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Apple Releases Studio Display Firmware 17 With Improvements to Built-In Camera

spercharged69 said:
Studio Display camera is le epic fail, doesn't matter how many firmware updates they release.
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The hypocrisy of you telling others not to complain while all you do is complain is wild.

So Apple made a display with a poor camera and tries to release new firmware to improve the camera. So your response is to complain further without even trying the update? Strange
 
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Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
To be fair it's pretty absurd a monitor needs firmware updates at all, especially since a lot of the firmware updates the Studio Display has had have been pretty scuffed. One of them even essentially bricked the monitor for many people


And this isn't even factoring in the other issues, namely the giant elephants in the room being the price tag and the non-removable power cord
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I posted links to firmware updates from 2011, so this isn’t a new phenomenon. Some people just aren’t accustomed to products receiving continued support.

if you can show me another 27” 5K monitor that doesn’t wobble when you type, we can start talking about price.
 
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StudioMacs said:
I posted links to firmware updates from 2011, so this isn’t a new phenomenon. Some people just aren’t accustomed to products receiving continued support.

if you can show me another 27” 5K monitor that doesn’t wobble when you type, we can start talking about price.
Click to expand...

What the hell are you doing with your monitors that are making them wobble when you type?
 
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After testing the camera in various Best Buy stores, I thought it wasn't as bad as people described.
So I just bought two refurbished Apple Studio Displays and mounted them on a dual VESA arm.
The setup is gorgeous looking, the speakers are awesome, the microphone is great, but...

I'm thinking of returning it. The camera is absolutely HORRIFIC under low light conditions. I can't even distinguish my face on it, while on the other hand, on my iPhone 14 Pro everything is perfect. But Continuity Camera is so unreliable, I've tested it extensively during 3 months now, and I'm not going this route again.

My Plan B option was to buy the new Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 - 57-inch, which is like a dual 32-inch 4K displays. The PPI Ratio and the matte display will most likely be a bummer though, but at least it's a better PPI Ratio than the 49-inch ultrawides. Not making this display glossy is a crime though. I'm used to Apple's glossy displays and... it's hard to go back.
 
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PsykX said:
After testing the camera in various Best Buy stores, I thought it wasn't as bad as people described.
So I just bought two refurbished Apple Studio Displays and mounted them on a dual VESA arm.
The setup is gorgeous looking, but...

I'm thinking of returning it. The camera is absolutely HORRIFIC under low light conditions. I can't even distinguish my face on it, while on the other hand, on my iPhone 14 Pro everything is perfect. But Continuity Camera is so unreliable, I've tested it extensively during 3 months now, and I'm not going this route again.

My Plan B option was to buy the new Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 - 57-inch, which is like a dual 32-inch 4K displays. The PPI Ratio and the matte display will most likely be a bummer though, but at least it's a better PPI Ratio than the 49-inch ultrawides.
Click to expand...

Ever thought of going ultrawide? My office monitor is a Samsung ultrawide and good lord it's made life so much better having so much screen real estate.
 
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Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Ever thought of going ultrawide? My office monitor is a Samsung ultrawide and good lord it's made life so much better having so much screen real estate.
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Haha yes, I've been dreaming about it since like the last year, but the PPI Ratio was actually really bad when comparing it to a "Retina"-like Apple Display (iMac or Studio Display). They made it a little bit better in the latest Neo G9 though, which just got released this month, but they also made the screen bigger so it's not as good as it could be. But yes, I would probably love an ultrawide display.

Quick question : Do you use it for gaming or productivity ? I will be using it for productivity tasks only. Would you still recommend it ? I have a Mac Mini - M2 Pro.
 
PsykX said:
Haha yes, I've been dreaming about it since like the last year, but the PPI Ratio was actually really bad when comparing it to a "Retina"-like Apple Display (iMac or Studio Display). They made it a little bit better in the latest Neo G9 though, which just got released this month, but they also made the screen bigger so it's not as good as it could be. But yes, I would probably love an ultrawide display.

Quick question : Do you use it for gaming or productivity ? I will be using it for productivity tasks only. Would you still recommend it ? I have a Mac Mini - M2 Pro.
Click to expand...

