I was against buying this for a while, saved up for a year and got a certified one refurbished. Using with M1 Mac mini, touch ID magic keyboard and insta 360 Webcam...amazing combo! no complaints its amazing
I had the 27” 5K iMac as well. Although similar I’ve definitely noticed improved contrast and deeper blacks with the Studio Display, so it’s clearly not the exact same panel. The speakers are amazing. I like the lack of detail with the FaceTime camera because it makes me look 20 years younger. ;)
Agreed, but it does not warrant the price. For only $200 more, the display previously came with a computer, mouse, and keyboard. Those items only had a $200 value before? No. This is a rip-off
@@PeterbFree It’s certainly not cheap, but there’s nothing else really like it unless you’re willing to save $300 for the LG 5K Ultrafine in exchange for an inferior panel and build quality, laughable speakers and sketchy quality control. I’ve ordered and returned 4K displays from Asus, LG and Dell and all of them suffered from the same types of issues: cheap plastic construction, speakers and webcams that are more of an afterthought than anything you might want to use, hazy milky blacks that weirdly shift as you move your head, inconsistent screen uniformity with very noticeable corner/edge glow that differs between units even of the same model, dim backlighting (most are 250-400nits), weird color casts (especially greens polluted “whites” for some reason), clunky low-res OSD and button/joysticks, not to mention nothing ever looking truly sharp because of that antiglare plastic they always put on the screen which robs the image of contrast and clarity. The Studio Display is a premium product and priced as such, but the quality is unmistakably good. I don’t regret the purchase for a single second and unlike the 5K iMac I can upgrade the computer without needing to also replace the display.
The issue with this display is the price. $200 less than the previous iMac, minus the entire cost of the computer, mouse, and keyboard. This is Apple showing its customers disrespect.
@@allenzhao5216 They say that, but our spending power says otherwise, although not every country is effected the same way, and there are other factors such as supply chain which influence the costs further.
@@allenzhao5216 Well of course that is also a factor, however corporations are beholden to assets, and assets are owned by individuals and other corporations. It’s far to simplistic to say that it’s merely corporations, when factually shipping and fuel and commodities are going up in price. It’s greed certainly, but it’s not one single corporation or even just corporations in general, but individuals and governments as well.
After comparing it to the Dell U2723QE, the Studio Display is actually fairly priced. At 5K, it has 77% more pixels than 4K, extrapolating that from Dell's price, you're left with just a $350 price difference. That $350 gets you an aluminium chassis, great speakers, a camera and colors that match your Macbook's display without having to get a separate calibrator. Plus the longevity of the 2017 iMac Pro implies that this display can easily last 6 years at least. If anyone is happy holding on to this for a long time, it checks out BUT there'll most probably be better displays coming to the market within the next few years with HDR and local dimming zones, that's why I am sitting on the fence on this one.
Please forget about the Dell U2723QE for Mac users. I have 14 of them in my office and I already have 4 of them showing flickering issues with 4 different Mac laptops. Dell’s response: “These displays aren’t certified for Macs, have a nice day!” So I recommend you just get that Studio Display or an LG, they seem to work well with Macs too.
@@Pascal-kp8ux Thanks for the tip! Dell's sales staff always seem aloof and non-committal when answering technical questions which gave me the impression I would be in for a nasty surprise. You are a life saviour! 🙏
@@Pascal-kp8ux That is really disappointing. I have a U2720Q which i used with by macbook pro before I upgraded to a Studio - while I didn't have these flickering issues, the Studio is just so much better. It's faster, brighter, sharper, and a real joy. The Dell worked well for me but it pales in comparison to the Studio.
@Phillip Banes Overlooked? I am well aware the 2017 iMac Pro was a better deal but that is the past. Later entrants into the creative industry do lose out. At the moment, looking at other pro displays out there, BenQ SW27 for example, Studio Display is actually cheaper than that, making it fairly priced IMO. But as you can see I’m grasping at straws here.
The other critical use case - one that applied to me, and convinced me to buy this monitor - is where you have a lot of light behind you at your desk, and need the completely non-reflective screen you get with the nano-texture option. No other monitor I have used is as good at eliminating reflections and glare as this one. I still need good colour and detail plus the ability to fit a lot of info on the screen with excellent resolution.
