Apple LED Cinema Display review (24-inch)

The market for the 24-inch Apple LED Cinema Display is limited. Until third-party adapters are released, the display is only compatible with MacBooks that have Mini DisplayPort connections. And even if you have that, you will pay $900 for a display that can't be used with other devices. It has a beautiful and clean design, great performance with movies and games, phenomenal sound, and a good viewing angle, but the monitor's lack of versatility makes it a product we are reluctant to recommend, even to its target (and only) market. It's a good display to be sure, but until those third-party adapters are released, it's more of a fancy docking station with an excellent-quality screen. If that appeals to you, and if you're an owner of a compatible MacBook, and if $900 seems reasonable, then go for it. For the rest of us, there are many more high-quality monitors out there that are not nearly as limiting in their compatibility. The best of these are the $516 native resolution. Extruding from the back is an irremovable cord that splits off into three connections: a USB plug, a MagSafe connector (that will charge your MacBook if the monitor is plugged in), and a Mini DisplayPort connection. There is no DVI, VGA, or even HDMI connection. As we mentioned, this is a monitor for MacBooks (with the Mini DisplayPort connection) and for MacBooks only--at least for the time being.

You can adjust the backlight luminance by going through system preferences. There, you'll also have access to the display's color-temperature settings, where you can adjust it from 4,500K up to 9,300K. Unfortunately, there are no contrast controls.

Manufacturer's specifications:
• Resolution: 1,920x1,200
• Pixel-response rate: 6ms
• Contrast ratio: 1,000:1
• Brightness: 330cd/m2
• Connectivity: Mini DisplayPort
• HDCP compliant? Yes
• Included video cables? Mini DisplayPort

Performance
We tested the Apple LED Cinema Display via its Mini DisplayPort connection, which connected to a 15-inch MacBook Pro with a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, 4GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GeForce 9400M/9600M GT graphics adapter with 512MB of video memory. With this configuration we are unable to give the display an actual DisplayMate score, as our DisplayMate score is based on a DVI-specific PC configuration with which the Apple LED Cinema Display was not compatible. Also, we used Boot Camp to install Windows XP Pro on the MacBook, because DisplayMate is not compatible with Mac OS. Given the different configurations, it would be unfair to make direct DisplayMate comparisons with the other tested displays, but we can at least discuss the results we got from the tests. Please keep in mind that DisplayPort has a higher video bandwidth than DVI.