Apple Thunderbolt Display 27"

BillN_33

BillN_33

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Is a refurbished Apple Thunderbolt Display 27" worth buying at around £500 to use with a MacMini

any downsides?

(I have a couple of 27" iMac 5K's - both 1TB - I need to upgrade to 2TB - I want to stay with Apple but a new Apple 27" screen is v expensive - so I thought the MacMini route plus a refurbished 27" Display is worth considering)

(I can upgrade the SSD in my older iMac but I cannot upgrade the SSD in the newer iMac...... Apple have prevented this in the way the newer 27" iMacs were configured)
 
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BillN_33 said:
Is a refurbished Apple Thunderbolt Display 27" worth buying at around £500 to use with a MacMini

any downsides?

(I have a couple of 27" iMac 5K's - both 1TB - I need to upgrade to 2TB - I want to stay with Apple but a new Apple 27" screen is v expensive - so I thought the MacMini route plus a refurbished 27" Display is worth considering)

(I can upgrade the SSD in my older iMac but I cannot upgrade the SSD in the newer iMac...... Apple have prevented this in the way the newer 27" iMacs were configured)
Click to expand...
2560 x 1440 so not quite 4k, (the new Studio display is 5120 x 2880). Same resolution as my late 2012 iMac, which to be honest still look great to me. If you’ve been using 5K iMacs, I guess you may see a reduction in image quality.

Other than that, can’t see a problem.

Apple Thunderbolt Display - Technical Specifications – Apple Support (UK)

support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
When I had an older iMac I needed a larger drive and I learned that it was possible to boot from an external drive so I got an external SSD and configured the system to boot from there and it worked well. Don't know if that would work for you or whether you just want another machine. :)
 
gramps said:
When I had an older iMac I needed a larger drive and I learned that it was possible to boot from an external drive so I got an external SSD and configured the system to boot from there and it worked well. Don't know if that would work for you or whether you just want another machine. :)
Click to expand...
I boot my late 2012 iMac from a USB3 attached SSD (Samsung T5) running Catalina Works a treat and way faster than the internal hard drive (which now has a Windows 10 option via Bootcamp and an earlier (32-bit tolerant) version of MacOS.
 
gramps said:
When I had an older iMac I needed a larger drive and I learned that it was possible to boot from an external drive so I got an external SSD and configured the system to boot from there and it worked well. Don't know if that would work for you or whether you just want another machine. :)
Click to expand...

I'm going to upgrade my older late 2014 27" iMac to 2TB - it means removing the screen etc., etc., plus cloning the existing HD onto the new SSD, so I will see how I get on....??
Cannot up grade my newer 2020 iMac which is well sped memory-wise but has "only" a 1TB SSD.
If this works I would think that I will be fine for a few years

If not maybe the MacMini is the way to go but I want to stick with an Apple screen........that why I have posted the question
 
BillN_33 said:
I'm going to upgrade my older late 2014 27" iMac to 2TB - it means removing the screen etc., etc., plus cloning the existing HD onto the new SSD, so I will see how I get on....??
Click to expand...
I did that with a 21" and a 27" and with reasonable care it isn't as difficult as you might imagine. :)
 
Go for the LG 27 5K screen. Better in every single way.
 
I tried using another half-decent, non-Apple 27” 4k monitor a while back and to my eyes, it was not to the performance of the Apple Studio Display. I too, had a 27” 5k iMac and if you’re used to this, I think the older Thunderbolt Display or a lesser make monitor will be hard to get used to. Price tag aside, the Apple monitor is a very well-made product and should give you years of reliable service.
 
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