Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Could it be coil whine?

Maybe Apple is forced to diversify component supply from various sources due to the ongoing shortages?

Like I think for the Mac Studio, where there are like 2-3 completely different power supply makers?
 
  • Like
Reactions: jwdsail
I so much wanted this display to be a good one, I wanted to replace my thunderbolt display. But this SD is crap, I'll eventually buy it once the used price comes down to the level it deserves. The current price is way too high
So with you on this. I waited in anticipation and then when I finally went to look at it in-person I was very disappointed. I'm actually starting to seriously consider the XDR... It would be nice if they updated it though.
 
Is it just me or is this product one of the most crappiest products Apple ever created. Lol.
Yep, just you. My Studio Display is performing perfectly, no buzz and never had the speaker issue either. And as the article points out MacRumors has no idea how widespread the issue is. The problem is with social media and pile on nature of it. And don’t rule out the trolls who claim they have the issue when they don’t even own the product. Think that doesn’t happen? Think again. Just take a look at these forums packed with those who consistently trash the company and its products over and over and over again.

Now march on over to the Apple Discussion Forums and peruse the Displays section and the Mac Studio section where the Studio Display is discussed. See any talk about this issue? I don’t.
 
Linux users would love a 5K screen, as fractional scaling doesn't really exist there in a fully functional form ;)

...bro I've never met a single Linux user who said "damn, I wish I had a 5K monitor to run Arch on right now" especially since the majority of Linux users hate Apple's guts (for good reason)
 
  • Haha
Reactions: chikorita157
Congratulations. You just proved why there's virtually no 5K monitors outside of Apple. Outside of a fringe amount of Mac users, no one cares about 5K. 4K, 1440p, and 1080p is enough for people.

Now I know you're gonna go "but Mac scaling" but nothing. Most do not care. The little benefits 5K offers is not worth the price tag it comes with, and that's why the market for 5K doesn't exist.
This is a terrible take: MANY people are purchasing it solely because a decent looking 5k monitor has value to them. Your feelings about what's good enough for people doesn't negate that reality.

Insulting others' preferences because of Apple's seemingly over-engineered project is an incredibly odd way to criticize.
 
I'm also having a problem with Apple Studio Display, looks like when I'm doing video calls the sound is echoing and I have to mute myself. This never happened with my old iMac... Apple come on fix your ****!
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: lkrupp
...bro I've never met a single Linux user who said "damn, I wish I had a 5K monitor to run Arch on right now" especially since the majority of Linux users hate Apple's guts (for good reason)
That's probably because they all use low dpi screens as they know that everything else sucks.

I don't know how Linux managed to end up in this mess, where high dpi monitors are such a pain to deal with.
 
Not for everyone. I waited patiently for an update, 6 months with a defective display after spending $2000. Finally, the update came and the very next day my audio froze, and there I was again, pulling my desk away and going into the back to unplug the power cable just to reboot it....
Or you could get a WiFi/bluetooth controlled plug as a workaround.
There are GUI electrical test instruments that electricians use to test the quality of AC power in a business or residental building. The AC running through a building should be a smooth sine wave which denotes that the electrical supply coming into the building and flowing throughout the building is clean.

People having problems with buzzing need to get an electrician in to investigate how 'clean' the electrical supply is in their property. It could be a 'hardwire' issue (fixed ceiling lights, plug outlets, light switchs, electrical wire degrading) or an 'externalwire' issue (something that is portable that is plugged into a wall socket).

Internal wiring degrades over time, plug outlets degrade over time and if an ground/earth bonding point or wire has degraded it means electrical noise will be induced into the supply which can cause buzzing in devices or lights to flicker.

the thing to note is, from the posts and threads I have read on this buzzing issue, no one appears to have mentioned if the buzzing started from day one out of the box or if it is something that has occured over time because that is important in determing if it is a ASD issue of house electrical supply issue.
Precisely. I am a neurophysiologist and in my research we amplify millivolt signals by thousands of times. We get all sorts of noise, from illegally boosted CB radio to humidifiers. Often in diagnosing problems we have had to call out electricians to check out a given building's wiring. Two things have become obvious from my experiences of this: First, in both the US and UK a shockingly high proportion of outlets are not properly grounded via the third prong. It got so bad in one building in the US, our lab head had a 50-foot metal bar driven into the soil near the building to act as a proper ground. Second, at least in the UK, the idea the the AC current is a smooth sine wave is laughable. You should see the high frequency crap coming out of the outlets. So it is possible some of this issue is due to factors other than the monitor, and the variation among user's experiences depends on the quality of the wiring they have attached their system to.
 
It's probably "coil whine". Coils aka inductors are present on motherboards, power supplies, graphics cards in all computers.

Simply put the coil vibrates, when a current passes through it the wire inside vibrates, it's the same electromagnetic effect that makes audio speakers work.

