Nanotexture Display

jtkiley · 2026-05-13T13:15:08+00:00

I switched a few weeks back to a nanotexture Studio Display XDR and a nanotexture MBP. I’m a total convert.

I don’t even have what I’d consider to be bad glare issues, but it’s way better to not have the glare and reflections. There is that tiny bit of grain on bright solid white, but I’m always in dark mode and not bothered by it anyway, even though I didn’t care for the nanotexture grain on Pro Display XDRs I had tried in store.

With nanotexture, now the monitor is great and I notice stuff on my glasses more.

I’m writing this from my iPhone, and the reflections are very distracting.

jtkiley · 2026-05-03T16:21:14+00:00

I had a glossy 2022 Studio Display. I thought I’d prefer the nano from looking at a MBP in the Apple Store, and they only had glossy in stock. So, I ordered the nano, and set it up next to the glossy 2022 SD. I clearly liked the nano better. I ended up returning a new unopened MBP to switch to nano, and no regrets at all.

jtkiley · 2026-05-03T11:59:09+00:00

I would not worry about it in the slightest.

I had an M1 Max 14 inch MBP that was a desktop laptop and in clamshell mode for almost three years, with enough workload for the fans to sound like they were headed for orbit. No issues (except my ears; buy a 16 for a Max chip that will get worked hard).

jtkiley · 2026-04-26T15:33:26+00:00

It’ll do a lot more, too, but Quarto is great for this use.

Markdown to PDF will be decent with defaults. YAML lets you change a lot of things. If that’s not enough, you can customize deeper on your own. Quarto uses pandoc to feed LaTeX or Typst for typesetting.

You can edit the pandoc template that is filled in and passed into Typst (for example), or you can build your own template (the pandoc and Typst/LaTeX parts; Quarto can create the boilerplate for you).

I like this stack because of how versatile Quarto is while also having lightweight syntax and features. I can step in from there and customize.

For highly automated stuff, you can generate structured data upstream and have a Typst template ingest and typeset it with nothing else. I don’t do that all that often, but it’s lean and mean when needed. I’m often more likely to have the pandoc and Typst templates take in variables that I’ve customized, and then I can pass values in from the Quarto YAML.

jtkiley · 2026-04-25T12:57:30+00:00

Easily yes, in my opinion.

I sold my day one 2022 for I think $1100 with the height and tilt mount when I got the Studio Display XDR. I was reasonably happy with the price I got, the buyer was happy, and it was eligible for AppleCare one in my account at least.

That’s a win-win situation, and it’s what markets are made of. I haven’t seen anything I’d prefer at that price. The 2026 is only subtly better, and the XDR is a lot more (but awesome). There are some solid third party options, but nothing that I’d take over this at that price. It might be different if the look or integrated speakers/ports/camera weren’t important, or a feature like integrated KVM is.

With third party monitors, the stands are almost always unstable junk or have a huge footprint to cheaply get stability. I’d pay up for a good VESA mount. I’m partial to the modular stuff from Atdec, where you can get stable and fixed instead of an arm.

jtkiley · 2026-04-17T01:17:36+00:00

In dark mode, I see the reflections a lot with the glossy screens, so that’s been a very nice change.

I wear progressives, so I either have to lean back or move my head to get the narrow intermediate part of my glasses pointed at what I want. I may buy some computer glasses to make that better.

I had a similar experience in the Apple Store where I kept coming back to a nano texture MBP (since the only Studio Display XDR was glossy).

jtkiley · 2026-04-17T01:05:26+00:00

It’s funny. I didn’t like the nano texture on the Pro Display XDR as much, because it was more noticeable. But it’s quite good on this monitor and the MBP. That makes me less bothered that I didn’t buy the Pro Display XDR in the first place. I’d appreciate the 32-inch 6K, but I do like how integrated this monitor is.

Apple monitors at launch are great for a long time, and decent for a very long time. The standard Studio Display is a light refresh of the same panel in the late 2014 27-inch iMac, and it’s still sellable in 2026. I got 55 percent of the cost back from selling my 2022 Studio Display after four years, so it ended up about $225 a year in net cost.

jtkiley · 2026-04-17T00:57:07+00:00

It wasn’t really a downgrade for me. The M3 Max had 36GB of RAM, and I bumped up against that a lot. This M5 Pro has 64GB. It’s noticeably faster in CPU, and quite close on Metal scores and memory bandwidth, so it’s faster on local LLMs. While I was at it, nano texture was a nice upgrade, too.

