Poll: *** The official Studio Display thread (it has the 27" 5K iMac screen and everything!) ***

[HACO]

Since some of us are getting this it's good for it to have its own thread.



Spec:

• 27-inch
• 5K resolution (5120x2880), at 218ppi
• 600 nit brightness
• True Tone
• 12MP webcam with centre stage
• Glossy, with optional nano-texture glass
• Apple A13 chip inside for video/audio processing
• 6 speaker setup

Price:

£1500 for normal stand (tilt only), or VESA mounts (buy your own stand)
Tilt and height adjustable stand extra £300
Nano-texture glass extra £250
You can replace the stand after purchase at Apple Stores, no supported DIY method yet.

It's a 27" iMac without the computer.

 

[Feek]

Good shout, poll added.

 

[Reuben klang]

I originally was going to get it, but I’ve changed my mind and just going to stick with my dell monitors. Until I change my mind again.

 

[HACO]

Apple Studio Display Contains 64GB of Storage, But Only 2GB Used

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/21/studio-display-contains-64gb-storage/

As Macrumours says, the Studio display has better internal specs that the current Apple TV 4K. But can't use any of that obviously. Would have been very good if they allowed Apple TV functionality on this.

 

[dannyjo22]

Reviews aren’t great that I’ve seen. I like this guys videos.

Too limiting for the cost.

 

[HACO]

Reviews aren’t great that I’ve seen. I like this guys videos.

Too limiting for the cost.

Wasn't a review really, just unboxing and walking through the spec sheet.

Most of the people who are upset aren't because this is a bad product, but because it's expensive and doesn't have the features that Macbook Pro displays have (HDR, ProMotion, Mini-LED etc). The reality is that if it did have those features it would have been £5000 rather than £1500. There's also no alternative display on the market with those features (200+ppi, 120Hz, local dimming, proper HDR - not the BS on cheap monitors) at £1500, in fact none exist at all to my knowledge. Apple will probably release that display to replace the Pro Display XDR but it will be very expensive. Wouldn't surprise me if it goes well above £5000.

No doubt Studio Display is overpriced. But unlike this guy's comments, there are no alternatives if you care about pixel density as there is no other 27" 5K screen on the market in the UK (The LG Ultrafine hasn't been available in the UK for well over a year, and that was was also overpriced at about £1300). The Huawei/Dell are 168ppi rather than 218, which is quite noticeable (I do use both).

Some people aren't sensitive to it, or even don't notice the difference and in that case they should never buy this and get a decent 27" 4K instead for less than half the price, or pay extra for more features (120Hz, etc). If you are sensitive to it, Apple is the only game in town right now so they get to charge extortionate prices and people will still buy them.

 

[Throrik]

Wasn't a review really, just unboxing and walking through the spec sheet.

Most of the people who are upset aren't because this is a bad product, but because it's expensive and doesn't have the features that Macbook Pro displays have (HDR, ProMotion, Mini-LED etc). The reality is that if it did have those features it would have been £5000 rather than £1500. There's also no alternative display on the market with those features (200+ppi, 120Hz, local dimming, proper HDR - not the BS on cheap monitors) at £1500, in fact none exist at all to my knowledge. Apple will probably release that display to replace the Pro Display XDR but it will be very expensive. Wouldn't surprise me if it goes well above £5000.

No doubt Studio Display is overpriced. But unlike this guy's comments, there are no alternatives if you care about pixel density as there is no other 27" 5K screen on the market in the UK (The LG Ultrafine hasn't been available in the UK for well over a year, and that was was also overpriced at about £1300). The Huawei/Dell are 168ppi rather than 218, which is quite noticeable (I do use both).

Some people aren't sensitive to it, or even don't notice the difference and in that case they should never buy this and get a decent 27" 4K instead for less than half the price, or pay extra for more features (120Hz, etc). If you are sensitive to it, Apple is the only game in town right now so they get to charge extortionate prices and people will still buy them.