The problem can have many causes including: cheap & nasty components, poor internal power filtering, dirty mains power, broken or cracked coil cores, dry solder joints, poor mechanical isolation of circuit boards and a zillion others. It can be very difficult to resolve without component replacement as swop out boards may have the same issue.
 
I see a lot of silly comments in this thread. Did someone link this on a Linus tech tips video? For some reason Apple’s monitors are like a magnet for people who hate Apple products or Apple in general.

I couldn’t agree more. And mostly from folks who don’t actually own the display!

I don’t know how widespread the electrical whine is, but I haven’t heard it. In fact, mine is the best monitor I have owned since my 27” Thunderbolt Display. So much so, that I’m genuinely thinking about adding a second one to my setup. Sure that makes for an expensive setup, but literally nothing else on the market can compete with the specific blend of features and Mac OS integration that this monitor offers.
 
Last edited:
I love mine and have not experienced any of these reported issues (knock on wood). (That said, I am still not super thrilled at the price I paid. :p)

I cannot dispute that these issues exist just because of my anecdotal experience. I will probably get flamed for this, but I can't help but think this is a result of a WFH engineered product. How many commuted to work to see/touch/test prototypes in the lab?
 
That's probably because they all use low dpi screens as they know that everything else sucks.

I don't know how Linux managed to end up in this mess, where high dpi monitors are such a pain to deal with.

Bro what

High DPi monitors are supported on Linux very well with native binary packages. KDE Plasma has had HiDPI scaling settings in the GUI and has had them since 2020

My guy do you even use Linux?
 
Congratulations. You just proved why there's virtually no 5K monitors outside of Apple. Outside of a fringe amount of Mac users, no one cares about 5K. 4K, 1440p, and 1080p is enough for people.

Now I know you're gonna go "but Mac scaling" but nothing. Most do not care. The little benefits 5K offers is not worth the price tag it comes with, and that's why the market for 5K doesn't exist.

You might not find benefit in it, but many do.
 
Thank the deity that Apple didn't go through with its original plan to make this the new Mx 27 inch iMac. I guess these kinds of things are to be expected when you replace iMac internals with an iPhone at the last minute, without proper QC.
All the more reason I keep saying this monitor is completely unreleasable and needs to be pulled from sale
 
I’d bet it’s related to the power supply. I and others experienced something similar with the PowerMac G5 back in the day.

Disappointing to hear this product plagued with more issues as I had every intention of buying two this week.
 
  • Sad
Reactions: chikorita157
It's probably "coil whine". Coils aka inductors are present on motherboards, power supplies, graphics cards in all computers.

Simply put the coil vibrates, when a current passes through it the wire inside vibrates, it's the same electromagnetic effect that makes audio speakers work.

The problem can have many causes including: cheap & nasty components, poor internal power filtering, dirty mains power, broken or cracked coil cores, dry solder joints, poor mechanical isolation of circuit boards and a zillion others. It can be very difficult to resolve without component replacement as swop out boards may have the same issue.

Capacitors can also do the same, albeit for different physical reasons.

For all the money Apple puts into cosmetics in their products, you'd think that they'd go the extra distance in the power supply designs to minimize these effects as well as providing reduced susceptibility to less than perfect AC mains power. But, noooo...

Also, for what it's worth, designs of Apple power supplies often are such that they add AC pollution to the AC mains themselves. That causes issues with other products plugged into the same circuits as the Apple products. Two sides of the same coin. They may pass the rather lax compliance agency requirements, but Apple product purchasers should expect more.

One of the best words that can be used to describe Apple is hubris.
 
My BenQ monitor does this sometimes. I can usually stop it by turning it off and back on again, but it is annoying. Though the BenQ only cost $400…

Disappointing that this buggy overpriced monitor is the replacement for the 27” iMac :(
 
So to recap

  • $1600-2000 price tag
  • Non-replacable power cord
  • 60hz
  • A12 chip in the monitor solely used for camera processing and Siri...things a Mac can do itself
  • A "1080p" webcam that looks WORSE than the the webcams of the other Macs
  • 4 USB-C ports only, with only one of them being Thunderbolt
  • Can't turn
  • Costs $400 just for height adjust
  • Cannot remove the built in stand. Have to order the VESA variant in advance
  • Firmware updates that break components of the monitor
And now high pitched buzzing.

Once again: This monitor is completely unreleasable and needs to be pulled from sale. I'm still baffled this thing was signed off on

I await the dislikes from the replies going "but 5K resolution! It's not overpriced and a great deal because it's 5K! I need 5K because scaling!" as more and more news about this joke of a monitor keep coming.

I just don’t understand how they release this display, which is a very mild update to the 5k Ultrafine from 2016, and have all of these problems.

If you really like 5k then buy the LG. It’s just the better product right now, cost by far and reliability.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.