Apple Studio Display Reviews: 'A Confounding Miss'

[PatriotInvasion]

I have mentioned this many times to people here who dismiss it, but I may as well try once again. At 27" 4k resolution vs 5k is imperceptible at any distance further than 21". So unless you are sitting abnormally close to a display, the raw resolution makes no difference. Now, how the scaling to that resolution is handled may make a difference, but with proper scaling, they will be indistinguishable unless you sit very close or have exceptional vision. As far as working well with a Mac, that is the wonderful world of Apple lock in. Apple is the reason why Macs do not work well with monitors.

Also, I do not agree with the "just move on" sentiment. I do not think we should let Apple off the hook when they are overcharging for a 6 year old panel.

I may have really good vision then because I can tell the difference between 163ppi and 218ppi on a 27" display from where I sit at a desk. 218ppi looks nicer and is equivalent to what I'm used to when using my MacBook Air.

The third party monitor world also uses the same drab matte displays that remind of the mid-to-late 2000's and are mostly made of cheap creaky plastic. This is the exact display people have been asking for the past 6 years and Apple finally delivered it.

 

[rgwebb]

I mean come on. This is overpriced crap product.

It is literally the best 5K display on the market. lmfao.

 

[ct2k7]

I’m glad to see that Apple’s communication on this is clear enough!

And, that’s actually the point I make. For those that are ACTUALLY buying it, it’s not a problem due to the fact that they… you know… are buying it.

I actually hope they notice that you can't remove the power lead as well - the communication on the product wasn't actually clear until I had a weird feeling and went back to the selection and looked at the picture.

 

[petvas]

I tried googling for an ars article and did not immediately come across anything. I will say that macOS is notorious for being terrible at non-integer scaling. Just peruse the accessories forum here to see people struggling to find an acceptable monitor. This is not an issue for Windows users.

Well, have a look at this:

and here: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/07/os-x-10-8/
and: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...onally-identical-to-windows-high-dpi.1811094/

 

[deevey]

I have mentioned this many times to people here who dismiss it, but I may as well try once again. At 27" 4k resolution vs 5k is imperceptible at any distance further than 21". So unless you are sitting abnormally close to a display, the raw resolution makes no difference. Now, how the scaling to that resolution is handled may make a difference, but with proper scaling, they will be indistinguishable unless you sit very close or have exceptional vision. As far as working well with a Mac, that is the wonderful world of Apple lock in. Apple is the reason why Macs do not work well with monitors.

Also, I do not agree with the "just move on" sentiment. I do not think we should let Apple off the hook when they are overcharging for a 6 year old panel.

Synthetic leather can be indistinguishable from real leather unless you are sitting real close to it or have an exceptional sense of smell. Leather is still the more expensive option.

Apple are charging slightly more than the manufacturer of these panels sells their complete display for. It would appear that LG are the real villains here if they are pricing these "old" panels that high.

 

[ric22]

See $20 handkerchiefs, $700 wheels and $1000 monitor stands. The answer should be in there. ?

However, to paraphrase a classic around here: "But who makes the most profitable 27" monitor?" ?

Eh? Is your opinion that this is just another mediocre overpriced product for stupid/rich people?

 

[petvas]

Here is the Ars Technica Review: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/202...e-monitor-where-5k-doesnt-describe-the-price/

 

[citysnaps]

Depends on the colour space you're looking for. P3 ? Adobe RGB ? Etc. The Adobe RGB coverage of the Studio Display seems rather run of the mill according to DPreview's results, so for printing applications it's not the most optimal choice.

Quality control / uniformity will be better on the Eizo for example, if Apple hasn't been able to improve on the iMacs or LGs (and they probably haven't, cf. ArsTechnica's review, one of these two samples would have gone straight back to Apple in less than five minutes if I had received it). If so you might be better off buying three samples of the cheaper 27" Dell above, keep the better one and return the others, and spend the difference on better calibration tools and / or practices.



Nope and that is a compromise I'm personally ready to make to derive other benefits out of it, but I can totally understand that 5K is a pretty significant advantage for some applications.

The Studio Display offers 100% of the DCI-P3 color space (and P3-D50).

Regarding QC... Conjecture is fun/nice, but it's better to wait for a good sample of real experiences. Also...four TB ports, with one supplying 96 watts for charging is nice. As is the speaker system.

In the end... for my needs, and other photographer/content producers who want 5K resolution, and good color coverage, it seems there are no displays that are competitive with the Studio Display and its price.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Well, have a look at this:

and here: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/07/os-x-10-8/
and: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...onally-identical-to-windows-high-dpi.1811094/

I usually don’t follow video links, but I’m glad I trusted you. It was clear, informative and not over the top.

 

[VoipRodrigo]

Now would be a good time for Dell to take the 5K market out of Apple and LG hands, at least for regular office users. They had one 27 5k once. Wish they would come back with a new one for office/development users. Not everyone is that concerned with 600nits and color space, but the fact is, nothing beats HiDPI for comfort in text based apps.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Now would be a good time for Dell to take the 5K market out of Apple and LG hands, at least for regular office users. They had one 27 5k once. Wish they would come back with a new one for office/development users. Not everyone is that concerned with 600nits and color space, but the fact is, nothing beats HiDPI for comfort in text based apps.

This one?

Dell UltraSharp UP2715K Review

The Dell UltraSharp UP2715K is an expensive 27-inch monitor that delivers a beautiful 5K picture along with a robust feature set.

www.pcmag.com

$2499!

I doubt Dell even wants the market. They’re doing good selling 4k monitors for an Apple price.

 

[rgwebb]

Now would be a good time for Dell to take the 5K market out of Apple and LG hands, at least for regular office users. They had one 27 5k once. Wish they would come back with a new one for office/development users. Not everyone is that concerned with 600nits and color space, but the fact is, nothing beats HiDPI for comfort in text based apps.