Good job on this video. To me, the monitor is totally worth it. I tried lower resolution, lower PPI 4k monitors, but I am spoiled. The text usually looks big and fugly. I've become accustomed to the RETINA look. I need my 200+PPI. And brightness. Other monitors make me feel like I'm being gaslighted (original meaning) they are so dark. 600 nits, now we're talking. This monitor allows me to take off the reading glasses.I like the fact that the images are sharp as heck as well. My primary use is coding, and I can flip that puppy vertically and see clean, sharp code from top to bottom. I like that it fits into the ecosystem and that I can control brightness and everything else from the settings pad. I like the extra USB-C ports. I don't need HDMI. For crying out loud, , it's 2023. Present review excepted, there is this weird tendency for RU-vidrs to demand better than competitor's products from Apple, and turn around and whine about higher than competitor prices. It has gotten old. The "Should You Buy" and "Is it worth it" type videos. It would serve the audience more to simply report on the product's features, pros, and cons, and allow the audience to make up their highly capable minds. Flat-out saying that the monitor is too expensive needs to be changed to "It's too expensive for me." I know that $6000 for a Pro XDR monitor is not justifiable, though I could eat beans and tuna for a year and purchase it. Saying that you're going to tell me if its worth it, well t hat's a bit insulting. Tell me how much it costs, and I'll let you know if it's worth it for me.
I'm more than happy with my 2020 27" iMac. The 5k display and 40 GB RAM are more than enuff for me, and I'm a pro photographer and videographer. One thing pro photogs DO NOT WANT is the color temperature of the monitor changing from how they have it deliberately set. We need a standard to view from that is consistent and un changing. So... Apple doesn't really understand what pro's need. As for the stand, the 2020 iMac does not have height adjustment... and I never have a need to change the monitor height. It's perfect as is. And of course I paid less for this 27" iMac than I would for only the Studio Display. I don't use a webcam and or make calls from my desktop. Thanks for your videos, they are always very informative.
I had a 27" iMac Pro which I really liked. However, when the M1 silicon arrived I knew that the second hand value of my Xeon 10 core was heading south fast, so I had to sell it and have replaced it with an M1 Max MBP. The screen on the 16" version is glorious but not big enough for daily use. However the Studio Display screen ALSO is not big enough. If it was 32" or so I would have one on my desk right now. The only Apple solution is the Pro XDR which is almost twice as much to buy as my Apple Refurbished MBP was! So far I cannot find a monitor I like enough that works well with Mac OS and Thunderbolt. The BenQ SW321C is the leading contender.
I'm in your exact position atm. I dont understand Apple anymore. They used to provide everything needed for designers but their only option remaining now are 24" iMac and 27" Display wich are way too small if you do UI Design / graphic design / video or photography editing. I dont understand their positioning at all. I'm willing to throw my money at them but they litteraly force me to keep my iMac 27" from 2015 cause there's no alternative (an iMac that is desperately too small and underpowered in 2023). Also the iMac 5K is the single best investment I ever made cause it'll last me for a long time to come it seems.
Thanks Josh for another thoughtful review. I recently got hold of two Dell laptops, and was surprised to find that both of them natively support the Studio Display. They’re running W10 and both have TB4 ports. One is the Dell Latitude 5330, and the other is a Precision 5660. I don’t know if it’s just normal behaviour when connecting the Studio to any TB4 equipped W10 PC, or if some support was recently added. Native 5120x2880 at 60Hz is supported, with the UI elements default scaled at 200% - it all looks great - as well as native support for the built-in camera, mic, and usb-c/tb ports. There is however still no support for adjusting brightness, using true tone or centre stage.
I took the plunge. I was disappointed with the price, especially as I was coming from a 27" iMac. For my use case, the only choice was the Mac Studio, so I was looking at £3,500 minimum compared to the £1,800 I paid for the iMac. When the M2 Pro mini came out, I then went for it. Kept the screen in the box for 2 weeks before deciding to open it as I considered sending it back for something cheaper. Glad I didn't. No regrets at all.
Josh -- You didn't mention scaling. My limited understanding is that MacOS doesn't play especially well with 27 inch monitors at 4K. Being able to use a monitor now and in the future without incurring a scaling-induced performance hit might be a factor for some folks.
That's a fair point, MacOS scales perfectly in 5K with the studio display. I should have pointed out that for people this will matter a lot to - they should just go with the Studio Display. - Josh
I have a Mac Studio and did not buy this display. Why? Mostly because I prefer larger monitors. I chose the LG 5120x2160 curved 40” 72Hz thunderbolt monitor instead, and for me it works well.
