Any Positive Reviews of the Apple Studio Display?

[GooseInTheCaboose]

I've been thinking of getting a Studio Display since Apple released it. The thing holding me back tho is that every review I have read of it is negative! (Or positive but strongly tempered by complaints about what Apple could/should have done better!)

Have any of you encountered positive reviews of the Apple Studio Display written by well-known authors/in reputable publications?

 

[macwant]

What monitor and Mac are you currently using?

 

[kasakka]

It is a display that looks pretty great in static content and works quite seamlessly with Macs. But at the same time it has slow response times even for 60 Hz in motion so you get added motion blur and the display has a big pile of caveats, from the stand options to fixed power cable to crappy webcam and more. It is overpriced. I don’t think there is an objective reviewer who could put a positive spin on it. You used to be able to get a whole 27" iMac for what this costs in my country at least.

If it was a 4K screen there would be no reason for anyone to buy it because there is more competition. But for 5K you have very few options.

 

[nosnhojm]

But at the same time it has slow response times even for 60 Hz in motion so you get added motion blur and the display has a big pile of caveats

Is there anything that takes advantage of >60Hz on macOS? There is no pro-motion support and Mac gaming is non-existent.

I have a Studio Display and it works well for my uses. I also have a 27” 4k LG, and it is comparably much much worse (density, brightness, sound).

Previously I had a 27” iMac. I don’t think the Studio Display is any better than that was….and I think the iMac had better speakers.

 

[kasakka]

Is there anything that takes advantage of >60Hz on macOS? There is no pro-motion support and Mac gaming is non-existent.

I vastly prefer high refresh rate even for desktop use. It feels more responsive just waving a mouse cursor around.

To add insult to injury, the Studio Display response time does not keep up even with 60 Hz, resulting in some extra motion blur.

 

[macwant]

I vastly prefer high refresh rate even for desktop use. It feels more responsive just waving a mouse cursor around.

To add insult to injury, the Studio Display response time does not keep up even with 60 Hz, resulting in some extra motion blur.

How does it not keep up? The worst reported response time I’ve seen is 14ms. 1000ms / 14ms = 71.44. That’s faster than the 60fps.

 

[kasakka]

How does it not keep up? The worst reported response time I’ve seen is 14ms. 1000ms / 14ms = 71.44. That’s faster than the 60fps.

Rtings review reports its response time as 20ms total. That’s above the ~16ms needed for 60 Hz.

"The Apple Studio Display has a poor response time at its max refresh rate of 60Hz. The total response time is slow, resulting in clear motion blur trail behind fast-moving objects. Sadly, there aren't any overdrive settings, so motion always looks blurry."

 

[BSoares]

I guess you’re looking for a known reviewer to speak highly of it but I love my ASD so far. Things that could be better in my opinion:

-Price
-Included cable (it’s way too short)
-Audio with more clarity and less bass heavy
-Default stand should have height adjustment. Charging $400 for that is ridiculous.

The screen itself is absolutely gorgeous, makes all other monitors I’ve used look like crap. Thankfully I haven’t used Apple’s $6K display, I assume that looks better than ASD.

 

[DMG35]

OP I think people get way too caught up with words like ProMotion and refresh rate. Unless you are a hard core gamer you will likely not see any difference in daily use.

I think the ASD is a great option. Go check one out at a store if you can and see what you think.

 

[kasakka]

OP I think people get way too caught up with words like ProMotion and refresh rate. Unless you are a hard core gamer you will likely not see any difference in daily use.

I think the ASD is a great option. Go check one out at a store if you can and see what you think.

I disagree. High refresh rate is very noticeable even in desktop use especially if you compare to 60 Hz.

But we still struggle with high refresh rate above 4K resolutions so it's fine that the ASD is only 60 Hz. The problem is that it's both 60 Hz and slow enough pixel response time that it has more motion blur than it should.

Tried it in a store as you suggest and to me it was noticeable when there's movement on screen. When the screen is static, it does look great. But at this price, only great with static content is not positive.

