Most USB-C monitors also have USB hubs so that you can leave a mouse, keyboard, and other peripherals like storage attached to the screen, and they'll all connect to the MacBook when you attach that single USB-C / Thunderbolt cable. USB-C and its closely related Thunderbolt sibling allow you to connect your MacBook with a single cable that both drives the image and powers the laptop. But USB-C remains the best way to hook up a MacBook Pro to an external display. The latest Apple silicon 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros do come with HDMI connectivity. The one catch is that combining 4K-plus resolutions with excellent connectivity doesn't always come cheap. Happily, 4K monitors can now be had relatively cheaply, so there's little reason to compromise on resolution and pixel density. Even 1440p or QHD is marginal in terms of pixel density.

For that reason, we'd rule out 1080p panels.

Higher resolutions also allow greater desktop space for accommodating the toolbars and menus that come with productivity apps, including image and video editing. The better the pixel density, the crisper MacOS will render fonts and icons.

MacOS is expressly engineered to look great with higher pixel densities. MacOS works best with high-resolution displays.

M1 macbook air usb c hub