I tried going with a third party “comparable” cheaper monitor for pure financial reasons. I returned it, and paired my studio desktop with a studio display. I’m about a month in. I couldn’t be happier. The display is top notch, and I suppose you are paying for the aesthetic look and quality build as well. It should last around 7 years. Height is fine on base model for me, personally. 1499 on Apple Educational Store Site. Same for the keyboard. It’s an insane price at 199, but there were just too many reasons I wanted Touch ID. If it was backlit, it would be perfect.
Your review was a very refreshing one in the sea of tech reviews. You're very on-point, argument well and you're easy to listen to without the theatrics/faking of which many others are guilty. I'm an iMac user who currently uses a separate monitor for remote working (windows laptop). I hope this display combined with a new Mac mini, and fair enough operation to windows laptop will sort out my cluttered desktop woes. This certainly made me more keen to get this monitor. Keep it up, and wish you success.
Thank you for an excellent and very objective review. I am about to “retool” from my 2017 mba and 2011 Cinema Screen to an M2 mba and Studio monitor. I swallowed hard in 2011 when I bought the Cinema Screen for $1000 but I can say it was well worth it for 12 years of perfect performance and beautiful looks. That was a lesson to me. Get the best you can first time. I am looking forward to the new generation setup. At 80 yrs old it might be my last one!
I bought the VESA mount option as my existing cheap 4k display used such a setup. Having the VESA mount allows for screen rotation. My only complaint is the quite poor camera, but I usually use my iPhone via Continuity Camera. I'm impressed with the speakers, too.
I know it's not Apple's goal, but I wish it was a little more like a normal monitor. Right now the only thing stopping me from investing in the Studio Display is the fact that when my partner takes over the desk with her work PC laptop, she's possibly going to have a headache with brightness or even getting a picture. Would also be great if it had just one HDMI input for plugging a console in or something. Great video as usual!
The speaker from the studio display is so gooood. Even I kinda knew it before from the reviews. But it is incredibly good! Satisfied both for my eyes n my ears 👏😇
Great review. No BS. Subscribed. I do want to mention an issue regarding the power cord. At my studio which is a factory layout, power sockets are located underneath our desks. We have 4 of these displays and the prongs have been bent out of shape due to countless times where people have accidentally kicked them underneath the desk. All units had to be replaced entirely as the prongs were damaged and so the display did not work. Having a removable cable is something that I believe should be common sense, especially since it could lead to a fire hazard if a fire starts from a sparking outlet. I just think it’s weird.
You hit on the most important things for me. The colors are identical to my MacBook Pro with it's insanely great display. (It's an Apple Silicon ProMAX laptop). My only disapointment is the blacks are not nearly as dark as my laptop, but everything else justifies it for me.
Yeah, so the colors aren’t identical. Watching RU-vid videos or Netflix really highlights just how terrible the display is. How a $1,600+ display without basic local dimming is beyond me. Apple is selling old tech for an absurd price. 60 Hz in 2023 just doesn’t cut it.
Also a big plus is that I dont need a hub thing like Calldigit, which is like 400 euros i believe. Not sure how good the speakers will be, but it can potentially replace my HD3 audioengine speakers. If it can replace all these, its actually cheaper than the lg 5k monitor
Nice review! Two questions: Have you checked whether your local Apple store can change the stand for you? What would you consider a fair price for this monitor, given the build quality and the fact that there is nothing else in the market that matches it?
I owned a studio display tilt and height version connected to my mbp m1 max. The Studio display had some weird stuttering which was impossible to figure out what caused it. I returned it. Beautiful colors and ppi but i don’t recommend it. Additionally a 27" seemed a little small for a working station in 2024-2025. Went back to my LG 40wp95-w
The most important fact no one talks about this overpriced monitor is RETINA + PPI. just a few monitors out there are capable of giving 220 ppi or close. Apple is taking advantage of the low (or none existing) competition with this specs. The price sucks, I know, but for us graphic designers who need and appreciate the retina ppi, this is a must have. If you are looking for a monitor for gaming, coding, web browsing or even video editing, there are plenty 4k options way more cheaper and better than this.