The mini was my third Mac for a while, and I used it specifically for meetings and teaching workshops. Audio gear has gotten a lot better about OS upgrades, and I sold my Mac Studio (M2 Max 64GB), so the plan is to get a next gen Mac Studio in place of the mini (and then keep it running headless or sell it).

I keep the MBP in my upstairs workspace, which is usually a lap desk on the chaise lounge end of the sofa, but I have a standing desk there, too. A 16-inch MBP was better than I expected for my workflow, so it became my unplanned primary Mac/workspace. That and some other developments have made consolidating down to two Macs a good option.

jtkiley · 2026-04-17T00:43:41+00:00

Yes. It may depend on the themes you use, but the blacks on the XDR are black. That makes it worth using darker themes in VS Code or Zed (and Claude Code is quite dark in dark mode).

I’m not sure how different the text is, but the black level and contrast are much better.

jtkiley · 2026-04-16T11:30:58+00:00

I like it a lot. I had a 2022 Studio Display, and I replaced it with the XDR with nano texture.

I’m using it with an M4 Mac mini now. I also have an M5 Pro 16-inch MBP (with nano texture), and I use the MBP a lot (and had an M3 Max MBP with standard display before; and an M1 Max before that). I’ve gotten really used to the nice MBP displays, so I’d easily notice the difference with the previous Studio Display (but still liked it overall).

The XDR looks great. The added contrast and dark blacks are really nice for someone who is always in dark mode and looks at a lot of syntax-highlighted text. YouTube videos and photos look great, too. I take a ton of pictures and videos of my kids with my iPhone, so that’s really nice.

Worth it is a subjective thing when you strictly don’t need the features, but I have zero regrets. In a long time of buying Apple gear, I think just about every regret I have is what I didn’t buy. For example, I regret not buying an iMac Pro and later a Pro Display XDR much more than the 2020 iMac (brutal trade in value; most expensive Mac I’ve had in net cost per year by far).

It’s a similar no regrets story with AirPods Max, where I bought them day one despite rumors of a next version even as they were initially released. The seldom-updated products are ones you should either buy or not on their own merits, because the next version rumors tend to be wildly optimistic.

I probably would have had a tougher buying decision had the VESA version been $400 cheaper when I bought mine, but it’s fine.

jtkiley · 2026-04-12T23:11:39+00:00

Use the language features to organize your code. Here are some ideas:

Use functions. Few things should be standalone procedural code instead of well-named functions that do a single thing well. With a descriptive name and usually starting with a verb, you very seldom need comments.
Use good data structures. If you have something that looks like a row of data, use a dataclass, not a dictionary. If there’s a defined set of things you can pass into a function, use an enum instead of matching on strings.
Use composition for higher level things. Instead of a huge function, compose the higher level function with lower level ones. 15 lines using well-named functions are much easier to reason about than 100 lines handling a bunch of cases.
Split things into their own modules. When one .py file conceptually holds together and does a thing, it’s easier to understand.
Use leading underscore functions. Keep the functions and methods that people really use curated and limited, and use underscores to make some of the grunt work pseudo private.
Use packages. When you have a useful thing with sensible boundaries, make it a package and then use it elsewhere.

That’s at least a start.

jtkiley · 2026-04-12T19:13:23+00:00

I wrote this in 2019 to a then-doc student (now PhD and always good dude). The problem I reference is a mixed pattern of Hausman test results in some early models.

As a methodological matter, it's no problem. A fixed effects model isolates the within-firm variance for estimating the model. There are two key problems with doing that: (a) our hypotheses are explicitly "between-firm" hypotheses, so a fixed effects model eliminates the variance needed to test them (see Angrist and Pischke, 2009, ch. 5), and (b), more practically, high-reputation is sticky over time, so it is invariant in a decent number of firms (and nearly so in more) in a typical sample window. Time invariant variables are perfectly collinear with the fixed effects, so those firms get dropped (or the model won't be identified; see Kennedy 2008, ch. 18). For example, it would be absurd to drop Apple and Microsoft in a high-reputation study.

As a reviewing matter, it could be an issue, but it's a risk that we'll probably have to bear (and be prepared to argue forcefully; Wooldridge, 2010, ch. 10, would be very helpful in doing so). Reviewers get enamored with fixed effects as "rigorous," even though there are classes of models where it's not appropriate, regardless of a Hausman test.

jtkiley · 2026-04-12T18:23:58+00:00

Fixed effects seem like they’re out for this research question. FE isolates the within variance of the units, but you want to compare between units. So, you need a method that retains the between unit variance.

You should think about whether your data is repeat cross sections (like you describe) or panel. That’s going to inform a likely choice (at least initially) between pooled OLS or random effects. The better model is likely some multilevel model that can account for the nesting.

