Amazon Takes $299 Off Apple Studio Display, Available From $1,299.99

[drrich2]

So the specmanship game is nonsense. It’s like arguing that, since my Porsche has better acceleration than your pickup truck, the Porsche is better at hauling wood.

Specmanship matters when someone is buying one product to cover a range of tasks and either has limited funds or demands clear value for money.

Some people have a pickup truck and a car (whatever brand and model); some have just one.

But here’s the thing: You can buy a monitor, or you can buy a television, but you cannot buy one device which is both.

Similarly, some people have a t.v. and watch most videos on it; some either just have a one display device (e.g.: monitor or t.v.), or mainly watch just one device (e.g.: my wife watches a t.v. in the bedroom, and I watch videos on my Dell monitor). Samsung even offers some computer displays with smart t.v. features and a remote.

The spec.s matter when the buyer is weighing his options. Someone who already has a sweet 3rd party sound system may have no use for spatial audio, but someone in a dorm room with tight space constraints might love it. I don't care much about the ASD's aluminum frame build quality and aesthetic, but someone in another thread valued it pretty highly. I rarely video conference; some people use it a lot. Color accuracy is a big deal with some professionals.

 

[turbineseaplane]

"Spatial Audio" out of built in monitor speakers

 

[EugW]

Audio out of the Studio Display is probably one of the best in existence for a desktop monitor... but it still isn't good as decent bookshelf speakers. So having the speakers built into the Apple Studio Display isn't really a big selling point for me.

 

[dmr727]

Fussy? Are you kidding. Color is quite important to those who see photography as a craft and art. We're not being fussy. We want to create the best print possible as a creative endeavor. That's not being fussy!

I didn't get the impression that he was using 'fussy' in any pejorative sense.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Fussy: "exacting especially about details"


No negative connotation there is likely meant

 

[citysnaps]

Fussy? Are you kidding. Color is quite important to those who see photography as a craft and art. We're not being fussy. We want to create the best print possible as a creative endeavor. That's not being fussy!

I think you misunderstood my post.

My point was if you are are a photographer, fussy about color, and print a lot of photographs, the ASD is outstantding, and a good deal at $1,299.

If you're not fussy about color and don't print photographs, there are a lot of displays at lower prices, that would likely work fine for many people.

 

[Ifti]

Hopefully an ASD2 is on the horizon, to be launched alongside the M4Max Studio.......

 

[EugW]

I think you misunderstood my post.

My point was if you are are a photographer, fussy about color, and print a lot of photographs, the ASD is outstantding, and a good deal at $1,299.

If you're not fussy about color and don't print photographs, there are a lot of displays at lower prices, that would likely work fine for many people.

The Asus ProArts come pre-calibrated with ΔE error <2, and even come with a printout of the calibration report. The Asus stand and bezel aesthetics are not beautiful though, and their menu system is clearly designed by an engineer not a UX designer.

I ended up buying a Huawei, but the colours were off. However, that was remedied by buying a Datacolor SpyderX PRO colour calibrator. Fortunately, this is a one-time purchase, so if I end up getting another monitor in 2025 that needs to be calibrated, I won't have to buy another calibrator. I paid CA$170 back in 2022, which at the time was about US$125.

 

[Billy_Bob]

Do you think Apple can get the gen 2 Pro Display stand up to $2K??? 💰💰💰

"Only" $1K seems so 5 or 6 years ago. $2500 anyone? Some shareholders have 3 children to feed.

People love to ridicule the Pro Stand. It was priced so ridiculously that it's easy for people to forget that it really is an amazingly good stand. Not $999 worth of amazing unless your Pro Display XDR is earning you hundreds of thousands of dollars, but still an amazing combination of simplicity and utility. If Apple had had the forethought to offer a NonPro stand for $299 and the Pro Stand for $699, I suspect MANY more people would have seen the difference and chosen the Pro Stand. Six years later, I can imagine Apple releasing essentially the same Pro Stand, but adding an A19 chip and some firmware, and calling it an Apple Home Display Hub/Stand and still charging $999.

 

[tonywalker23]

I know this is maybe comparing apples to oranges… but

I remember in the late 2010s buying for that same 1299 price a brand new in box 27” Apple 5k display. It also came with a keyboard, a mouse, an intel processor, and a 2tb Fusion Drive.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yes, Apple realized they could subtract so much of that out and sell what was left for the “same great price.” And not only would Apple people gobble it up but evangelize it as the one and only “good” 5K.

And it worked!💰💰💰

 

[cczhu]

Looks like they might refresh the studio display this year

 

[Realityck]

Audio out of the Studio Display is probably one of the best in existence for a desktop monitor... but it still isn't good as decent bookshelf speakers. So having the speakers built into the Apple Studio Display isn't really a big selling point for me.

