This is easy, if you are any everyday user, get a device with a minimum of 16 gigs of RAM and a 256 GB solid state drive. Use iCloud, OneDrive, Google Drive and others to save yourself money on physical storage.

If you are a pro user, particularly with video, photography and graphics intensive tasks, go for a minimum of 24 GB of RAM and a 512 GB or 1 TB hard drive. And you can up your capacity with online storage or get a Synology Disk Station for local physical storage of data or for use as a Time Machine back-up.

What else

There are some cool Mac apps out there that enable you to control your screen and its speakers from your Mac. I use Display Buddy. It just works.

My monitors

In conclusion

All in all, for the everyday user, I recommend:

  • QHD Monitor (and Power Delivery of a minimum of 65 watts)
  • 16 GB Random Access Memory (RAM)
  • 256 GB Solid State Drive (SSD) 

23 June 2026