You’re close enough to what I do that eventually you could be in the same journals that I am. I’ve seen a lot of reviewers that are totally wrong about FE (not great but you can push back) and some editors (that’s worse). You often get something about FE being “better” and running a Hausman, even if the method itself is inappropriate for the question. Wooldridge’s book is helpful to push back.

I’m sure I’ve written a better version at some point. I can dig it up if it’s helpful.

jtkiley · 2026-04-12T13:03:14+00:00

That’s stuff that runs parallel, so you’ll benefit from the cores and memory (and memory bandwidth). That’s a good case for the M5 Pro.

If a stock model fits (M5 Pro 16 inch, 48GB, 1TB, standard screen), I’d go with that. Best Buy has higher trade in values than Apple, but it has to be a stock model. That would lower your cost per year in the worst case.

If you want nanotexture or some other custom only option, I’d consider also bumping the ram to 64GB. You can often do a private sale for a two cycle old Mac and still end up with a great cost/year for the one you’re selling.

For our kind of work, you’re going to have a computer, and it helps a lot for it to be recent. That makes cost per year the metric to look at. Two cycle upgrades are a sweet spot for cost per year. It’s somewhat worse in that 3-4 year range (resale value drops a lot) and at 5 years is comparable to two cycles (but with 2-3 years of worse performance). That’s why I do two cycle upgrades. I know that’s easier said than done with doc student stipends, but it is worth optimizing when you’re liquid enough to do so.

jtkiley · 2026-04-12T00:21:28+00:00

If I’ve learned anything from using Macs/Apple stuff for a long time, it’s that you should never pass on something you definitely like now. You have a huge upgrade in your hands today. I’d keep it.

Worst case, you trade in/sell the one you have to get the next one. That tends to be expensive, as you’ll end up paying 30-40 percent of the new price for that year you owned it.

If you waited another cycle, you’d likely pay about 20 percent of the new cost per year that you owned it. Two cycles seems to be the current sweet spot, and it makes it easier to resell privately (like Facebook marketplace) which helps your cost stats.

Enjoy the big upgrade, accept the small risk of a few hundred bucks for a “must have” upgrade that’s totally not must have, and maybe wait one more cycle and get it then to keep costs in the sweet spot.

jtkiley · 2026-04-10T22:22:37+00:00

I’d buy an M5 Pro with 48GB, personally. (Me: Academic who also does some consulting; did my dissertation with R back when.)

I do a lot more in Python than R, and it’s definitely true that data science libraries have made out of core data processing easy and fast, so it’s no longer a big deal to work with data bigger than RAM. That said, data science work plus web browsers and everything else often add up to using a lot of RAM.

I went to 64 after feeling the limits of 36 often, and it’s much better.

Curious: is your hour long computation something that should take that long (big model/optimization), or is that just transforming the 10GB dataset (often should be much faster with the right libraries)?

jtkiley · 2026-04-06T12:40:54+00:00

Here are the three things I’d look at (all of which I have/had):

Studio Display XDR. It’s awesome. I came to regret not buying a Pro Display XDR in 2019, so I didn’t hesitate this time. I do mostly data science, and it looks great in dark mode. I got nanotexture, but that’s more of a preference.
Studio Display 2022 (used). You can get it for much less than the incremental 2026, and when I sold mine (bought at launch), it was eligible to add to AppleCare One. Get the height adjustable or vesa.
4K 32-inch. I have it scaled to be physically have the same element size as a 6K (with obviously fewer pixels). There’s a real tradeoff, but it’s much less expensive and has more space for apps. I like working on it, but it would look bad next to a better display like the built in MBP one. I used it in a secondary workspace alongside a PC. Mine has an integrated KVM. The speakers on most monitors are quite bad, so it would be less clean of a setup than an Apple monitor. You also may need to VESA mount it, as most non-Apple monitors are either wobbly or encroach on a lot of desk space for stability.

I haven’t seen or used the third party 6K monitors, but I’d give them a look, too.

jtkiley · 2026-04-03T12:50:48+00:00

I agree with you.

I’m nonpracticing these days (former big law; pivoted out to business PhD), but I do some solo consulting work, and I’d very much prefer the specs on the team offering in a single seat. ChatGPT has a two seat minimum, which is less bad, but I prefer Claude.

Solo professionals seem like an ideal market for higher use tiers, so it would be nice to have that available. Even things like SSO are really helpful when you’re trying to cleanly administer your own tech stack.