On that note a pair of USB-C connected Kanto ORA lists $349 do go on sale every so many months is ideal because of their small desktop size. DSP based, bi-amped, Bluetooth, Analog input also. But yes the Studio Display built in 6 way speakers are great.

 

[fathergll]

Your monochrome background doesn’t scream confidence in your setup. Though I do appreciate the minimalist bezels on the sides.

Well it's not my setup per the post ; "Example this person got two 27" 5k ASUS"


With that said obviously a matte $800 monitor is not 100% the same as something nearly twice as expensive with things like factory calibration and panel grading at the factory will be superior for the Apple display so the QC is better. Again the Apple Studio display isnt a massive deal for price if you only need 1 display but trying to setup 2-3 displays is just pure insanity with the Apple pricing. Having multiple monitors like a few 27" displays is not a big deal these days but you just can't do it with Apple pricing. You are looked at like some baller if you have two-three displays in the Apple world which is just some standard configuration for productivity for many people.

Example of ASUS next to Apple

 

[drrich2]

People love to ridicule the Pro Stand. It was priced so ridiculously that it's easy for people to forget that it really is an amazingly good stand. Not $999 worth of amazing unless your Pro Display XDR is earning you hundreds of thousands of dollars, but still an amazing combination of simplicity and utility.

I never worked in the professional content development field, so you have me curious. The XDR (6K, 32", quite expensive) is mainly a workplace display. My question is about the role of the stand.

At least in home setups, I think many people don't move their displays around a lot. Maybe if it's on a VESA mount, but when a stand is in use, it seems pretty common to position it how you wish, then let it alone.

Which raises the question of how 'amazingly good' a stand can get. If a regular display stand works fine for the purpose, the display is seldom moved and when it is that's pretty quick and easy, what added value does the XDR stand offer?

Put another way, how can a 'super stand' add hundreds of dollars worth of value in a situation where there was no need to fill (beyond a normal stand) to begin with?

Maybe many professionals change their display position often and the XDR makes precision fine-tuned position shifts easy?

Again the Apple Studio display isnt a massive deal for price if you only need 1 display but trying to setup 2-3 displays is just pure insanity with the Apple pricing.

Which brings up another criticism; even people who benefit from the spacial audio and webcam with Center Stage in one ASD likely wouldn't want to pay the extra money to buy a 2nd set of those, and you can't buy a 2nd ASD without them. And some people would probably prefer their pair of monitors look the same.

 

[EugW]

On that note a pair of USB-C connected Kanto ORA lists $349 do go on sale every so many months is ideal because of their small desktop size. DSP based, bi-amped, Bluetooth, Analog input also. But yes the Studio Display built in 6 way speakers are great.

Truth be told, the Apple Studio Display probably has significantly better bass than my bookshelf speaker setup, but probably not as good mid and highs. I have a pair of NHT SuperZero 2.1 speakers, and they are well known to be short on bass, but I bought with that knowledge. However, I got them super cheap, at CA$178 for the pair 9 years ago (about US$145 at the time), and have used them with several different monitors now.

Well it's not my setup per the post ; "Example this person got two 27" 5k ASUS"


With that said obviously a matte $800 monitor is not 100% the same as something nearly twice as expensive with things like factory calibration and panel grading at the factory will be superior for the Apple display so the QC is better. Again the Apple Studio display isnt a massive deal for price if you only need 1 display but trying to setup 2-3 displays is just pure insanity with the Apple pricing. Having multiple monitors like a few 27" displays is not a big deal these days but you just can't do it with Apple pricing. You are looked at like some baller if you have two-three displays in the Apple world which is just some standard configuration for productivity for many people.

As mentioned, Asus ProArts are factory Calman colour calibrated and actually come with the factory calibration report printed out. I wouldn't be surprised if the Apple displays have better QC overall but stuff like backlight bleed isn't exactly uncommon with Apple displays either.

I never worked in the professional content development field, so you have me curious. The XDR (6K, 32", quite expensive) is mainly a workplace display. My question is about the role of the stand.

At least in home setups, I think many people don't move their displays around a lot. Maybe if it's on a VESA mount, but when a stand is in use, it seems pretty common to position it how you wish, then let it alone.

Which raises the question of how 'amazingly good' a stand can get. If a regular display stand works fine for the purpose, the display is seldom moved and when it is that's pretty quick and easy, what added value does the XDR stand offer?

I'd say it's a beautiful stand and super strong and the best you can get for the Pro Display XDR, but according to reviews, it has a bit of play horizontally, I guess because they didn't completely nail down the rotating design. Hopefully the display stand that replaces this (this year?) will fix this one nitpick.

OTOH, macOS automatically rotates when you rotate the Pro Display XDR, which is a cool, albeit unnecessary for most people.

 

[fathergll]

Which brings up another criticism; even people who benefit from the spacial audio and webcam with Center Stage in one ASD likely wouldn't want to pay the extra money to buy a 2nd set of those, and you can't buy a 2nd ASD without them. And some people would probably prefer their pair of monitors look the same.

