Apple Studio Display vs Eve (Dough) Spectrum 4K - Best Monitor for Mac?

What's funny is that we Mac users don't care about refresh rates. The resolution (5k) and colour accuracy is the most important thing to us. Then PC people don't care about resolution, the first thing they want to know is "what is the refresh rate". Once you use a 5K glass display (27" iMac or Apple Studio), you can't go back to a 4k monitor for main display. You lose nearly half your resolution and text looks like poop.

It took me a literal year to get my Eve Spectrum monitor. Recently bought a Studio Display and it's so much better.

Like your t's seriously.

Eve and Dough is a scam company. You should feel bad for pushing their scam.

Is there still issues with running windows 11 with parallels on the studio display?

So what would be the best alternative affordable version of Apple Studio Display ? how do the new Oled monitors compare? Do higher-Hz monitors tend to be better for reducing eyestrain?"

i can’t get past the studio displays price tag with HUGE bezels that will look even more dated in the coming years

I head the Spectrum has a wake up problem with macs? It will wake up the monitor every now and then even when sleeping.

The fact that apples monitor doesn’t have “pro motion” and is capped at 60fps at this price point is disgusting.

Studio Display all the way!

Scam dont buy it. They refused to return my money back. Buy monitor on the shelf. Avoid preorder SCAM from DOUGH/EVE.

Dough is a trash company that stole my money for my Eve Spectrum monitor and never delivered it.

Scam dont buy it. They refused to return my money back. Buy monitor on the shelf. Avoid preorder SCAM from DOUGH/EVE.

Both are nice options, but too expensive :(
I gut the 28.2" MateView with 4K+ for 450€ instead and it's more than fine! I use it at 2560x1707 GUI scaling (1.5x factor)

If one monitor is 5K (iMac, Studio Display, LG Ultrafine, Samsung S9?), no matter what you pit against it, anything else that's not 5K will never the best Mac screen.

Great video as always, Jerry! how did you use 4k 144hz on mac? which cable did you use?

Bro your videos are fantastic! Glad I found your channel

Does this works properly with Macbook Pro Intel based ?

Honestly, this was a fantastic review and I'm still totally undecided!

I love the eve which is now called dough, but my concern is that there is no support for it. Horrible customer service out of Hong Kong

anyways, both display panels are being manufactured by LG )))

with the scaled resolution how does it behave compared to the native for macos, or the 5k?

What scaling did you use for text? Was the 4k default scaling good enough?

The difference in sharpness is less to do with the difference in resolution and more to do with apple's integer scaling issues. The Mac struggles to scale things sharply to resolutions that aren't integer multiples.

Why compare a 5K with a 4K? o.O
5K is a specific tool if you think it like that, you can slap all the refresh rate and whatnot to the Eve Spectrum and it will still be a 4K monitor.

Considering I could get the Studio Display for $100 off due to the Education Pricing, and it offers a webcam, mic and speakers, I’m all for it!

One big problem of 4K 27” display is the text size. Native, the text is too small. But at 1080p (2x), the text is too large. Something in the middle, the text is blurry. You wont get this problem with the 5K panel.

Excellent review / comparison!

This is the most thorough comparison I've seen; thank you!

The thunderbolt cable they include is only 1 meter long, the 129$ one is 1.8 meters. Its very cheap of them not to include a longer cable.

Misleading video title

Hi Jerry.

I’m having some low range bass distortion on my studio display speakers. Out of the box!

Vocals and most audio sounds terrific but when the bass kicks in a few songs, the thump sounds like a torn drum 🥁 even at half volume.

The same songs at same settings are sounding amazing on my 24” M1 iMac.

These displays are not even available on display at the physical stores, where I live, to go and double check if it’s widespread or something that’s normal.

Could you please check on your studio display?

Apple Music Equaliser
Preamp in neutral
Rock setting

Apple Music preferences
Sound enhancer
Slider at 3/4th

Thanks indeed 🙏🏻🥃

I like the Eve Spectrum not because of the cheaper price but the 4k and the fact the bezel is thinner and so is the display

Such a great rundown, thanks Jerry.  
One correction: it's a TB4 cable supplied with the Studio, not a TB3. TB4 is needed to use the other display usb-c ports at full bandwidth.

So TLDW: The ASD is pretty and fits the aesthetic of other Apple devices. It's got the optimal resolution for MacOS and is really quite a nice display so long as you're not after HDR, need more than 1 input or more than 60Hz. Buy it if you are comfortable with the enormous price and the limitations listed above. It fits a niche in the market that other manufacturers haven't addressed which is 27" 5k displays (except a old LG display which has some issues). If it were a PC monitor it would be bad value but it's not, it an Apple monitor so due to it's lack of competition it basically wins by default.

Was really hoping for a do it all monitor from Apple and was disappointed with the release. Lovely monitor no doubt but not what I needed or was looking for. 

Just picked up the Eve Spectrum for £500 next day delivery from a private seller and I have to say I'm blown away by it, literally ticks every box. I wasn't going to buy the stand if I purchased direct but it was included in the purchase with the private sale and I'm glad it was, its better then I could have imagined and although I was planning on using a Vesa, I will be using this stand instead.

Eve is extremely good for its price and beats Studio Display in value. What my biggest concern is the shoddy reputation of the company, and God forbid if the device breaks down I don't know if they will be around to to honour the warranty. Once my out of warranty 4 year old macbook pro broke down twice and then Apple was so embarrassed that they not only returned my money for repairs but also gave me a fully loaded brand new macbook pro as apology. I would like to buy Eve products once they fix their reputation of being a fraudulent fly by night scam operation.

Does Apple own a patent on "5k" like they tried to patent the rectangle shape of the iPad? WTF is going on? Why is NOBODY making a 5k except for Apple?

just picked up the studio display sadly only available in the standard mount. i still didnt dare to unpack it and looking for alternatives.... haha

good balanced comparison, ty

The sharpness difference between 5K and 4K is huge. I can still see pixels on my 27” 4K. We need cheaper 5K displays. The LG is ok but so plastic with its 5 year old design.

60hz display should not happen in 2022.

Jerry, I love your reviews. 👍 Straight forward, very informative and showing all the details. Thank you. I really appreciate it.

4k 144 Hz is the best of both worlds. Half the price, slimmer bezels aswell. No brainer really

I been looking forward to this video I just don’t think the studio is worth the money at 60hz should have the pro motion 120