I got to say, studio display beats most of the monitors under $1200 in terms of HDR video playing, if this matters to you. Here is why. 1) studio display natively support playing HDR video on RU-vid or your local file, while for others, at least some LG monitors I owned which supports HDR, they need to manually switch to a HDR mode first, then when video looks good, the other things like your Windows or Mac system look weird 2) studio display has all screen 600 nits brightness, so technically this is the best you can get out of a HDR600 monitor. So Apple has already support it. It just doesn't say it. So the only thing lacking here is showing the pure black picture, studio display has a backlight. But other monitors have it as well, unless it's OLED or mini LED. That can be more expensive for a monitor. I'm not talking about TV here.
@@nygeek6471 It supports decode HDR format video on youtube (i'm not sure about Netflix since I don't have it). Then then full screen peak brightness is a bit above 600 nits. This is comparable to other monitors with HDR600 and actually better than HDR 600. However, the screen does not support 10 bit color.
@@seattledude2022 peak brightness isn’t what makes things HDR. The blacks aren’t deep and there’s no local dimming. Its smooth but with HDR content looks like a 5 year old display
If you want to slide your laptop under this screen (ie with the laptop open and the laptop keyboard and trackpad usable, effectively using the screen as a giant laptop display) then you will want the VESA mount option. For anyone that tries this, a setting that works for me is as follows: under _Displays / Built-in Display_ set _Use as_ to _"Mirror for Studio Display"_ and then you can also turn the laptop screen brightness right down if you don't like seeing the part that peeks out from behind the Studio Display. PS Josh, the VESA monitor arm *does* amplify the wobbling of my standing desk. My solution has been to put the desk in a corner and mount little castor-wheels that run up and down the walls as the desk goes up and down (one for each wall). Another solution is to add some significant weight for damping.
Great review! Would be very interested to see your video on using the continuity camera feature with the studio display incl recommended mounts for your camera. Thx!
Can all reviewers please stop recommending 4K displays for Mac OS? Apples scaling can’t properly deal with it and either scale up a 1440p image or scale down a 5k image. There is no proper 150% scaling like in windows. This results in 1440p screens looking much better than 4K monitors on macOS.
Thank you for this. I almost hit Buy Now at Amazon. Can you recommend an alternative? I have 2 old (like 15 year old) Dell monitors connected to my iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020). I need to upgrade those but having trouble figuring out what will work. Thanks.
@@psychpstuff The problem there is that the 5k screen of you iMac is a really good display. 27" 1440p screens have become commodities. If you pick a Dell or LG screen in that size category, you probably can't go wrong. And stuff will have the same size and color as on your iMac screen, although with a resolution downgrade. I personally like LG ultrawides for macOS, but those probably look stupid next to an iMac. If you must have a high dpi screen then I don't know of any good options sadly. The 5k LG or Apple display are probably the best bets but expensive and I don't want to recommend those. That said, I am not a reviewer with access to 100s of options. I just pick stuff for the office I work in sometimes and we all use macbooks with LG ultrawides.
@@toniurban9189 For my work/colleges: Over the past few years, I've always picked whatever the current 38" LG ultrawide with usb-c input is (so not the gaming one), mostly because I like the single cable solution and the extra screen size over conventional ultrawides is also nice. Currently that would be the 38WN95C-W but if you can live with 60hz, then the 38WP85C-W is probably fine too. I think the closest 34" would be the 34WN750-B and is a lot cheaper but I haven't tested that one. Thats for mostly desktop/programming use. Text looks great on them and you have a lot of space. They are color accurate too but I can't speak for that and I wouldn't buy them if you need the HDR.
At the end of the day this is for pro users. Im a professional photographer and earned this in a day. It wasn’t a difficult decision for me. Just wished it was 120hz but ill just upgrade when that comes along. I appreciate aesthetics, build quality and continuity as well as color accuracy. You get all of those with this display
I would order one today if it had larger Adobe RGB Gamut (like my other 27" slightly less expensive NEC's). Since I create a lot for print, not sure if P3 would get me similar results.
I would like to mention that Apple Silicon Macs do not play well at all with Dell Ultrasharp displays. I had the U3223QE, which is a 4K 32' Dell monitor, but I had all kinds of flickering issues. Dell sent me a replacement, & the issues persisted. Dell eventually admitted they were aware of the compatibility issues between Apple silicon Macs & their 4K displays. I've already ordered an Apple Studio Display as replacement.