Yep, to add on you are paying a A13 Soc and 64 GB storage as well.

Studio Display includes as much storage as iPad, iPhone 11 | AppleInsider

A developer has discovered that Apple's Studio Display includes 64GB storage, meaning it has the same specifications for storage and processor as the 9th-generation iPad and the iPhone 11.

appleinsider.com

When you look at Apple's own marketing they show the Studio display in 2-3 display configurations. Probably 99% of owner's setups i've seen are less the 3 screens which is a litmus test on how unpractical it is. Those setups exist just ultra rare. At MSRP you are talking approaching $5k just for a base configure on screens.

 

[EugW]

I have a budget of maybe CA$2200 (US$1500) for a new 30-32" monitor this year. It looks like I might actually be able to get a 6K monitor for that price, but I'm hoping to pay a lot less than that. I'm still curious as to what the Acer 31.5" 5K monitor will be like. Acer is a lower end brand though, so I'm not hugely optimistic for that one, especially considering it is marketed as a gaming monitor. Brightness is low at 350 nits, which actually isn't a big concern to me, but typically this class of monitor is also a step down in other characteristics too.

 

[Realityck]

Truth be told, the Apple Studio Display probably has significantly better bass than my bookshelf speaker setup, but probably not as good mid and highs. I have a pair of NHT SuperZero 2.1 speakers, and they are well known to be short on bass, but I bought with that knowledge. However, I got them super cheap, at CA$178 for the pair 9 years ago (about US$145 at the time), and have used them with several different monitors now.

Without sub output connected Kanto ORA are capable of even hearing down to 50hz somewhat, but with subwoofer they apply 100hz crossover, and really create a very different presentation as a audio option to the audio performance of the Studio Display built-in speakers which most are quite satisfied with, until you want something better.

 

[frogslapper]

Really depends upon ones needs and wants on features, gamut coverage, HDR or not (ASD is not), refresh rate, display type preference, etc

It's a much more mixed bag in 2025 than it used to be

I would argue that at this point in time, $1299 should probably be the MSRP honestly
(I realize Apple never lowers MSRPs -- doesn't mean they shouldn't though)

I have a feeling resurgent high inflation is about to lower the effective MSRP.

 

[Beatrix Kiddo]

That’s not available until March 1st, then for either desktops and closed lid laptop operation lack of web cam is a big negative when its very common to use it for video meetings with general Mac usage just to save $100 with today’s low pricing.

By the way, continuity camera works amazing. I got a magsafe monitor mount for 20 bucks on amazon. And iPhone works excellent as a webcam. I have a mirrorless camera but the ease of using iphone makes me use it. And, iphone has an excellent color science.

 

[tcphoto1]

Or wait for a great deal on a used Studio Display, I found one for $1k.

 

[Joshuaorange]

Well it's not my setup per the post ; "Example this person got two 27" 5k ASUS"


With that said obviously a matte $800 monitor is not 100% the same as something nearly twice as expensive with things like factory calibration and panel grading at the factory will be superior for the Apple display so the QC is better. Again the Apple Studio display isnt a massive deal for price if you only need 1 display but trying to setup 2-3 displays is just pure insanity with the Apple pricing. Having multiple monitors like a few 27" displays is not a big deal these days but you just can't do it with Apple pricing. You are looked at like some baller if you have two-three displays in the Apple world which is just some standard configuration for productivity for many people.

Example of ASUS next to Apple


View attachment 2478427

I have a maxed out M3 MacBook Pro with a couple studio displays. They hardly qualify as baller status even if I was running 4 of them. Now if I had a few of those XDR’s that would be something different. The point is, no other vendor has cared to match Apple in this segment. You have people who choose to compromise and save money on something like that Asus, and people who just want the best experience even knowing the studio display costs more than it should. There is no real alternative that provides everything the studio display does even for the same price.

 

[drrich2]

There is no real alternative that provides everything the studio display does even for the same price.

That's true, but how many people come to the market eager for all the strong points it offers? And willing to overlook the weaknesses?

As you say, the Apple Studio Display is a product with a unique combination of offerings, and that might be the best match for some. I could see it being pretty sweet for a Mac-only user in a dorm room or small apartment, or with a strongly minimalistic aesthetic.

The counter argument is many people after even retina quality big displays aren't looking for everything the ASD does, just some of it.

The point is, no other vendor has cared to match Apple in this segment.

And not many have historically bothered to put out 5K 27" displays at all; just lately that's changed a bit with the ASUS and the upcoming BenQ. And finally a couple of 3rd party 6K 32" displays have been announced.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I could see it being pretty sweet for a Mac-only user in a dorm room or small apartment, or with a strongly minimalistic aesthetic.

Although, my first thought for a dorm user is "how will they plug in a streaming box or a game console"?

So ridiculous Apple won't even add a 2nd input