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Apple Studio Display 2: Here's What the Latest Rumors Say

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It has been nearly three years since Apple released the Studio Display. Below, we recap rumors about a potential next-generation model.

studio-display-purple-february.jpg

Apple released the Studio Display in March 2022 alongside the Mac Studio. The standalone display features a 27-inch LCD screen with 5K resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, up to 600 nits brightness, a built-in camera and speakers, one Thunderbolt 3 port, and three USB-C ports. In the U.S., the Studio Display continues to start at $1,599.

There have been on-again, off-again rumors about Apple planning a new 27-inch external display with mini-LED backlighting, which would allow for increased brightness and higher contrast ratio compared to the current Studio Display. In April 2023, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the display was slated for mass production in 2024 or early 2025. However, it is unclear if that remains Apple's plan.

In November 2024, an anonymous listener of the Relay FM tech podcast "Upgrade" claimed that Apple was developing 90Hz display technology that could be used for the next Studio Display. This higher refresh rate would make content like videos and text while scrolling look smoother to the eye, but 90Hz would stop short of the 120Hz refresh rate that iPhones and Macs with ProMotion support can achieve. It would nonetheless be an improvement.

It is not clear to us if the anonymous tipster has a proven track record with Apple rumors.

That's all we have currently for Studio Display rumors. Given that Apple's higher-end Pro Display XDR was released in 2019, and still has not received any hardware upgrades, it is quite possible that the Studio Display could also linger without upgrades for at least a few more years. Hopefully, though, Apple delivers something sooner.

Article Link: Apple Studio Display 2: Here's What the Latest Rumors Say
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2025/01/17/apple-studio-display-2-rumors/
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I've been wanting the Studio display for a while but after seeing that they only went down to like $1,300 at the most I decided to go for a different monitor. Ended up buying an ultrawide OLED with 165Hz refresh and paired with BetterDisplay.app it's been flawless– more than I wanted from the Studio display at half the cost.
 
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Capeto said:
I've been wanting the Studio display for a while but after seeing that they only went down to like $1,300 at the most I decided to go for a different monitor. Ended up buying an ultrawide OLED with 165Hz refresh and paired with BetterDisplay.app it's been flawless– more than I wanted from the Studio display at half the cost.
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What bonuses does it give? BetterDisplay
 
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I would fully expect the XDR to get upgraded before the Studio display does. While 90hz and improved brightness would be good, 3 years on a display is short for Apple IMO. Plus Thunderbolt 5 just started showing up on devices, but you never know. They could refresh it along with an updated Apple Studio
 
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krspkbl said:
no doubt it will be over priced rubbish.

for what apple charges it should be 8K 240Hz OLED, 5K 360Hz OLED, or 4K 480Hz OLED.

I have a 360Hz OLED and i'll never use an LCD/MiniLED <240Hz monitor again.
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you somehow failed to mention its a 1440p display at best, which is not acceptable for anyone who ever used 5k for any serious work
resolution or refresh rate - pick one
 
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8K seems obvious hop from 5K and would lead to commoditized costs of a common resolution panel (just like 4K panels are so much less expensive than 5K now) but why do I think Apple will "need" some "oddball" resolution on the next tier too like 9.5K or 10.257K or something like that?.. panels that hardly anyone else will make which then makes pricing them at substantially higher than 8K monitors seem to make sense (like 5K ASD vs. 4K monitors now).

One can do the retina math to apparently target any resolution. For example an iMac has a 4.5K retina monitor at 24". So there is apparently a size for ideal "retina" at what will be commoditized 6K and 8K levels. Wouldn't it be nice (for us consumers) if Apple would build that monitor and thus have some real competition from many others who will also be offering 6K and 8K monitors?

Apple being Apple though, I'm right back to imagining 9.5K or similar... some "oddball" res with no competition priced way higher than mainstream offerings... exactly as things are now. 💰💰💰

I will offer this though: I've been an Apple guy for about 24 years now. In my embrace of Silicon, I considered ASD since it was a mirror of the iMac 27" it replaced (but couldn't get over it being priced at what the base iMac 27" with the same screen used to cost- I'm surprised many more don't feel the burn of that cash grab too), so I chose a 40" 5K2K ultra-wide instead. I could never go back to squarish-shaped screens now. It's about the same height as the old iMac/ASD screen but much wider. All that horizontal extra is just way too useful for the work I do. It costing about the same as ASD and coming with a loaded hub with many "the future" and "the present" ports (including more than one video input) built into it was just a lot of icing on the cake. Technically, it is not perfect "retina" but to my 20:20s, detail looks just as good as the old iMac, so I don't see any odd "blurry," etc so often slung to steer all to Apple's 2 monitor options.

