Apple Studio Display - Owners Thread

[pedregosa]

I'm not an "owner," but I did look at the Studio Display at my local Apple store today so thought I would intrude on the thread. I thought the webcam wasn't as bad as I'd been expecting based on the reviews. Maybe I just don’t have the eye. Not saying it was stellar. But I was expecting worse after reading Verge, Gruber, etc. And the software update may make it better. Overall, really nice screen. But no way better than my 2020 iMac 27 -- and no one has suggested it should be. It's definitely small-looking coming from a 27 iMac. But not in a bad way. I did find Center Stage to be almost queazy/dizzy-making -- but maybe that was partly because of people walking behind me in the store. I don’t think it is a useful feature on a desktop. Couldn't figure out how to turn it off on the demo unit, but I'm sure you can.

All of that said, I kind of like the classic iMac 27 design. It is the Boeing 747 of desktop computers. Not the latest and greatest. No long being made, indeed. But still somehow majestic and visually commanding. Just as a 747 commands attention in an airport, so the iMac 27 will remain iconic for a while. Had thought of selling mine to get with M1 plus a Studio Display, but think I will keep it.

 

[dborod]

Look what happens when I rotate my VESA mounted Apple Studio Display!

 

[KPOM]

Look what happens when I rotate my VESA mounted Apple Studio Display!

More importantly, how did you snag a VESA mount? I saw both tilt and height-adjustable stands and even a few nano texture displays available for pickup but no VESA mounts.

 

[dborod]

More importantly, how did you snag a VESA mount? I saw both tilt and height-adjustable stands and even a few nano texture displays available for pickup but no VESA mounts.

I ordered it as soon as they became available.

 

[KPOM]

I ordered it as soon as they became available.

I ordered it about 10 minutes later and got quoted 4/7-4/14. Today I saw a standard display with the height adjustable mount in store and decided to buy one. I haven’t yet canceled my nano-texture display. I’ll reassess after a week.

I’m a little apprehensive about the nano-texture display. My home “office” is in the main room of my 1 bedroom condo. I cook a lot and grease/smoke from the kitchen gradually builds up. Maybe 1 or 2 times a year I thoroughly clean my monitor. OTOH I get a LOT of sunlight in the afternoon, which creates reflections.

 

[KPOM]

Look what happens when I rotate my VESA mounted Apple Studio Display!

What’s weird is that Dan Moren of Six Colors tried that with his review unit (a regular mount) and it did NOT respond when he picked it up and rotated it. So they may be adding something to the firmware of those models.

 

[KPOM]

• • What are your initial impressions (after you set it up)?
  • Are you replacing an existing display or adding a new display?
  • Are you satisfied with your selection of stand/mount? Would you get a different stand/mount if you had to do it over?
  • Are you using it with Windows? How well does it work?

My initial impressions:

• The panel itself is almost identical to the LG UltraFine 5K as far as brightness and image quality, at least on initial impression. I’ll be doing more side-by-side comparisons over the weekend.
• The LG works better with Windows but eventually I got the Apple Studio Display (ASD) to work with a TB4 cable (the included cable is TB3).
• Get an Intel-certified Thunderbolt 4 cable if you plan to use this with an older Windows PC with a TB or USB-C port with DisplayPort 1.2 support.
• The ASD looks a lot nicer on my desktop than the LG. The all-glass front and the aluminum finish scream Apple.
• The webcam isn’t spectacular but it isn’t bad. I’m confident that a future firmware update will fix the issues the reviewers noted.
• The height-adjustment mount is elegant, and rock-solid though I’d like the ability to rotate. I still have a VESA mount on order and may yet return today’s purchase. I’ll decide in a week.

 

[dborod]

What’s weird is that Dan Moren of Six Colors tried that with his review unit (a regular mount) and it did NOT respond when he picked it up and rotated it. So they may be adding something to the firmware of those models.

Interesting. I guess when iFixit does their teardown we'll see if there's an accelerometer in there.

 

[kreasu_]

Interesting. I guess when iFixit does their teardown we'll see if there's an accelerometer in there.

