Apple is 'Ramping Up' Work on a New Studio Display

[Jumpthesnark]

And with your desires, are you sure it's an Apple display you want? Other than being glossy, what else can you not find in a competing 5K 27" 3rd party display?

Yes I'm sure. I shopped around, used a competing monitor and looked at the features and quality that others have. None were a good fit so I bought an ASD when it went on sale, and it's a great monitor. Case closed.

 

[thefrost]

If Apple puts a 120Hz display, that would be great. Mini-LED would be appreciated.

 

[1037]

Are there any good alternatives out there? Im tired of waiting for Apple.

 

[EugW]

Are there any good alternatives out there? Im tired of waiting for Apple.

Decently spec’d 6K 32” monitors are coming this year. However, there are several 5K 27” monitors available already.

 

[spritle]

Apple needs to downsize and require employees to work in the office. There is so much bloat and inefficiency in Apple.

Temu Stark alert!

 

[JippaLippa]

It would be easier to seriously entertain the notion to buying an ASD if one had a reasonable expectation of using it for the next 10-years. And for many people that may happen. At this point, it seems the display sector has been making pretty fast progress on a number of fronts - larger sizes (more people getting 32"), higher resolution (still a LOT of 4K, but new 5K options opening up, and the ASUS 6K 32"), higher refresh rates, OLED (and progress in reducing burn-in risk) and other advances.

In other words, even if the ASD works fine for the next 10-years, what are you odds you'll still be happy with it in 5 or 6-years, since expectations rise as current options do? Never mind how a next gen. built-in webcam might do, or Thunder Bolt 5, etc...

If you guys bought an ASD today, or any display north of a grand, how long do you think you'd stick with it, even if superior products came out?


As long as there's an iMac, I think they're going to want the 'everything Apple' system. The idea anything Apple needs 3rd party peripherals to work, and that these might not be a close aesthetic match, would not be Apple's way. Even if Logitech manufactured them, they'd be branded Apple. I'm aware printers are an exception.

I like Apple's wireless small keyboard; just wish it was made to quickly switch between operating 3 different products, like some competitors.


Out of curiosity, what are the downsides to OLED and Mini-LED for your industry? I've no idea, just wondering.

OLED I'm afraid of Burn-In, as I'd have multiple hours with the same interface on per day.
Mini-LED, the backlight doesn't update with enough speed, leaving me with halos with high-contrast image.
Eventually OLED will be the best solution for my job, but I'd like to wait for futher advancements in burn-in prevention.

 

[Citizen45]

If this ends up being 5K 120hz, does that mean only new MacBook Pro's with Thunderbolt 5 would be able to use it?

The new M4 Airs, or even the regular MacBook Pro M4, or M3 Pro, etc, all with Thunderbolt 4, would not be able to drive 5K 120hz?

I know there's HDMI 2.1 and DisplayPort 1.4 with DSC, but I'm not sure if Apple would support those.

Maybe Thunderbolt 4 USB-C using DSC?

 

[deevey]

Complaining publicly can actually help, especially with Apple

Butterfly keyboards come to mind

I believe that was a class action lawsuit pending rather than just publicly complaining at Apple.

Raising the question which current Macs can drive it.

From Apple's web site:

"M4
Simultaneously supports up to three displays:

• Up to three displays: Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI
• Up to two displays: One display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI

Thunderbolt 4 digital video output

• Support for native DisplayPort 1.4 output over USB-C"

But searching online found a couple of claims that all M4-based Mac Minis have HDMI 2.1.

If that assertion is correct, even a base M4 Mac Mini could potentially drive a 120-Hz 5K ASD, if it's released, but if your assertions of what connection types are required is accurate, it could only do so by HDMI, not Thunderbolt (4).

So at least the M4 Macs (that have HDMI) could drive this hypothetical new ASD. I wondered if they'd release 2024 line withholding TB 5 from the base M4 knowing this, but then again, maybe that added incentive to include it in the M4Pro and Max?

The M2 Mac Studio uses HDMI 2.0, but M3Pro and M3Max series Macs have HDMI 2.1.

My point is, the ASD is intended to be used with Macs, not other devices. Macs are already a niche market, a small segment of the total PC market. A 5K, 120-Hz display will effectively restrict the market for such an ASD to HDMI 2.1 Macs (M3Pro, M3Max, M4) or Thunderbolt 5 Macs (M4Pro and M4Max). For a possibly $1,600 (+ AppleCare+ and tax likely) that most users don't buy.

If this is all accurate, they need to release it alongside a new Mac Studio as a high end option. But how many of those users value 120-Hz refresh rates? I doubt they'll aim to game on it.

HDMI 2.1 = 48 Gbit/s bandwidth
5k 120hz = 57 Gbit/s

Thunderbolt 5 would be required.

 

[deevey]

OLED I'm afraid of Burn-In, as I'd have multiple hours with the same interface on per day.
Mini-LED, the backlight doesn't update with enough speed, leaving me with halos with high-contrast image.
Eventually OLED will be the best solution for my job, but I'd like to wait for futher advancements in burn-in prevention.

I've been running a Benq OLED for around 6 years as a secondary monitor for my chat/email/voice call software on it.

6+ hours a day it's basically got a static image. While it will temporarily retain ghost images for a while (20 mins or so) after being on a fixed screen for an extended period of time, there's been no permanent burn-in.

 

[JippaLippa]

I've been running a Benq OLED for around 6 years as a secondary monitor for my chat/email/voice call software on it.

6+ hours a day it's basically got a static image. While it will temporarily retain ghost images for a while (20 mins or so) after being on a fixed screen for an extended period of time, there's been no permanent burn-in.

That's good to hear.

At the very moment I cannot afford an other expensive OLED (I already have one for my gaming desk), but I'm sure in 2026 there'll be more advanced models that would take care of the potential burn-in even better.

Cheers!