In short: there is plenty of fish in the monitor sea. I hope Apple builds a great new ASD but we all don't have to see only monitors branded with an Apple logo as the only possible monitors for our Macs.
 
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andrewxgx said:
you somehow failed to mention its a 1440p display at best, which is not acceptable for anyone who ever used 5k for any serious work
resolution or refresh rate - pick one
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I really dislike such condescending comments...I spend all day everyday in Excel, among other things (patient charts, long pdf reports, etc.), and on 1080p monitors and sometimes 1440p. It's just fine. Yes, I have used 5k monitors.

Is that not "serious work"?
 
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green_diyos said:
Cheaper display or Apple supporting 4K displays from 3rd party brands would be better. I know someone will correct me on the 4K display support but they also know what I mean but just want to toy around with the vague statement because it's a boring Friday.
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Sorry IDK what you mean by "or Apple supporting 4K displays from 3rd party brands." I have been driving three 4K Viewsonic displays with MBPs for many years now and am unaware of limitations on driving 3rd party brands.

I do agree that cheaper is what Apple needs with the Studio line. Value of displays in general has been increasing rapidly and Apple needs to follow suit. I also think that they should have a 32" Studio Display in the mix at a civilized price.
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
I really dislike such comments...I spend all day everyday in Excel, among other things (patient charts, long pdf reports, etc.), and on 1080p monitors and sometimes 1440p. It's just fine. Yes, I have used 5k monitors.

Is that not "serious work"?
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I would think that the poster was not saying that working in Excel is not serious work. I believe that the point [which I agree with] is that most users doing serious work [which includes working in Excel all day long] on a 5K display will over time train their eyes/brain to where they thereafter find 5K to be very desirable.

One can of course simply read text (Excel, patient charts, long pdf reports, etc.) on any display, 1080p or less for that matter. But if one spends all day staring at one display a better display will be... better. IDK if the same eyes/brain training effect happens when one bounces among different displays all day long. Perhaps it does not.
 
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andrewxgx said:
i dont think apple would rush Thunderbolt 5 support in M4 Pro/Max unless they want to use it in next displays (TB5 means support for 120 Hz on 5k/6k displays)
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I couldn't agree more, it would be nice to have an Apple-native 120Hz/240Hz 5K/6K/8K display(s) for working with footage shot at 120 and 240fps frame rates! Fingers crossed, I just plunked down for an M4 Max MBP to handle 6K/8K RAW video and working at those frame rates, would sure be nice to have a full-resolution reference display from Apple that can keep up with those fps! :)
 
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WarmWinterHat said:
I really dislike such condescending comments...I spend all day everyday in Excel, among other things (patient charts, long pdf reports, etc.), and on 1080p monitors and sometimes 1440p. It's just fine. Yes, I have used 5k monitors.

Is that not "serious work"?
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Your comment is just as condescending as theirs.

Spreadsheets can be done on monochrome displays... of course it's just 'fine' to you.

I work with graphics all day. I don't need a 4K 480hz display. I need a large pixel-perfect display that's suited for macOS.
 
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mozumder said:
Would be hilarious if they went edge-to-edge for the new display, like the new LG 6K monitor, but had to have a notch for a camera.
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I think any true edge-to-edge display without a camera will be reserved for the Pro Display XDR (unless they can get under display camera to be good enough)

The Studio Display is more consumer focused at 27" and will have a bezel and cam.
 
SeenJeen said:
Your comment is just as condescending as theirs.

Spreadsheets can be done on monochrome displays... of course it's just 'fine' to you.

I work with graphics all day. I don't need a 4K 480hz display. I need a large pixel-perfect display that's suited for macOS.
Click to expand...

Then the issue is not "serious work", it's dependent on what one does. For you it's graphics, for me it's business/healthcare software. Both are serious work.
 
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