Huh the regular mount has the orientation sensor exposed in device manager in boot camp, I wonder if it'll just need another firmware update

 

[HelloMikee]

So far really happy with this display (coming from 27" LG 4K UHD Monitor - good monitor for the price but left a lot to be desired).

I also ended up selling my iMac because I was using my new MBP M1 Max exclusively that it didn't make sense to keep both. It was a little weird selling a 2017 iMac for much less than this display.

If I could have used that iMac just as a display that would have been nice haha - which I guess mimics a lot of what I’ve read about the need to upgrade the computer but not necessarily the display, which these Studio products seem to be geared for.

The display quality is great, sharp and bright with awesome color production straight out of box, something I’ve grown to love with Apple displays.

Obviously it could be better with mini leds and pro motion - but we know this doesn’t have it. I just hope in the future, that’s where this display is headed.

Sound quality is fantastic. I don’t see myself listening to music with these speakers but they’re actually perfect for YouTube content I watch as well as podcasts that get me through the work day.

The height of the standard stand is perfect. I’m glad I didn’t go for the adjustable stand.

As far as the webcam goes, I saw that twitter post where her images looked ATROCIOUS. Happy to report my front camera seems to be performing properly but I also have a pretty bright room. Hopefully the update makes it even better.

Anyway, happy to streamline my set up. It was a mind F, not wanting to use my iMac and it’s beautiful large screen because my MBP is so fast haha.

 

[Foxer]

I had been planning on buying the Studio Display and then I read all the negative reviews on Thursday, so I panicked and bought an LG Ultrafine 5k. Of course I swingy the Apple Store this morning and they had the adjustable height display and I picked it up. So I have both sitting here and I don't know which to open and which to return. I have no use for the speakers (as good as they may be) and I am on a couple video calls each week. If I was confident that they could fix the camera issue via update, I'd be content with the Studio Display. Any advice?

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

I had been planning on buying the Studio Display and then I read all the negative reviews on Thursday, so I panicked and bought an LG Ultrafine 5k. Of course I swingy the Apple Store this morning and they had the adjustable height display and I picked it up. So I have both sitting here and I don't know which to open and which to return. I have no use for the speakers (as good as they may be) and I am on a couple video calls each week. If I was confident that they could fix the camera issue via update, I'd be content with the Studio Display. Any advice?

For only $300 more, on products that are both $1000+, I'd rather go with the newer one that Apple can push software updates to for the next few years. Plus the Studio Display is the only monitor I've had (previously had 4k 27" LGs and Dells) that does not wobble at all when I'm typing with the stock stand. That's the biggest win in my books.

 

[Ron21]

I had been planning on buying the Studio Display and then I read all the negative reviews on Thursday, so I panicked and bought an LG Ultrafine 5k. Of course I swingy the Apple Store this morning and they had the adjustable height display and I picked it up. So I have both sitting here and I don't know which to open and which to return. I have no use for the speakers (as good as they may be) and I am on a couple video calls each week. If I was confident that they could fix the camera issue via update, I'd be content with the Studio Display. Any advice?

For me the build quality alone is worth it compared to the LG, I'd definitely stick with ASD.

 

[slainbabyyc]

I had been planning on buying the Studio Display and then I read all the negative reviews on Thursday, so I panicked and bought an LG Ultrafine 5k. Of course I swingy the Apple Store this morning and they had the adjustable height display and I picked it up. So I have both sitting here and I don't know which to open and which to return. I have no use for the speakers (as good as they may be) and I am on a couple video calls each week. If I was confident that they could fix the camera issue via update, I'd be content with the Studio Display. Any advice?

the nerfed sd camera is still better than the lg, and you get way better hardware support with apple.

this is from someone that just sold their ultrafine 5k in anticipation of the sd

 

[37celsius]

I wonder if this is the update that reduces camera image quality. So far it's looked fine on 15.3.

 

[marinersaptcomplex]

Odd I'm not getting any software updates? Is there a special place I need to look?

 

[southerndoc]

For me the build quality alone is worth it compared to the LG, I'd definitely stick with ASD.