Literally took most of the words I was typing and put them in for me, I don't understand how he banged on about things like 120Hz and then recommended a MateView which is lower PPI and 60Hz lol. The usual YouTube/Tech-Review tripe that wants all of the latest and greatest features with zero grounding in reality. Is there even a 5K Monitor with 120Hz on the market yet? I do agree it's expensive, but Apple tax always is.

 

[HACO]

Literally took most of the words I was typing and put them in for me, I don't understand how he banged on about things like 120Hz and then recommended a MateView which is lower PPI and 60Hz lol. The usual YouTube/Tech-Review tripe that wants all of the latest and greatest features with zero grounding in reality. Is there even a 5K Monitor with 120Hz on the market yet? I do agree it's expensive, but Apple tax always is.

The YouTube reviewers don't understand the monitor/tech market at all. They only get the Apple ecosystem (ProMotion on iPhone/MBP is good, I want it in my 27" display too!). A lot of the PC/tech reviewers don't get the Apple ecosystem either (they say make it 4K but 120Hz, which is fine but Apple users would never go for a drop in pixel density). If this was a 4K120Hz it would have been the biggest flop of all time - literally no longer a retina display.

There's no single 5K 120Hz at all, in fact there's no panel that can do it.

If you want 27" or larger, and >200ppi, there are only 8 panels in the whole world right now. 5K 120Hz would be more than Thunderbolt 4 or HDMI 2.1's bandwidth as well, we'll need DisplayPort 2.0 for that (and no, DSC isn't an alternative for a colour accurate display).



All are 60Hz, and all the 27" ones are actually revisions of the same panel in the 27" iMac and LG Ultrafine. The 32" 8K panel is used in Dell UP3218K (which is £3500). The only panel missing here is the Pro Display XDR (32" 6K) but that's an exclusive Apple panel so wouldn't show up in these databases (and exclusive panels are super expensive).

Ignoring 5K, there are some Mini-LED / local dimming monitors with 120Hz:

At 27" 4K (164ppi), there are ASUS PG27UQX and Acer X27S, both are gaming-oriented (rather than design). Both are in the £1500-2000 region and cost more than the Studio Display.
At 32" 4K (138ppi), there are ASUS PG32UQX and Acer X32, again both are in the £3000+ price range.

If you want colour accuracy, e.g. ASUS ProArt line which is more comparable to Apple displays, you lose the 120Hz and then you're looking at £2500 for a 27" 4K with local dimming (ASUS ProArt PA27UCX-K).

Not sure how people were expecting Apple, of all people, to take the £2500 ProArt, up the resolution to 5K, add 120Hz to it, and then sell it for £1500? Was never ever going to happen.

£1500 for a 27" monitor either gives you 120Hz/local dimming, or 5K resolution. Take your pick. You can't have both.

 

[Feek]

@HACO We've had the discussion about the difference in density between 4K and 5K monitors before and as you know, I really can't tell the difference between my Asus 28" 4K monitor and my iMac 27" 5K screen.

So with that in mind, what I should do when I buy the Mac Studio is get another Asus screen. The trouble is that I actually don't like it very much! It works perfectly well but I think it looks dreadfully plastic, the stand is horrible, the menu system is nasty to navigate and the inbuilt speakers are utter pants.

I think this one looks nice, it's physically smaller than my iMac so I'll be able to position it better on my desk, it'll take less space and it has far better speakers than the iMac or the Asus monitor. I'll almost certainly end up giving the Asus to my lad and buying two of the Apple displays.

 

[Throrik]

The YouTube reviewers don't understand the monitor/tech market at all. They only get the Apple ecosystem (ProMotion on iPhone/MBP is good, I want it in my 27" display too!). A lot of the PC/tech reviewers don't get the Apple ecosystem either (they say make it 4K but 120Hz, which is fine but Apple users would never go for a drop in pixel density). If this was a 4K120Hz it would have been the biggest flop of all time - literally no longer a retina display.

Exactly, I don't understand the majority of the monitor market, but even I understand how this works, madness that all these 'established tech reviewers' can't grasp this, but then again I guess slating on Apple for not having features nobody else has either is trendy, and gets a good return on the o'l clicks.