 

[nosnhojm]

I disagree. High refresh rate is very noticeable even in desktop use especially if you compare to 60 Hz.

I disagree, at least as a universal claim. I don't really notice high refresh rates (games or pro-motion), but it could be due to my age. I'd much rather have 5K than 120Hz. Sure I'd like 120Hz...especially for what the ASD costs...but I'm not sure if I would actually see the difference.

 

[MisterSavage]

There's some huge threads on here about the ASD and there's plenty of happy people commenting. I've had some incredibly frustrating problems with upgrading the software in it (more than once) but I do not regret buying it at all. I love mine.

 

[xraydoc]

I've been thinking of getting a Studio Display since Apple released it. The thing holding me back tho is that every review I have read of it is negative! (Or positive but strongly tempered by complaints about what Apple could/should have done better!)

Have any of you encountered positive reviews of the Apple Studio Display written by well-known authors/in reputable publications?

The Studio Display is a fantastic monitor. The issues people are having with it are subjective and break down to the following:

- For a $1500 monitor, some think the webcam should be better. Understand that Center Stage requires a wide-angle camera so the software can intelligently pan around and keep you and others in view. When it's just you, it'll zoom in, which can introduce artifacts/pixelation that wouldn't happen on a fixed field-of-view camera. So Apple had a choice -- Center Stage (and live with some artifacts) or a fixed FOV (but no Center Stage). It's a matter of opinion which way they should have gone. Good arguments on both sides of the issue. Personally I'm fine with the camera quality. I just use it for Zoom meetings for work and for occasionally FaceTiming with family. I'm not creating broadcast or 4K YouTube content with it.

- For a $1500 monitor, some think it should support higher refresh rates. Maybe, but 120Hz at 5K resolution is, so I've read, more data than can be transmitted over a single Thunderbolt 4 connection. So I think this complaint simply isn't realistic.

- For a $1500 monitor, some think it should have been a mini-LED display. Perhaps Apple felt they couldn't do this within the price point they wanted to hit. Either way, even most high-end 4K displays don't have this either.

- For a $1500 monitor, some think it should have come with the hight-adjustable stand (not a $400 option) and/or should have included a way to mount the monitor on a VESA arm without having to buy a whole separate display. I kind of agree, but Apple will be Apple.

All that said, the monitor is an incredible 5K display with a blinding 600+ nit brightness rating and outstanding color quality. It's in a class by itself, regardless of any shortcomings.

I love mine. I have two.

 

[kasakka]

The Studio Display is a fantastic monitor. The issues people are having with it are subjective and break down to the following:

- For a $1500 monitor, some think the webcam should be better. Understand that Center Stage requires a wide-angle camera so the software can intelligently pan around and keep you and others in view. When it's just you, it'll zoom in, which can introduce artifacts/pixelation that wouldn't happen on a fixed field-of-view camera. So Apple had a choice -- Center Stage (and live with some artifacts) or a fixed FOV (but no Center Stage). It's a matter of opinion which way they should have gone. Good arguments on both sides of the issue. Personally I'm fine with the camera quality. I just use it for Zoom meetings for work and for occasionally FaceTiming with family. I'm not creating broadcast or 4K YouTube content with it.

- For a $1500 monitor, some think it should support higher refresh rates. Maybe, but 120Hz at 5K resolution is, so I've read, more data than can be transmitted over a single Thunderbolt 4 connection. So I think this complaint simply isn't realistic.

- For a $1500 monitor, some think it should have either been a mini-LED display. Perhaps Apple felt they couldn't do this within the price point they wanted to hit. Either way, even most high-end 4K displays don't have this either.

- For a $1500 monitor, some think it should have come with the hight-adjustable stand (not a $400 option) and/or should have included a way to mount the monitor on a VESA arm without having to buy a whole separate display. I kind of agree, but Apple will be Apple.

All that said, the monitor is an incredible 5K display with a blinding 600+ nit brightness rating and outstanding color quality. It's in a class by itself, regardless of any shortcomings.

I love mine. I have two.