Productivity. Ultrawide resolutions are more taxing on game performance especially on my 3060 and a lot of the games on my library don't support ultrawide resolutions, so that would mean big black bars.

I use it for work as I'm a sysadmin for a data center. With the wider display I have a lot more web tabs open without any of them shrinking while also having Splunk open as the ultrawide resolution gives more space for metrics

I should note ultrawide is especially useful for video editing as the ultrawide resolution means more of the timeline is shown.

PPi is still great on ultrawide. While it's not HiDPi (AKA Retina) it's still sharp and you got more space on the screen for more windows or your work, especially if you're the kind of person who likes to snap windows.
 
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PsykX said:
After testing the camera in various Best Buy stores, I thought it wasn't as bad as people described.
So I just bought two refurbished Apple Studio Displays and mounted them on a dual VESA arm.
The setup is gorgeous looking, the speakers are awesome, the microphone is great, but...

I'm thinking of returning it. The camera is absolutely HORRIFIC under low light conditions. I can't even distinguish my face on it, while on the other hand, on my iPhone 14 Pro everything is perfect. But Continuity Camera is so unreliable, I've tested it extensively during 3 months now, and I'm not going this route again.

My Plan B option was to buy the new Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 - 57-inch, which is like a dual 32-inch 4K displays. The PPI Ratio and the matte display will most likely be a bummer though, but at least it's a better PPI Ratio than the 49-inch ultrawides. Not making this display glossy is a crime though. I'm used to Apple's glossy displays and... it's hard to go back.
Click to expand...

Maybe buy any monitor that hits the quality target you like and use Continuity Camera from an iDevice for your monitor camera needs? That can get you ever "latest & greatest" camera benefit that then upgrades as you replace iDevices every couple of years (or annually if you are that type).

Else, buy a dedicated webcam for this purpose so you do not have to let this one feature drive your monitor decisions... AND you have an easy way to evolve the camera should something better come along, without tossing the whole monitor.
 
PsykX said:
Haha yes, I've been dreaming about it since like the last year, but the PPI Ratio was actually really bad when comparing it to a "Retina"-like Apple Display (iMac or Studio Display). They made it a little bit better in the latest Neo G9 though, which just got released this month, but they also made the screen bigger so it's not as good as it could be. But yes, I would probably love an ultrawide display.

Quick question : Do you use it for gaming or productivity ? I will be using it for productivity tasks only. Would you still recommend it ? I have a Mac Mini - M2 Pro.
Click to expand...

I went with the 5K2K Dell 40" Ultrawide to keep the 5K while compromising only a bit of vertical resolution. It looks as sharp & clear as my former iMac 27" screen: same height of screen but much wider. I consider it a way to have my ultra-wide itch scratched at almost retina resolution... and thus, no tangible sense of compromise. As spaceboi implies, productivity with all that added horizontal screen space is so much better than the old iMac 27" almost-square screen. I could never go back to the approx. square screens of ASD, PRO or iMac now.
 
MasterHowl said:
Love my Studio Display. I'm a freelance writer and speaker, and working in Ulysses/Keynote/etc. is a total joy. Looks lovely on my desk, too, which ultimately makes my workspace nicer to be in.

(PS: For those saying how bad the camera is – I don't want a super-resolution camera for my FaceTime/Zoom/etc., thanks. I don't want people seeing every detail of my face!)
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I agree! It brings me joy to work at it and I too don’t want 4k pictures of me on calls.

I’ve even stopped complaining about the 60Hz refresh rate.
 
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PsykX said:
After testing the camera in various Best Buy stores, I thought it wasn't as bad as people described.
So I just bought two refurbished Apple Studio Displays and mounted them on a dual VESA arm.
The setup is gorgeous looking, the speakers are awesome, the microphone is great, but...

I'm thinking of returning it. The camera is absolutely HORRIFIC under low light conditions. I can't even distinguish my face on it, while on the other hand, on my iPhone 14 Pro everything is perfect. But Continuity Camera is so unreliable, I've tested it extensively during 3 months now, and I'm not going this route again.