I remember when the XDR came out and everyone slating it, despite it matching up to monitors twice and three times its price, despite it never being toted as something the average Joe would go and buy.

 

[HACO]

@HACO We've had the discussion about the difference in density between 4K and 5K monitors before and as you know, I really can't tell the difference between my Asus 28" 4K monitor and my iMac 27" 5K screen.

So with that in mind, what I should do when I buy the Mac Studio is get another Asus screen. The trouble is that I actually don't like it very much! It works perfectly well but I think it looks dreadfully plastic, the stand is horrible, the menu system is nasty to navigate and the inbuilt speakers are utter pants.

I think this one looks nice, it's physically smaller than my iMac so I'll be able to position it better on my desk, it'll take less space and it has far better speakers than the iMac or the Asus monitor. I'll almost certainly end up giving the Asus to my lad and buying two of the Apple displays.

Maybe consider the Huawei Mateview? It's 28" 3:2, 164ppi (so slightly better than your 28" 4K which is 157), looks really nice, plays reasonably well with macOS, and currently is on a great promotion (£500 with £100 cashback). The buttons are touch screen and nice as well. It also charges back laptops via the same USB-C.

Exactly, I don't understand the majority of the monitor market, but even I understand how this works, madness that all these 'established tech reviewers' can't grasp this, but then again I guess slating on Apple for not having features nobody else has either is trendy, and gets a good return on the o'l clicks.

I remember when the XDR came out and everyone slating it, despite it matching up to monitors twice and three times its price, despite it never being toted as something the average Joe would go and buy.

Most of the reviewers don't even know any better. It's their video recording and production skills that made them popular, not their tech knowledge. They know how to make videos and talking about tech gets views and advertisers.

 

[HACO]

Apple Stores Can Upgrade a Studio Display's Stand After Purchase

https://www.macrumors.com/2022/03/21/studio-display-vesa-mount-adapter-after-purchase/

So stand is upgradeable after all, you just need to take it to Apple to do it. Cost is still unknown.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

I guess that is Marques cut off from Apple - pretty damming review on all counts really.

 

[HACO]

I guess that is Marques cut off from Apple - pretty damming review on all counts really.

More like he doesn't know what he's talking about. He makes nice looking videos and is a very good presenter but never seen him actually explain anything in any real depth, but maybe that's why he's so popular. Described the syndrome here:

Most of the people who are upset aren't because this is a bad product, but because it's expensive and doesn't have the features that Macbook Pro displays have (HDR, ProMotion, Mini-LED etc). The reality is that if it did have those features it would have been £5000 rather than £1500.

In the end he made it clear he wanted MiniLED, ProMotion, and 5K in one package for £1500. Basically a 120Hz version of the Pro Display XDR for £1500. Generally shows he doesn't understand the monitor market if he believes £1500 should get you that.

 

[james.miller]

In the end he made it clear he wanted MiniLED, ProMotion, and 5K in one package for £1500.

No he didn't? He mentioned what it didnt have, he never said he wanted it all in one package.

"Honestly, for nearly $2,000, if you just close your eyes and say ok, it's 2022, and Apple is going to make a studio display, you'd expect...mini-LED maybe? or maybe pro-motion, or maybe it might have faceID or a good webcam or just ANY COMBINATION OF THOSE THINGS. Instead it has none...and a non-removable power cable...and a non-user-upgradable stand.

That is a rare swing and a miss for me, somebody who works in a studio"

And then he goes on to explain it's a good deal if that's exactly what you need and there's no alternative.

In the end he made it clear he wanted MiniLED, ProMotion, and 5K in one package for £1500. Basically a 120Hz version of the Pro Display XDR for £1500. Generally shows he doesn't understand the monitor market if he believes £1500 should get you that.

No and...no.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

As above, I just can’t see how you can ignore the glaring issues which such an expensive product.

This monitor is clearly a miss, it’s only redeeming features are the 5k panel and the general build quality. Everything else around it is just really odd and destroys the utility of the screen.

A proprietary, ‘non removable’ power cable is just completely unnecessary, particularly given it’s so short. It’s the same company that gave us the completely over engineered mag safe imac power cable with built in Ethernet.