Everything you said is what makes it a not that fantastic monitor for its price. It's nearly 2000 euros for the ****** stand option or alternatively VESA mount. At that price it should be just plain better in many areas. It should be VESA mountable with a height/tilt adjustable stand that just attached to the VESA mount. Not this "one or the other" ********. Now you either buy the VESA mount option and an arm for it, or you buy the bad option that you can never mount on a monitor arm even if you wanted to in the future.

I do agree that expecting 120 Hz from it is not realistic with current bandwidth. In theory you might be able to do it with Display Stream Compression but considering its pixel response time cannot even keep up with 60 Hz (and the Pro Motion Macbook Pros are about twice as bad at this!), there's not much point to have above 60 Hz.

 

[xraydoc]

Everything you said is what makes it a not that fantastic monitor for its price. It's nearly 2000 euros for the ****** stand option or alternatively VESA mount. At that price it should be just plain better in many areas. It should be VESA mountable with a height/tilt adjustable stand that just attached to the VESA mount. Not this "one or the other" ********. Now you either buy the VESA mount option and an arm for it, or you buy the bad option that you can never mount on a monitor arm even if you wanted to in the future.

I do agree that expecting 120 Hz from it is not realistic with current bandwidth. In theory you might be able to do it with Display Stream Compression but considering its pixel response time cannot even keep up with 60 Hz (and the Pro Motion Macbook Pros are about twice as bad at this!), there's not much point to have above 60 Hz.

I'm not suggesting these aren't legitimate concerns. And they definitely impact the value of the display. However, that said, show me another 5K display with as-good brightness, uniformity and color quality. The Studio Display is the best 5K display one can buy. Granted, there are few other options for a 5K display, but it's still the best available.

There's the same criticism of the 32" XDR display. For $6000, some people say it should have come with speakers and a webcam. Maybe. But people spending $6000 on a display are likely to have or want better than what would fit in a display anyway. Is a $1000 stand a complete joke? Yes, absolutely 100%. Doesn't change the fact that the XDR is still the best (and only) 6K display that you can buy. So if you need it, that's what you've got to pay.

I wanted a 5K display. In fact, I wanted two. I would have paid the same $1500 whether it came with speakers and a webcam regardless. Would it have been a better value had some things been better? Yes. But doesn't change the fact that they're still the best 5K display one can buy. Unfortunately Apple knows this, so there's less incentive to compete.

If you buy a product with no competition, complaining about the price or lack of a certain feature is sometimes futile.

 

[kasakka]

I'm not suggesting these aren't legitimate concerns. And they definitely impact the value of the display. However, that said, show me another 5K display with as-good brightness, uniformity and color quality. The Studio Display is the best 5K display one can buy. Granted, there are few other options for a 5K display, but it's still the best available.

There's the same criticism of the 32" XDR display. For $6000, some people say it should have come with speakers and a webcam. Maybe. But people spending $6000 on a display are likely to have or want better than what would fit in a display anyway. Is a $1000 stand a complete joke? Yes, absolutely 100%. Doesn't change the fact that the XDR is still the best (and only) 6K display that you can buy. So if you need it, that's what you've got to pay.

I wanted a 5K display. In fact, I wanted two. I would have paid the same $1500 whether it came with speakers and a webcam regardless. Would it have been a better value had some things been better? Yes. But doesn't change the fact that they're still the best 5K display one can buy. Unfortunately Apple knows this, so there's less incentive to compete.

If you buy a product with no competition, complaining about the price or lack of a certain feature is sometimes futile.

Yes, because of lack of options if you want above 4K you have to basically deal with a lot of cost for less than stellar performance. I really wish we get more 5K+ options to choose from in the future as none of the ones on the market are particularly good.

Personally I'd rather just buy several much cheaper 4K screens where you have more choice in what features you want to favor. Less sharp as single display but more desktop space with multiple.

 

[GDF]

I think Apple did a great job with tilt and height adjustable stand, but just not sure it is worth the US $350 plus upgrade charge. Probably will get it anyhow, as will regret not having it and plan on keeping the monitor for a long time.