My Plan B option was to buy the new Samsung Odyssey Neo G9 - 57-inch, which is like a dual 32-inch 4K displays. The PPI Ratio and the matte display will most likely be a bummer though, but at least it's a better PPI Ratio than the 49-inch ultrawides. Not making this display glossy is a crime though. I'm used to Apple's glossy displays and... it's hard to go back.
Click to expand...
I switch my light on when the lighting levels are low. Cheap hack.
 
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spercharged69 said:
Studio Display camera is le epic fail, doesn't matter how many firmware updates they release.
Click to expand...
Compared to a chunky external camera, sure.

Compared to anything built into a display though? Even the new Samsung's camera on their ASD knockoff isn't anything to write home about and it's external.
rgwebb said:
No big deal. It does have an older A-series chip in it but even that is not the problem. The A13 is probably more chip than they need but they just have a bunch of them in the parts bin. The problem with the ASD is solely the camera being mediocre. I think it is a legitimate complaint that it only has a 1080p sensor rather than 4K considering the center stage feature.
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It's got a 12 megapixel sensor, much bigger than 4K. It crops to 1080p for center stage.
 
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HobeSoundDarryl said:
I went with the 5K2K Dell 40" Ultrawide to keep the 5K while compromising only a bit of vertical resolution. It looks as sharp & clear as my former iMac 27" screen: same height of screen but much wider. I consider it a way to have my ultra-wide itch scratched at almost retina resolution... and thus, no tangible sense of compromise. As spaceboi implies, productivity with all that added horizontal screen space is so much better than the old iMac 27" almost-square screen. I could never go back to the approx. square screens of ASD, PRO or iMac now.
Click to expand...

Beat me to the punch in suggesting Dell. Dell's ultrawides are so good. In Mac Address' words Dell's monitors are worthy of the coveted Apple logo sticker.

 
Spaceboi Scaphandre said:
Beat me to the punch in suggesting Dell. Dell's ultrawides are so good. In Mac Address' words Dell's monitors are worthy of the coveted Apple logo sticker.

Click to expand...

Along with the great screen, the built-in hub is loaded with many useful ports in 2023 vs. only 3 ports of a single type. Included in those are FOUR video inputs, meaning it is easy to use it for 4 sources of video.

In my case, I need full Windows, so I also purchased a dedicated PC vs. hoping Windows for ARM in virtualization could cover all client bases. It plugs right into input #2 and the monitor easily switches from Mac to Windows... or can even split screen to have Mac on one side and PC on the other. The hub will allow keyboard and mouse to be shared vs. having separates for each platform.

If I wanted, I could plug an AppleTV into input #3 and turn it into an AppleTV monitor too... or plug a game console in... or ANOTHER computer, etc.

Too many of us get locked in on the only possible choice is 2 monitors branded by Apple but there are PLENTY of options out there. People looking for monitors should ignore brand bias and shop around to be sure they get the one that is best for them.
 
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spercharged69 said:
Studio Display camera is le epic fail, doesn't matter how many firmware updates they release.
Click to expand...

Um ok. I'm guessing you have never used one of these...

coffeemilktea said:
Born too late to explore the Earth, born too early to explore the stars, born just in time to get software updates for a monitor... what a time to be alive. :cool:
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I don't understand why the notion of firmware updates to monitors evokes so many comments. My 10-year old Dell Ultrasharp has firmware. And it's a pain in the ass to update it. I have to download it to a USB key that is formatted just the right way, then dig through endless unintuitive menus and then pray it doesn't get bricked in the process.

Jhonjhon236 said:
Honestly curious what will happen whenever Apple stops updating the software. My 12 year old Thunderbolt Display is going strong but will these? Apple isn’t going to update the A13 forever.
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My guess is that it won't suddenly stop working but it may become incompatible with future hardware. I don't think we need to worry about that for a while though.
 
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StudioMacs said:
How many 27" 5K displays have you used while typing?
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You do know there's a lot more 5K monitors besides the StudiNo Display and the LG Ultrafine right? No one complained about those alternatives wobbling.

And even then, I gotta know how you're typing that your entire monitor is wobbling. My monitor doesn't wobble and I gamer rage a lot.
 
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