The stand… where do we start? Well the standard one is just too low so ergonomically it doesn’t work and has no hight adjust or swivel, on a £1500 screen, it’s just poor. It’s also proprietary and fixed, yes Apple can change it for you for £lol but it’s just unnecessary. If you want height adjust that’s another £400, ridiculous. Every other monitor on the market comes with a stand and is VESA compatible.

The webcam is soft and the speakers crush the highs.

Don’t get me wrong, the screen is incredibly overbuilt, and is beautiful to look at but it’s 100% form over function. Classic apple really, over engineer something to the point it’s actually gets the basics all wrong.

For a base price of £1500 I just can’t forgive its major shortcomings. I just can’t see who this is for other than those who must have that full Apple set up regardless of the cost.

I couldn’t even use the base model because of its broken ergonomics so I’d need to be for a minimum of £1900 which is crazy money for what is otherwise the same screen you got in an iMac for the same money.

Didn’t the 5k iMac start at £1600 and include an entire (granted, not that great) computer?

 

[HACO]

No he didn't? He mentioned what it didnt have, he never said he wanted it all in one package.

"Honestly, for nearly $2,000, if you just close your eyes and say ok, it's 2022, and Apple is going to make a studio display, you'd expect...mini-LED maybe? or maybe pro-motion, or maybe it might have faceID or a good webcam or just ANY COMBINATION OF THOSE THINGS. Instead it has none...and a non-removable power cable...and a non-user-upgradable stand.

That is a rare swing and a miss for me, somebody who works in a studio"

And then he goes on to explain it's a good deal if that's exactly what you need and there's no alternative.



No and...no.

Agree he didn't say he wanted them all, he just wanted more. But apart from accessory features (stand, ports, webcam, etc which could be better, but who cares either way) the display itself couldn't have more and be at this price. Notice all those features are iPhone or MacBook features, which is what I said before. He likes those stuff on his iPhones and MacBook and wanted them here. It's exactly what I said yesterday about these reviewers.

As for the actual two features, "expecting" a $1600 colour accurate 5K monitor from Apple of all people to have MiniLED means you have no idea about monitors, 4K ones from ASUS or Lenovo cost $3000. And "Expecting" it to have 120Hz is another level, such panel doesn't even exist on the planet and there's no interface that supports that bandwidth.

So again, a $1600 monitor in 2022 from Apple would most definitely not have those two big features. Anyone who reviews these stuff for a living should know this.

 

[HACO]

As above, I just can’t see how you can ignore the glaring issues which such an expensive product.

This monitor is clearly a miss, it’s only redeeming features are the 5k panel and the general build quality. Everything else around it is just really odd and destroys the utility of the screen.

A proprietary, ‘non removable’ power cable is just completely unnecessary, particularly given it’s so short. It’s the same company that gave us the completely over engineered mag safe imac power cable with built in Ethernet.

The stand… where do we start? Well the standard one is just too low so ergonomically it doesn’t work and has no hight adjust or swivel, on a £1500 screen, it’s just poor. It’s also proprietary and fixed, yes Apple can change it for you for £lol but it’s just unnecessary. If you want height adjust that’s another £400, ridiculous. Every other monitor on the market comes with a stand and is VESA compatible.

The webcam is soft and the speakers crush the highs.

Don’t get me wrong, the screen is incredibly overbuilt, and is beautiful to look at but it’s 100% form over function. Classic apple really, over engineer something to the point it’s actually gets the basics all wrong.

For a base price of £1500 I just can’t forgive its major shortcomings. I just can’t see who this is for other than those who must have that full Apple set up regardless of the cost.

I couldn’t even use the base model because of its broken ergonomics so I’d need to be for a minimum of £1900 which is crazy money for what is otherwise the same screen you got in an iMac for the same money.

Didn’t the 5k iMac start at £1600 and include an entire (granted, not that great) computer?

I was the first one to admit the issues, if you scroll up I said in the first few posts that it's overpriced.