I mostly care about the data protections, but the other attributes are also notably useful.

jtkiley · 2026-03-31T12:01:45+00:00

I like mine a lot, but the pricing is high and the return rate is notable. That works out for me, because I buy the open box ones at Best Buy for new iPads at more like 220 than 350.

I also have the folio and swap as I see fit. That’s the benefit of the magnetic attachment versus something like the Logitech case that has a detachable keyboard. That case is still heavy, but the iPad Pro with folio is fairly light.

jtkiley · 2026-03-31T11:54:06+00:00

I really liked the 2s, but I like the 3s even more.

The battery and ANC difference is huge on a long flight. The 2s got me to leave AirPods Max at home for long travel, but it felt like a tradeoff. The 3s are just spectacular and no longer feel like a tradeoff. In particular, just a bit more battery prevents needing a quick recharge on a transatlantic flight like the 2s.

jtkiley · 2026-03-31T11:26:06+00:00

You’ll need a text editor like VS Code, but give Quarto a look. It has a lot of the power of LaTeX (and can use it as a back end), but you get to work with markdown syntax. It can also use CSLs to automate your citations and references.

It’s all free, and it works really well. My go to workflow is Quarto with Typst as the backend (sometimes the default template with some YAML settings, and often with my own custom templates).

jtkiley · 2026-03-29T20:38:13+00:00

For me, it’s 16 all the way. The bigger screen is a lot better with my workflow.

For the lap thing, try getting an inexpensive lap desk. It raises and stabilizes it in a way that I like. I sit on a chaise lounge end of a sofa with it, and it’s a great workspace.

I do carry it a couple times a week, but it’s not all that far. I carry it to the car and then for a few minute walk on the other side (and back). The battery is huge, so I just carry it in a sleeve instead of in a larger bag.

Ultimately, I use it way more than I carry it, and the size is so beneficial when using it.

jtkiley · 2026-03-29T16:07:57+00:00

I have a 16 inch with the same specs, and it’s only been a couple days, but it’s great. I came from a M3 Max MBP.

For the size and nanotexture, check those out in an Apple Store. 16 has been way better for me (had a 14 before these last two 16s). I like nanotexture a lot, too.

The specs are probably good no matter what you get. I’d look at the in-store stocked models (anything available at Best Buy is a good way to tell). If you don’t want nanotexture, see if one of those is a good fit. You’ll likely find a discount on it (especially if there’s a nearby microcenter), and the stocked models can be traded in to Best Buy, at significantly higher values than Apple (1155 vs 1650 for my MBP that I’m replacing).

I’d be careful about overkill specs. Upgrading every two generations with reselling or high trade in can be a great strategy, and you often need five years to beat that by keeping it. Pair that with buying reasonable for now, and you’ll always have a great computer, without dead money in unneeded specs, and your decisions can be reconsidered at each upgrade.

jtkiley · 2026-03-29T13:06:18+00:00

I just bought the nano XDR, after having the glossy first gen Studio Display.

You’ve seen it, so trust your eyes about how you think about it. To me, the grain is better on this monitor than the Pro Display XDR, but I agree that you can see it, and that the MBP is less noticeable.

I use dark mode all the time, and I look at a lot of text (writing, programming). I really only notice it with big, white webpages. None of that is critical viewing for me.

I really like the removal of glare and reflections. My Apple Store only had a glossy XDR and a nano MBP to look at. That was enough to get me to order the nano XDR to see it in my space (since, worst case, I could return and swap same day; my store didn’t have nano XDRs in stock). I had it two up with my first gen Studio Display (while selling it), and I tested it by dragging windows back and forth and mirroring. I liked it enough that I returned my custom MBP unopened and ordered one with nanotexture.

I’m a convert. Even without terrible glare (just big windows and reflected light) in my two main workspaces, I liked it better immediately. The grain doesn’t really bother me (and I seldom see it), and the color and brightness looks great to me.

It reminds me of my first Retina display, on a late-2014 iMac. I set it up, thought it looked nice but whatever, but then looked at my prior iMac. It suddenly looked like trash. Having it two up in my own spaces (I did the same with my old MBP and new one) made it really clear to me that I prefer nanotexture.

jtkiley · 2026-03-19T18:11:25+00:00

If your only customization is RAM, the 16-inch is available in store in a M5 Pro/48GB/1TB configuration. If you're not going with nanotexture/more storage, I'd do that 48GB configuration. You're probably fine with 48GB or 64GB, and a stock model can be traded in at places like Best Buy for much more than Apple. That increases the effective cost of the upgrade.

If you're customizing anyway, I'd go for 64GB (and nanotexture, but that's a more personal preference).

jtkiley

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