Hard to justify the purchase if you own a 27" 5K iMac. I paid $2,300 for my iMac and it came with a computer. I'm waiting for a mini-LED Studio Pro display...if that ever happens. THAT would be worth the price tag.
hey hey! late to the party here but i'd love to see you do a video regarding Boot Camp on Windows. i've heard whispers of people getting this to work with the Studio Display, making the brightness adjustable, but would love more definitive information on it before jumping in. i'm in a weird spot where i love this display, use a Mac all day for work, but really need something that also works halfway decent with my PC.
you are right!!! apple should have made the hight adjustable stand the default offering for about 1500$!!! plus an external standard charging brick from the macbooks and no speakers to cut corners!
You can connect the iPads for sure, no clue about the TV Box. Can it be connected through DisplayPort to USB-C or just USB-C/Thunderbolt? If it’s an HDMI out, you won’t be able to connect it to the studio display without doing some work around to convert the HDMI signal to one the Studio Display can interpret - Josh
Please make a video on how to get bootcamp on a non-mac windows, because it didn’t work for alot of people. A step by step would be really helpful and there’s very few videos that shows how to get it on a pc rather than a mac
For me, I got LG 5K2K 40" UltraWide Display for similar price and got brilliant user experience. Also height, tilt adjustable and can turn for -15~15 degree. 21:9 curved display also made my workflow sleek yet no need to stretch my neck a lot. Studio Display is elegant and sharp but as you say, too expensive for its price and what it can offer.
Easy Biannual Upgrade For Mac Mini / Mac Studio With Studio Display. I Had iMac 24" iMac M1. I Thought When The M2 Refresh Comes That's Going To Be Another Grand Plus My Current iMac To Get The New One. Since I Got Studio Display And Mac Mini M2, I Know When M3 Comes Out It's Just Going To Be $500 For The Mini If I'm Still A Student!
how do i hook up this apple display to a windows PC? just configuring a fast win pc for lightroom/photoshop editing of large image files... is there a video card slection that would be best/easiest/most compatible with thei apple studio display?
Loved this video, because it gave an HONEST assessment of the pros and cons. I have a 27" Dell 4k monitor that is perfect for my 2021 16" MBP. The speakers on the Dell monitor are crappy, but I'm totally fine with the speakers on my MBP. Bottom line: I don't see any point in buying one of these monitors for myself, so I'll pass.
I have a 2017 iMac and am thinking about upgrading. Rather than spend $400 for the tilt-and height-adjustable stand, why not put a block of wood under the tilt-adjustable only stand to raise it to the same height as the iMac? BTW, how much does it have to be raised to match the iMac?
@@timothycalderwood5695 the VESA mount option isn't any extra, and the arm in my case was a "Rapier Single Monitor Arm 1.00 $169.00 New Zealand Dollars".
Have been a Macbook Pro user for years now, and had two iMac's too. Please, don't take following comment as offensive. The Studio Display is a disgrace in the product line-up (say compared to the value the new Mac Mini offers). Just bought a Coolermaster Tempest mini LED monitor for under 1000 euros (4k 27"). After connecting it to my Macbook Pro M1 (mini LED) with XDR enabled, and tweaking it with Luna Pro (to bump the screen brightness, as Apple imposes software limits for external non-Apple HDR displays)... the performance is amazing (read: on par with the mini LED Macbook Pro). It has as many local dimming zones as the Apple XDR Display 32" (count: 576 zones)
Can I record good-quality videos using an Apple Studio display? I don't want to buy an additional microphone. I mean, record clips or movies with good-quality audio and video.
The mic is fine actually, how close you are to it and the room it’s in will actually effect it more. The camera, that’s a different problem, it’s not useable for high quality, but if you have an iPhone, you can use it as the camera wirelessly and it looks pretty great. - Josh
I'm at 6:33, thinking about what you said about how Apple can put better cameras in the iPhone than what can fit into the Studio Display; and I'm looking at that display, how much larger and thicker it is than the iPhone, and I'm now thinking that you're being very apologetic on Apple's behalf.
They should have put a better camera in there for sure, didn’t mean to have that part sound so apologetic. The display is larger and thicker than the iPhone but, most of that thickness at the top is for air venting, so it’s not like with their current design they could have just stuck an iPhone camera in there is my guess why they didn’t. Still a very bizarre choice on their part though. Continuity Camera does fix the image quality issue though, and I’ll have a follow up video on that coming soon. - Josh
How to use the studio display as one monitor for two mac instead of eject the cable everytime or screen mirroring (laggy and not smooth) Any suggestion?
