And I don't really see much value in high refresh rates outside gaming. The difference between 60 Hz and 144 Hz is minimal in most uses. Given what displays were in the 90s and 2000s, I would have chosen a different career if I was too picky about display quality.

I'm almost considering getting rid of the other two Samsung displays and replacing them with Studio Displays because it's just so much better.

It just depends on what you value. A MBP with 32GB memory and 2TB disk is much more expensive than a Dell equivalent.

(I say this as someone who owns a MBP)

For phones its not as clear, I agree, but at least they added iPhone 17e starting at $599.

What I care about is resolution, color fidelity, color gamut, viewing angles, (anti-)glare, even how quickly the monitor wakes up. I don't play competitive FPS games, I do coding, graphics, and video work on my monitors.

I spent three decades @30Hz, and just the past few ≥60Hz@4K... as I've aged I appreciate the analogue more, and the jarring stutters of 30Hz are constant reminders of computized digitality.

Also, PoE at 144Hz is incredible (I went from <30Hz to 144Hz with this one simple trick: $1000 5070Ti, which turns out was actually a great investment, too [today's price $1449]). But so is scrolling through walls of text, now.

¢¢

I avoid any-higher refresh rates, by your own reasoning =P

I still maintain an entire fleet of 30Hz equipment, but my main two machines are each 144Hz (sharing one screen $$). The $600 Mac Mini handles this easily. Obviously the other's nVidia GPU is a different $tory$$$$ == PoE@144Hz so_pretty

My favorite digital reading method, conversely, is probably less than 1Hz (eInk)? But even hundred of pages of text I'll always prefer printouts.

In psychedelic tongue: it drips well.

And it's getting so inexpensive (I can easily price many 120Hz systems, barely above $1000)!

How much (approx) was your son's build?

But a web page just sits there. And I never scroll slowly enough for refresh rate to matter, I go for big jumps that look the same on anything faster than e-ink. The benefit I get from a faster screen during normal desktop activities is slightly better mouse precision and latency.

The $800 LG outperforms the studio display in almost every dimension you mention.

Look at the reviews for that LG. Sure the specs on the tin are better but quality control looks like garbage.

Apple does not accept that. I have never got a bad Apple screen in any Apple product I have ever bought. Not the case from other companies.

Their lower tier monitors have issues but so do literally every other manufacturer. The high-end LGs are very good and QC as of 2026 has been phenomenal.

(e.g., https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/studio-displays-with-sc...)

Maybe the panel lottery is more in your favour but it isn't gone.

“But ackshully” — you fully understand the point I was making!

Real shame they discontinued them.