If you happen to’re on the go quite a bit, the espresso Professional 15 4K transportable show is an indispensable journey companion for iPad and Mac customers.
We final reviewed the espresso 17 Professional in 2024, however it was a bit cumbersome for some customers who want one thing extra compact. There was no smaller model with something above 1080P assist although.
That was till CES 2025 when the corporate lastly introduced it had a brand new 15-inch 4K mannequin on the horizon. After months of ready, it is lastly right here.
If you do not have a 13-inch iPad Professional or iPad Air to make use of Sidecar with, I believe the 15.6-inch display screen is a perfect measurement for work on the go, with out having an excessive amount of of an impression on the tech bag weight. It is sufficiently big to suit paperwork, spreadsheets, or a video timeline whereas not being so huge as to be cumbersome when working in restrictive environments.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Design
The espresso Professional 15 is essentially the most Apple-esque transportable display screen in the marketplace. The one option to make this look extra Apple-designed could be to make it in area grey as an alternative of black.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: The again of the espresso Professional 15 with the magnetic Stand+
It is made totally out of aluminum for a premium really feel. That does add some weight to it, however once I examine it to among the cheaper screens I’ve reviewed, I am all the time nervous about touring with them.
The plastic frames appeared robust, however I felt they might extra simply bend and break the show. I believe the tradeoff of a little bit of weight for improved really feel and sturdiness is value it.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: There are two USB-C ports on the espresso Professional 15
There are two USB-C ports positioned on the fitting aspect, simple to hook up with your host machine in addition to to attach an extra accent. Lastly, there are small vents on the underside proper for the speaker.
This show is a bit thicker than the outdated espresso 15, however I believe it seems higher. Not solely has the display screen elevated to the next decision, however the chin is not as pronounced because it was earlier than.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Holding the brand new espresso Stand+
There is not any built-in stand on the espresso 15 Professional. Fairly, the corporate affords a canopy with a kickstand built-in or the extra succesful Stand+.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: The brand new stand expands out and has loads of top
The Stand+ may be very cool and it magnetically connects to the again of the espresso 15 Professional. You have got management precisely over its placement with a number of inches of wiggle room up and down in addition to left to proper.
Plus, this lets you rotate the monitor, supporting portrait and panorama modes. I believe it is a good step up from the unique espresso stand.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: The outdated (left) versus new (proper) espresso stands
In comparison with the final stand, the brand new Stand+ can prolong far greater. I used to be in a position to place the espresso 15 Professional above my 16-inch MacBook Professional show.
Not solely is that a fantastic use case, however means I can work in very tight locations. Like a espresso store or at an airport the place area is a luxurious.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: You too can use the show in an easel mode
For artists, the stand could be propped up low, permitting the espresso Professional 15 to behave as a kind of easel. It is useful when utilizing it with a stylus and sketching.
Once more, being all steel, that does add to the load although. Simply one thing to bear in mind.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Setup and controls
The setup for the espresso 15 Professional could be summarized with three phrases: plug it in. There is not any energy cable, no energy button, nothing.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Modifying with Ultimate Minimize Professional on the espresso Professional 15
The show does draw 9 to 13W of energy, relying on the brightness degree, so exterior energy could also be required in case your gadget doesn’t present sufficient juice.
In my testing, no exterior energy provide was wanted on my M4 iPad Professional or 16-inch MacBook Professional. Maybe some Chromebooks or different “ultrabooks” might have that further energy.
As soon as I plugged it in, the show sprung to life. It shortly prolonged my MacBook Professional show with out difficulty.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Swipe up from the underside with two fingers to make changes
There are some controls, however they’re hidden. You entry them by swiping up from the underside of the show with two fingers.
Three touchscreen controls seem for brightness, distinction, and quantity. Faucet and slide your finger up and down to regulate any of them.
I might have appreciated to see a number of extra controls right here, maybe a gamma adjustment, however it’s no less than one thing. The 550 nits of brightness is brilliant and I used to be struggling indoors at first till I realized how you can dim it.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Use and show high quality
As I discussed, this can be a 4K show with a 3840 by 2160 decision. It claims to assist over 1.07 billion colours and covers 100% of the Adobe RGB shade vary.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: We would not suggest skilled picture enhancing on the espresso Professional 15
It has a 1,500:1 distinction ratio, 550 nits of brightness, and a max refresh fee of 60Hz. Response time is rated at 9ms.