Maybe a thunderbolt or usb-c switcher would work for that scenario? That’s the only thing I can think of to keep them both plugged in at the same time. - Josh
Unfortunately, MacOS does not upscale perfectly on 4K displays as MacOS is native to 5K. I am a longtime Mac user and fan, but the cynic in me feels this was done to entice people to buy Apple's expensive displays. There are tons of 4K displays out there that are fairly priced, but the only non-Apple 5K display is the LG, which is also very expensive.
Thank you for this. I almost hit Buy Now at Amazon. Can you recommend an alternative? I have 2 old (like 15 year old) Dell monitors connected to my iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, 2020). I need to upgrade those but having trouble figuring out what will work. Thanks.
Thank you! And unfortunately no, you can't have them plugged in at the same time. You'll have to unplug one from the monitor and plug the other one into the Studio Display.
Been waiting for this video. I had one, decided heck with this little tiny 27” SD I need size, real size. I’m getting an LG 43 freaking inch. And gosh darn it I like it. I lika alot. 🤣
Using the display's microphone also prevents the AirPods from switching to the crappy audio codec still used in the headset Bluetooth profile as soon as some app opens the audio input.
@@philippelambinet1425 Yes I know that, I'm running Windows 11 on Parallels. But this RU-vidr is implying there's some sort of workaround for BootCamp and I'm interested to see what it is.
Apologies, we were talking about installing boot camp on a non-Mac windows machine, like a gaming PC. Virtualization is probably the only way to get Windows on an M1 Mac for now. - Josh
I haven’t watched your video… But I can still answer your question. Yes I have the mac Studio Display and is it worth it? Yes! Brilliantly so. Is the best monitor you can buy within that price range. Or in simpler terms… It is fucking amazing!
I would love to have an Apple computer. Love my iPhone my entire family have iPhones. The price for their computers are costly unfortunately, especially with the economy going sky high on everything. Apple please come down on your prices so it’s affordable.
Love mine.... I have 2 of the height adjustable ones. Zero regrets. There's been a lot of hate thrown at these things, don't believe any of it. Esp because there is nothing else other than the buggy LG Ultrafines to even compare them to.( And I owned 2 of of those as well. Problems from the day bought them til the day I replaced them). The Studio Display with height adjustable stand is a work of art.
I returned mine. Did not like the fact that the anti-reflective screen was hundreds extra. The older cinema displays NEVER had reflective screens. Nickel and dime, nickel and dime……
It is expensive and definitely not worth it. Even at current price on Apple Refurbished for $1360, it is still expensive. Btw, it has only been 6-7 months and the price has gone down significantly.
The built-in camera is poor for such an expensive monitor. Without extra [studio] lighting, or used in a bright room, the image is blurry and looks out of focus! I find the most favorable reviews for this monitor are based on the "I paid so much and have to love it!" rationale. There are many alternative 27-inch and larger 4-K displays that are excellent. It just proves how Apple thinks about its "fanboy" customers!
That the Studio Display 5K supports only 1 video input, at this price, is unforgivable, and a complete non-starter for anyone with more than 1 computer to connect to it. It is this way because Apple basically took an iPhone A-series SOC to be the brains of this display: 1 Thunderbolt i/f, microphones & speakers & the display, and that’s all. There are no A-series SOCs that support inputs from HDMI or DP, hence, Studio Display doesn’t support them either. For a monitor of this price, that’s just effing lazy & tightarsed to not add the silicon necessary to support additional video-only inputs like HDMI & DP. Lastly, your forgiveness of the Studio Display’s poor camera performance can NOT be dismissed on the basis of the ‘thinness’ of the product its in. Apple laptops famously have very thin lids, only a few mm thick, and if you know anything about the physics of cameras, that’s just not going to yield a camera with decent performance. But iPhones & iPads (& smartphones in general) are TWICE THE THICKNESS of Apple laptop lids, so they can and do achieve much better performance. But for the Studio Display to have such a poorly performing camera *** when there’s even more thickness available than an iPhone/iPad *** ? Again, unforgivable. And it would seem, after 6 months, they’ve not been able to make it any better. So that’s 2 total showstoppers for me.
Basically it cost too dam much. What the reason they give or use 🤔 inflation they git Billion to give everyone a apple computer but lower the price especially while we are in this inflation
Truetone is not a feature it's a colour hazard. Imagine buying a car that constantly 'adjusted' the shape of the wheels to 'match the road' turning the wheels into any shape except round, all of the time. That's what 'True Tone' is for colour. If you want a screen that NEVER has accurate colour on it, then Truetone is for you...