As for stand, you can VESA mount (which is a free option). So get your own arm for £50 and you have everything you need. As for webcam, who cares? As for speakers, who cares that they're apparently good (or bad), since when people care about speaker and webcams of monitors? They've always sucked regardless of price. Proprietary cable is stupid but is a minor thing. You can pull it out with effort and there will be third party replacements like there always is, so no big deal, just a minor thing. I don't buy monitors for speakers, stand, webcam or cables.

Again if you scroll up, I said this is for people who want 220ppi, i.e. 5K at 27". If you don't, don't buy it:

No doubt Studio Display is overpriced. But unlike this guy's comments, there are no alternatives if you care about pixel density as there is no other 27" 5K screen on the market in the UK (The LG Ultrafine hasn't been available in the UK for well over a year, and that was was also overpriced at about £1300). The Huawei/Dell are 168ppi rather than 218, which is quite noticeable (I do use both).

Some people aren't sensitive to it, or even don't notice the difference and in that case they should never buy this and get a decent 27" 4K instead for less than half the price, or pay extra for more features (120Hz, etc). If you are sensitive to it, Apple is the only game in town right now so they get to charge extortionate prices and people will still buy them.

Two things can be true at the same time:

1. This display is overpriced.
2. There's no way a £1500 27" 5K display could have 120Hz or MiniLED. No other manufacturer does it, Apple won't either.

£1000 would have been the appropriate price for this. But you're paying the Apple tax because they're the only one who's doing a 5K right now.

 

[james.miller]

Agree he didn't say he wanted them all, he just wanted more. ....So again, a $1600 monitor in 2022 from Apple would most definitely not have those two big features. Anyone who reviews these stuff for a living should know this.

Wait, let me get this right.

you said he said a thing which led you to saying that thing shows he doesnt know what he's talking about, right? And when it's pointed out that thing you claimed he said was 100% incorrect...you still think he doesnt know what he's talking about?

It's clear you have an issue with MKBHD, but nothing you've said explains why. You think you know why, but everything you've just claimed is incorrect. I'm starting to think you have an issue with him just because he doesn't agree with you.

 

[b0rn2sk8]

The point he was making is the screens in those devices are better not that this monitor should have those features.

When he used this screen with a MacBook Pro, he ended up just using the laptop screen as the primary display because it’s just better. It sort of defeats the purpose of plugging in an external display.

His summary is clearly that it’s just too expensive unless it’s exactly what you want because it’s the only one of its kind on the market (hence the Rolls Royce analogy). Everyone else should just continue to buy non-Apple monitors for less than 1/3 the price.

I was the first one to admit the issues, if you scroll up I said in the first few posts that it's overpriced.

As for stand, you can VESA mount (which is a free option). So get your own arm for £50 and you have everything you need. As for webcam, who cares? As for speakers, who cares that they're apparently good (or bad), since when people care about speaker and webcams of monitors? They've always sucked regardless of price. Proprietary cable is stupid but is a minor thing. You can pull it out with effort and there will be third party replacements like there always is, so no big deal, just a minor thing.

I completely disagree, none of those things are minor points, it’s a £1500 LCD screen, literally £100 less than the base 5k iMac, the execution should be perfect.

Even a £200 screen I got from Amazon for my wife’s home office has a full hight swivel and tilt stand and a vesa mount. The basic stand will fail even the most rudimentary DSE assessment in a business setting so it’s just not fit for purpose and basically forces you down the monitor arm route or the £400 upgrade. Unacceptable.

Apple spent actual time in their keynote talking about the webcam, it’s still poor. Again they spent actual time in the keynote talking about how great the speakers are and they sounded worse than you get in their laptops.

The proprietary cable is not a minor point, if it gets damaged, the entire screen needs to be returned to apple for a repair. Not to mention Apple will stop supporting it in a few years meaning it could become E-waste because of a power cable. How is that even remotely acceptable in 2022?

There are so many red flags with this product, please stop apologising for them. One of these things in their own might not be a big deal, but all combined with the price just make this product a really poor buy.

It’s just a shame because pretty much everything else Apple has released in the last couple of years has been killer but every now and again they do something like this to remind you what they really want to do with their mainstream products but can’t because of the backlash it would generate.