Thank you, for this excellent one month review. For myself, I would have paid $2,500 for this display if, it was 29-inches, was 5.5K, had a 4K web camera, and no A13 processor chip. What, I mean is if, in all these small ways it was better (not much, just a little bit better) than either a 27-inch iMac Pro or a 27-inch iMac desktop monitor. But, what Apple, Inc. is trying to sell us is not any better Plus in some areas it is even a little bit worse, all for almost the same price of a 27-inch iMac. Sorry, I will just continue to use my 2010, Apple 27-inch Cinema LED display for a few more years (smile ... smile).
Great video, agreed on all the points and didn't know you can't attach a VESA without height adjustment option, sigh. I wanted to ask what lens you filmed this video with, was it the Sigma 14-24 shown in the B-roll?
On my end, it is true that the colours look pretty much the same between my Studio Display and my MacBook Pro M2 16-inch when viewing pictures and videos. However, the colour temperature is completely off between both displays when I'm on Safari, the Finder or TextEdit; the big white windows show the temperature and brightness differences the most. Is it the same on your end?
I‘m really disappointed how apple places their logo as if they don‘t care about their vesa mount option not to mention the screen rotation sensor. The xdr display perfectly deals with that but why not the studio display.
Enjoy the display i am still using a 24” Cinema display i purchased in 2009 ie it will be useful for a long time and dont complain to much about the price- at least you only paid 1 macbook air for it. The price over here is 2 base macbook airs minus an apple mouse for the non adjustable stand model.
Hear you earlier this year, I passed on the Mac Studio and its matching Studio Display and picked-up a used 2014, "trash can" size Mac Pro 8-core/ D700/ 64GB/1 TB. Paired it with my 2010, Apple 27-inch Cinema LED (none thunderbolt) display and everything is working great together (smile ... smile).
I still can't fathom that the Studio Display doesn't do power delivery to a connected MacBook. Unless I'm mistaken. The old Thunderbolt displays tried so hard to offer this with that clunky dual cable set up
It does. The Thunderbolt port on the back allows a single cable connection for power delivery and data. And then there are 3 more usb3 ports too to act as your hub.
@@chazm3 I’m not sure as that is not my setup. I’m sure there are articles that address this. Most articles I have seen deal with how to connect two monitors to one computer.
is impossible that everything looks the same on all devices, people use different iphones, samsung and other brands, all different monitors quality etc. I know I know we try to calibrate and gives the best possible quality but again is impossible that everybody get the same results.
The video quality is great, very nice but the message... Summary: I only care about perfect MacOS UI scaling and this is basically the only display that does this, the end. When an old iMac display on its own is more expensive than the complete iMac it came out of you know something is wrong.
You have to beat Apple, Inc. at their own game. The Mac Studio that, I wanted to order was on a 5-month back-log and learned the Studio Display in some areas was a down grade from the 2017, 27-inch iMac Pro (i.e. the web camera). So, I decided to pick-up a used 2014, "trash can" size Mac Pro 8-core/ D700/ 64GB/1 TB, and then paired it with my already owned Apple 27-inch Cinema LED (none thunderbolt) display. Now everything, just working great together (smile...smile).
The display is 10 years old , previously came with a whole computer behind it . Charges hundreds more for a onetime only raise. The display is still very nice , but for the money it’s impossible not to feel crushingly disappointed & insulted . Way more is expected
Just bought 2 and 30 minutes in, I was massively disappointed. No 120 Hz. Webcam is mediocre. No basic local dimming for the price??? Doesn’t look as good as my 16” M1 Max MBP screen. Heck even my 4k LG monitor with a disgusting matte finish has inkier blacks than the studio display. Oh and the cherry on top, 1 year later, you still can’t use the speakers of both displays simultaneously. The Apple user experience really has declined tremendously.
