Apple Releases Sixth Studio Display 17 Firmware Beta

[MacRumors]

Apple today released a sixth Studio Display 17 firmware beta, with the update coming a few weeks after the release of the fifth beta.

All Studio Display models are able to receive over-the-air firmware updates, but this firmware update is limited to Macs that are running the new macOS Sonoma operating system at the current time. macOS Sonoma is also being beta tested.

Studio Display owners running macOS Sonoma can go to System Settings > Software Update to install the firmware.

Apple has not provided details on what's included in the firmware update and no new features were found by those running the betas. Release notes and full launch information will be available when the new Studio Display update comes out this fall alongside macOS Sonoma.

Article Link: Apple Releases Sixth Studio Display 17 Firmware Beta

 

[erikkfi]

What this monitor needs is a better webcam, and it's clear by now that no software update can provide that.

 

[rotvaldi]

ten grands display and no oled

 

[chrono1081]

Friendly reminder that monitor updates HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A THING. The end user just didn't know it because it took place in the factory vs the home. Monitor updates coming via update prompts in the OS have been around since I owned Apple monitors back in 2010 and other manufacturers offer firmware updates from their websites.

 

[chrono1081]

ten grands display and no oled

What? It's not ten grand at all and OLED isn't something you see on every display out there.

 

[Mr. Dee]

Maybe it is an iMac after all.

 

[nvmls]

Maybe it is an iMac after all.

Plot twist...

 

[Rychiar]

Maybe it is an iMac after all.

well the a13 inside can run photoshop on an iPhone 11 so why not lol

 

[gugy]

Does anybody knows if the XDR display requires firmware updates? I love dumb displays, no speakers/no webcam. My ACD 30" still a workhorse after 18 years of heavy use.

 

[zach-coleman]

Does anybody knows if the XDR display requires firmware updates? I love dumb displays, no speakers/no webcam. My ACD 30" still a workhorse after 18 years of heavy use.

The updates just adjust minor things with the camera, speakers, and display tuning. A release day ASD with no updates will work mostly fine with no updates. It's just the bugs they fixed that would crop up, which would have been impossible to rectify without firmware updates...

The Pro Display XDR also gets firmware updates. They appear to be "done" however.

 

[arfung]

Anyone have the build number on this Studio Display Firmware? Go to settings -> about -> system report -> graphics / displays (firmware version is shown in text in a panel there)

 

[gugy]

The updates just adjust minor things with the camera, speakers, and display tuning. A release day ASD with no updates will work mostly fine with no updates. It's just the bugs they fixed that would crop up, which would have been impossible to rectify without firmware updates...

The Pro Display XDR also gets firmware updates. They appear to be "done" however.

Thanks. Good to know the uptakes for the XDR are mostly for color calibration. My issue with the Studio Display is if the shelf life might be way shorter due to the camera/chip inside in comparison to a ACD/XDR.

 

[PhoenixAnhart]

Does anybody knows if the XDR display requires firmware updates? I love dumb displays, no speakers/no webcam. My ACD 30" still a workhorse after 18 years of heavy use.

Why? An Apple Cinema Display from 2005 can’t have a great resolution.

 

[zach-coleman]

Thanks. Good to know the uptakes for the XDR are mostly for color calibration. My issue with the Studio Display is if the shelf life might be way shorter due to the camera/chip inside in comparison to a ACD/XDR.

No reason it would be any more limited than a previous monitor with speakers and a camera. It doesn’t run any fancy software so the monitor isn’t exactly going to get bogged down.

 

[aibo]

Why? An Apple Cinema Display from 2005 can’t have a great resolution.

It cost him $3300. Outdated or not, he is going to try and get his money's worth from it!

 

[gugy]

It cost him $3300. Outdated or not, he is going to try and get his money's worth from it!

Actually it costed me $2.5k. I waited a couple of years after launch and Apple dropped the price. I wished the same happens with the current XDR at some point. Still solid despite the lower resolution. Great colors and no dead pixels.

 

[Phoneless]

I don't know if the Studio Display Firmware Beta (beta 5) was the culprit, but after I installed the Sonoma Public Beta (beta 4) on a backup partition on my Mac Studio I experienced weird audio problems when I re-booted into Ventura. If I launched an audio source such as Apple Music, when I started playing a song it could not be heard on my Studio Display speakers. The song could be heard only if I switched the audio output to the Mac Studio speaker. To actually get audio on the Studio Display I had to hit the Mute key twice. Also my alert sound could not be heard nor would the Studio Display respond to "Hey Siri".

I finally succeeded in solving the problem by unplugging the Studio Display completely for a few hours, including the power cable.

Now I'm wary of any firmware update to the Studio Display. I just updated Sonoma to the new Beta 5 and thought I had deselected the firmware but it installed anyway. Have my fingers crossed that my audio is not screwed again!

Update: After booting back into Ventura following the Sonoma beta update the audio is working and Siri responds when I give the "Hey Siri" command.

 

[nStyle]

I’m tempted by this display but realistically it makes no sense and I’ve had nothing but bad luck with expensive monitors.

My Thunderbolt display is dead within 10 years. My first and last iMac failed within two years due to a GPU failure. Not from Apple, but the LG 5K display I bought was bad out of the box with lines on the bottom half of the screen. Got an RMA and LG sent me the same un-repaired monitor back.

 

[zach-coleman]

I’m tempted by this display but realistically it makes no sense and I’ve had nothing but bad luck with expensive monitors.

My Thunderbolt display is dead within 10 years. My first and last iMac failed within two years due to a GPU failure. Not from Apple, but the LG 5K display I bought was bad out of the box with lines on the bottom half of the screen. Got an RMA and LG sent me the same un-repaired monitor back.

I've had mine for just over a year and I've had no problems with it. My favorite apple device of all time. Hopefully it lasts another 9.

 

[tstafford]

I've had mine for just over a year and I've had no problems with it. My favorite apple device of all time. Hopefully it lasts another 9.

My experience as well. I now have three. Great device. Works perfectly. Nothing to mess with.

 

[chrono1081]

Does anybody knows if the XDR display requires firmware updates? I love dumb displays, no speakers/no webcam. My ACD 30" still a workhorse after 18 years of heavy use.

There’s no such thing as monitor without firmware updates, they don’t exist. Even in the old days the firmware was updated on the assembly line and around the early 2000s monitors started getting firmware updates online. You can google any monitor model number + “firmware update” and you’ll see every monitor out there gets firmware updates.

Apple just shows them as part of the updates the system shows.

 

[Benjamin Nabulsi]

The amount of fixes and patches this product has received for functionalities no one asked for. They couldn’t just make a simple display..

 

[zach-coleman]

The amount of fixes and patches this product has received for functionalities no one asked for. They couldn’t just make a simple display..

 

[jz0309]

The amount of fixes and patches this product has received for functionalities no one asked for. They couldn’t just make a simple display..

how does yours work for you? are you happy with it?

 

[HiVolt]

Actually it costed me $2.5k. I waited a couple of years after launch and Apple dropped the price. I wished the same happens with the current XDR at some point. Still solid despite the lower resolution. Great colors and no dead pixels.

I've had an ACD 30" at work since 2005, and it has yellowed significantly over time. It's the nature of CCFL backlight. I've also had the same thing happen to Dell & Samsung 30" monitors of the same vintage, same 2560x1600 resolution, this is in a printing shop environment.

Even the Apple 27" LED display looks like night and day next to it, and that one is also quite old, it was released before the Thunderbolt display.

So I'm not sure how yours has survived with "great colors" of heavy use, or maybe you just haven't seen a more modern LED backlit display or god forbid an OLED next to it for comparison.