All of those are pretty first rate specs and could be honest for any conventional monitor. For one this small and transportable, it is spectacular.
I have been testing this with the M4 iPad Professional in addition to with a 16-inch MacBook Professional. That is a tricky comparability for any show towards Apple’s industry-leading panels.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: We like enhancing video with the monitor, however we do the colour grading on our Mac’s show
After months of use, I discovered the espresso Professional 15 to have good colours and excessive saturation. It would not look practically nearly as good as Apple’s built-in shows, after all. If I needed to decide a important distinction between the 2, I might say that shade is the most important hole between the 2, particularly the reds.
That is not unusual on transportable shows, although. As you’d count on, it is worse on cheaper panels than Apple makes use of.
After I’m engaged on something that must be very color-accurate, corresponding to shade grading a video or enhancing photographs, I hold that content material on our Mac or iPad Professional show.
This specific mannequin solely covers a bit above 80% of the P3 huge shade gamut. If you happen to want one thing higher, the 17-inch espresso Professional does have 100% P3 protection.
The 550 nits of brightness is a really welcome improve over the 17-inch although, which solely has 450 nits. For a monitor that I deliver with me and use in all types of lighting situations, greater brightness may be very useful.
The one factor to make that higher could be to maybe provide some kind of anti-glare choice to be used in direct mild.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: You should utilize the show along with your finger, however macOS is not nice for touching
I used to be a bit underwhelmed with the contact controls, however that is in all probability extra on the fault of macOS than espresso. Apple would not technically assist contact enter on Mac.
When the monitor is linked, it registers as a trackpad. So, on-screen touches are relayed as faucets on a digital trackpad.
It really works simply wonderful however macOS shouldn’t be designed for this. On-screen components are too small to faucet shortly.
Typically I might discover myself utilizing the faucets to shortly get entry to a window, however the true trackpad on my Mac was all the time simply simpler.
If Apple did undertake a redesign of macOS to make it friendlier to the touch enter, then this is able to provide extra to the Mac-centric consumer. Till then, I am going to in all probability simply ignore it.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Do you have to purchase it?
There are different transportable shows on the market. Even transportable 4K ones. You may additionally simply discover bigger, desktop shows which have higher shade assist too.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: There’s a emblem on the back-left nook
The picture high quality on the espresso Professional 15 is nice. As I’ve already stated, it would not add lots of weight to my journey bag both.
I used to be additionally impressed that it improved upon the 17-inch mannequin, providing greater brightness and the brand new stand.
The one different choice I might moderately take into account could be utilizing a 13-inch iPad Professional or similarly-sized iPad Air as a show as an alternative. With that, you additionally get a full-featured pill, alongside a show. Sidecar works rather well and is a strong selection.
There are professionals and cons to that strategy too. In congested networking environments, a cabled connection for that’s finest. Energy could also be a priority too, however which may be a wash, as a result of the iPad is clearly battery powered.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: The espresso Professional 15 is nice for a conveyable monitor
General, although, I believe the espresso 15 Professional is one of the best expertise right here, between ease of use and design. Plus it is larger than an iPad resolution, and consists of the stand.
You may need to make the choice that makes essentially the most sense in your workflow although.
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Execs
- Apple-level steel and glass construct high quality
- Flat Stand+ can elevate the monitor above the most important MacBook Professional
- Simple to make use of with no exterior energy provide wanted
- Touchscreen and stylus assist for those who need it
- Good 550 nits of brightness
espresso Professional 15 evaluation: Cons
- Audio system are middling at finest
- Not full P3 protection
- Not lots of management over image high quality
- Weight with stand notably heavy
- If you have already got a big iPad, this is probably not definitely worth the expense
espresso Professional 15 ranking: 4 out of 5
The place to purchase the espresso Professional 15
You may decide up the espresso Professional 15 direct from the corporate’s web site for $699 which features a 3-foot USB-C cable, a microfiber cleansing fabric, the Stand+, and the show itself.