 

[xraydoc]

I think Apple did a great job with tilt and height adjustable stand, but just not sure it is worth the US $350 plus upgrade charge. Probably will get it anyhow, as will regret not having it and plan on keeping the monitor for a long time.

I went for the VESA mount for my Studio Displays for a similar reason - future flexibility. But I'm glad I did. I've got one in landscape and one in portrait, which works well for me.

 

[lostPod]

I went for the VESA mount for my Studio Displays for a similar reason - future flexibility. But I'm glad I did. I've got one in landscape and one in portrait, which works well for me.View attachment 2046035

Now that is pretty! Especially with the keyboard accents. What wallpaper is that ??

 

[xraydoc]

Now that is pretty! Especially with the keyboard accents. What wallpaper is that ??

Not sure where I got it, to be honest. iCloud share link below:

https://www.icloud.com/iclouddrive/018Vd5x0Uew_ky3vpzhjiuIFQ#IMG_0362

 

[Fishrrman]

My (very short) review:
Nice display.
But the selling price is more than twice what it's worth...

 

[thedon1]

Love mine, use it for mostly productivity (programming and reading) so a lot things like high refresh and HDR don't really impact me. It's incredibly expensive for what it is, but there isn't another 5k display on the market to rival it so it really is a take it or leave it situation.

 

[CalMin]

Have any of you encountered positive reviews of the Apple Studio Display written by well-known authors/in reputable publications

I posted about it but I am not well known and Macrumors isn't reputable.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/im-genuinely-surprised-by-the-negative-reviews-of-the-studio-display.2338833/

 

[generationfourth]

Everyone is just looking at individual specs instead of actually looking at the monitor itself. Go look at it in the store, or trial it with Apple's 14 day return policy, and you'll know if it's worth it to you. It's the same thing with other Apple products- they may not have the highest clock speeds, most ram, largest mAH battery but everything is implemented so well that it outperforms higher spec competitors.

The way I explained it to a friend is that there is nothing like this monitor (well aside from maybe the XDR)- it literally feels like a giant iPad. There are no complete packages built out of all aluminum/glass 27" 5k monitors that play nicely with Mac OS scaling.

re: 60hz refresh and no HDR. I find these features very nice for consuming content on my 14" MBP XDR screen (doom scrolling and watching videos) but for my day to day design and productivity work I do not notice any difference.

 

[kasakka]

Everyone is just looking at individual specs instead of actually looking at the monitor itself. Go look at it in the store, or trial it with Apple's 14 day return policy, and you'll know if it's worth it to you. It's the same thing with other Apple products- they may not have the highest clock speeds, most ram, largest mAH battery but everything is implemented so well that it outperforms higher spec competitors.

The way I explained it to a friend is that there is nothing like this monitor (well aside from maybe the XDR)- it literally feels like a giant iPad. There are no complete packages built out of all aluminum/glass 27" 5k monitors that play nicely with Mac OS scaling.

re: 60hz refresh and no HDR. I find these features very nice for consuming content on my 14" MBP XDR screen (doom scrolling and watching videos) but for my day to day design and productivity work I do not notice any difference.

LG seems to be very behind in adding mini-LED to their display panels and seem to be only focusing on it next year but we are unlikely to see a new 5K/6K version of Apple displays anytime soon. So Apple like any display manufacturer is also reliant on what their vendors can provide them.

While 60 Hz is fine as 5K is a demanding resolution for bandwidth, the lack of HDR is a huge minus on a display this expensive. Like I don't mind that my cheap 4K screen doesn't have it, but for a nearly 2000 euro display I think we should demand better.

We also should not accept that Apple makes decidedly anti-consumer features like not supporting both their own stand and a VESA mount in the same product version, or having to pay 400 euros extra for having something as simple as tilt and height adjustment. Or not having a standard removable power cable. Or not having more than one input.

Yes, I've looked at the display in store. It does look pretty. The screen also looks pretty, at least in static content. But there is no way to spin this as good value or that the 5K res and Apple design excuses the massively high price.