Finding the right monitor for Mac Studio

Given your requirements, I would steer you toward a few 32" 4K options that balance sharpness with slightly larger UI scaling. At 32" and 3840x2160 resolution, the pixel density lands around 140 PPI, which is not “Retina” but is definitely sharper than the BenQ you’re likely using now. You’ll also get bigger UI elements without feeling like you’re looking at a blocky display.

For your consideration, they are:

• LG 32EP950 – 32” UHD OLED
  • It's a color-accurate OLED panel with true blacks and near-perfect uniformity.
  • VESA mountable (no reliance on a stand you don’t want).

• Eizo CS2740 – 27” 4K
  • You said you're thinking 32", but if you’re still tempted by smaller for pixel density, the CS2740 is a worthy successor to your old Eizo.
  • 4K at 27” is very sharp, and Eizo’s ColorEdge series are color-accurate out of the box.
  • Built-in hardware calibration, excellent longevity, VESA mount compatible.

• Dell UltraSharp U3223QE – 32” 4K IPS with IPS Black
  • IPS Black tech gives better contrast than traditional IPS without OLED worries.
  • Bonus: it’s usually under $1,000 and has full VESA support, so you can mount it however you need.

I’d lean heavily toward the Dell U3223QE given your mix of audio/photo work, vision considerations, and budget flexibility. Pair it with a good, low-profile VESA arm like the Ergotron LX or even a cheap but stable Amazon Basics model, and you’ll have both ergonomic flexibility and a clean desk setup.

For my M4 Max Studio, I initially got a BenQ PD3225U. 32” 4K with some Mac functionality, e.g. function keys work for brightness and volume, as well as a Mac mode for colour etc.

That was great, until the BenQ PD3226G came out. With its 144Hz and 1ms response rate and still 4K 32”, I like it a lot more than the PD3225U.

Very nice image quality and the silver matches the Mac Studio better as well.

If your vision is at the point where you prefer "large print" books, you could consider getting a 27" 4K monitor and running it in Retina "like 1920x1080" mode. That would produce very sharp text – in that mode, the Mac would be drawing on a 3840x2160 pixel canvas that had exactly the same resolution as the display's 3840x2160 pixel LCD panel. You'd have the same workspace as on a 24" 1920x1080 display, but text would be larger, and drawn more precisely; and photo areas would be larger, and filled in with up to 4x as much detail.

I don't run my 27" 4K monitor in that mode, because I find the text to be uncomfortably large. But if one's vision is at a point where large text is a plus, that combination (27", 4K, Retina "like 1920x1080" mode) might be much more attractive.