My wife has had a lot of issues with her LG over the past 5+ years. Minor issues mind you, and they only occur sporadically, but they are enough to drive her crazy. Sometimes her MBP won't wake up properly when the LG is connected and she's using a Magic Keyboard/Trackpad, sometimes it locks up requiring her to open her MBP screen (which is a PITA because of how she stores it), etc.

She is really looking forward to an Apple-branded display again because of its seamless integration.

 

[southerndoc]

On another note, any recommendations for camera covers? I don't care for mine, but my wife prefers to have some way to physically cover up the camera.

 

[Ron21]

On another note, any recommendations for camera covers? I don't care for mine, but my wife prefers to have some way to physically cover up the camera.

You don't trust Apple???

I think any simple camera cover like this one will work:

CloudValley Webcam Cover Slide[2-Pack], 0.023 Inch Ultra-Thin Metal Web Camera Cover for Macbook Pro, iMac, Laptop, PC, iPad Pro, iPhone 8/7/6 Plus, Protect Your Visual Privacy [Black]

webcam camera hacking is widespread — how to protect yours digital life? The shocking truth is that just about anyone can hack into your computer and turn on the camera without you even knowing it. The only way to your privacy is to cover the camera when you are not using it. CloudValley W3 metal...

www.amazon.com

 

[VideoFreek]

On another note, any recommendations for camera covers? I don't care for mine, but my wife prefers to have some way to physically cover up the camera.

Post-it Note?? ?

 

[astrorider]

You can use control center on each display to adjust brightness. Or you can use Control + Brightness Key to change the brightness. Also you can have auto-brightness set for both of them.

Thanks for the tip! I found if I click on the screen i want to change and then use the brightness keys it works too, but your way is quicker when you want to adjust both the same amount. It'd be nice if there was a way to change the brightness of both monitors at the same time.

 

[avedis]

My initial impressions:

• The panel itself is almost identical to the LG UltraFine 5K as far as brightness and image quality, at least on initial impression. I’ll be doing more side-by-side comparisons over the weekend.
• The LG works better with Windows but eventually I got the Apple Studio Display (ASD) to work with a TB4 cable (the included cable is TB3).
• Get an Intel-certified Thunderbolt 4 cable if you plan to use this with an older Windows PC with a TB or USB-C port with DisplayPort 1.2 support.
• The ASD looks a lot nicer on my desktop than the LG. The all-glass front and the aluminum finish scream Apple.
• The webcam isn’t spectacular but it isn’t bad. I’m confident that a future firmware update will fix the issues the reviewers noted.
• The height-adjustment mount is elegant, and rock-solid though I’d like the ability to rotate. I still have a VESA mount on order and may yet return today’s purchase. I’ll decide in a week.

Can't wait for your comparison of it vs LG Ultrafine 5k especially on image quality, colour and speakers.

 

[chrisgeleven]

Love, love, love mine. Dreamed of having an Apple display for years but couldn't afford the Thunderbolt display when it came out or the XDR.

In addition to removing the need for my old Belkin Thunderbolt 3 dock and webcam (eh, it's good enough for Zoom today and I'm sure the upcoming update will make it better), I've decided to remove my desktop speakers and just rely on the monitor speakers. I rarely listen to music given I'm on Zoom all day and when I do listen to music, it's either more background noise or if I want to crank it (I have little kids), I have headphones. The Studio Display speakers likely solve my audio needs.

I've also put my MacBook Pro 14" on a stand and oriented it so the side with the 2 Thunderbolt ports and headphone jack is facing me. Now I have easy to reach Thunderbolt/USB-C ports on the front, and two remaining USB-C ports on the Studio Display (one is taken up by an ethernet adapter).

Suddenly the cable and device clutter on my desk is non-existent. So, so much better!

 

[chrisgeleven]

That said, the base of the Studio Display slides a lot on my desk. Any recommendations on something to keep it still?

 

[slainbabyyc]

That said, the base of the Studio Display slides a lot on my desk. Any recommendations on something to keep it still?

try nut-based epoxy