They made it before DP1.4 so it required two DP ports to work. I don’t understand why they declined to return to that panel once USB-C became viable for transporting 5K. On Macs, 4K and 8K leads to some odd problems with what I think is an ideal scaling for text. 4K is really perfect in that regard when scaled to 1080p but I don’t like working on 1080p especially on larger screens. 8K is pixel doubled at scaled 4K but macOS UI looks goofy at that resolution.

 

[827538]

If you see value in it thats fine. I am more talking about things like the Studio Display with its issues or Apple not including a keyboard and mouse with the Mac Studio, charging extra money for a color option, $150 for a Thunderbolt cable, $999 for a stand, $700 wheels.. etc

Yeh, some of that is ridiculous. Given the LG C2 42" exists I could never justify the Mac display.

 

[photoj2754]

Another nice review.

Apple Mac Studio review: finally

This is the Mac we’ve all been waiting for.

www.theverge.com

 

[FUTDomi]

I have mentioned this many times to people here who dismiss it, but I may as well try once again. At 27" 4k resolution vs 5k is imperceptible at any distance further than 21". So unless you are sitting abnormally close to a display, the raw resolution makes no difference. Now, how the scaling to that resolution is handled may make a difference, but with proper scaling, they will be indistinguishable unless you sit very close or have exceptional vision. As far as working well with a Mac, that is the wonderful world of Apple lock in. Apple is the reason why Macs do not work well with monitors.

Also, I do not agree with the "just move on" sentiment. I do not think we should let Apple off the hook when they are overcharging for a 6 year old panel.

A million times this. 4k at 27inch is incredibly sharp, and 5k won't make much of a difference unless if you sit really, really close as you said. And people shouldn't be asking for absurd 5k displays "because MacOS has terrible scaling", they should demand Apple to do proper scaling like Windows does, without quality loss. Not to mention that having to run such huge resolutions also limits them from running higher refresh rate due to bandwidth limitations.

 

[VoipRodrigo]

A million times this. 4k at 27inch is incredibly sharp, and 5k won't make much of a difference unless if you sit really, really close as you said. And people shouldn't be asking for absurd 5k displays "because MacOS has terrible scaling", they should demand Apple to do proper scaling like Windows does, without quality loss. Not to mention that having to run such huge resolutions also limits them from running higher refresh rate due to bandwidth limitations.

Like many, you seem to miss the point that 5k is ideal for retina 2x scaling on 27”. No one wants to do 2x 1080p on 27”.

 

[FUTDomi]

Like many, you seem to miss the point that 5k is ideal for retina 2x scaling on 27”. No one wants to do 2x 1080p on 27”.

No, I haven't missed the point. Read again.

 

[VoipRodrigo]

This one?

Dell UltraSharp UP2715K Review

The Dell UltraSharp UP2715K is an expensive 27-inch monitor that delivers a beautiful 5K picture along with a robust feature set.

www.pcmag.com

$2499!

I doubt Dell even wants the market. They’re doing good selling 4k monitors for an Apple price.

Yeah that one. That’s was one steep MSRP for sure, but also years ago. But you’re right, probably not worth it for them, which is a shame.

 

[macmyworld]

who would want a decent camera? Not like we are in zoom meetings all the time…

 

[slowloris615]

I mean based on the specs this makes sense. I got a few people who downvoted me and stuff on reddit when I s aid id prefer a monitor from elsewhere for less. Id rather have High refresh rate, maybe an ultra wide etc. I use an ultra wide Alienware that goes up to 120 hz with my MacBook Pro on. stand, and its great having consistent HZ between them. That monitor was 900$ and I use a good Logitech web cam

 

[sppunk]

So I have a question. I’m legally blind and downscale my current 27” iMac to 2K so I can read text and InDesign menus. Can a 5k monitor scale down successfully - my wife can use the 5k for her profile and I scale down for mine.

 

[TH3D4RKKN1GH7]

I think the monitor market overall is kinda crazy. Monitor prices are absurd when you compare them to anything besides the reference monitors I used to use for work.

 

[SpinThis!]

Like many, you seem to miss the point that 5k is ideal for retina 2x scaling on 27”. No one wants to do 2x 1080p on 27”.

Exactly this.

A 4k display is 3840 x 2160. Run it in Retina and you have basically have the non-retina equivalent of a 1080p monitor.

Sure not everyone needs a Retina display.

FWIW I'm still rocking' a pair of 30" Cinema Displays on one of my setups. But that's hardly state of the art. I ran them in high dpi mode as a test the other day and it's nice having everything so crisp, however it's not worth the resolution hit. I can't imagine trying to scale a 4K 36" display properly.

And people shouldn't be asking for absurd 5k displays "because MacOS has terrible scaling", they should demand Apple to do proper scaling like Windows does, without quality loss.

By definition, scaling always results in some loss, there's no way around it.

You either need to remove pixels or add them, depending what you're trying to do.

As you can imagine, if a graphic designer is manipulating pixels in Photoshop, having a display that accurately represents what they're creating might be important to some people.

The actual device pixel is more important in creating graphics than if you play games.

 

[WP31]

What they’ve actually built is a monitor that should be about £600 but just doubled the price for the Apple logo.

are there 5k's for 600?

 

[Kierkegaarden]

Why were some of the reviewers expecting 120hz and MiniLED/OLED? This would have been a more expensive product. Did these same reviewers complain about the same panel on the iMac? I still have a 2009 iMac, old iPad, and old MacBooks that look good — my new MacBook, iPhone, etc. look better — but that doesn’t make the old devices look bad.

I think most people were surprised by the fact that Apple released a display at the event, because there weren’t wide rumors about this for the March event. And the price was lower than expected. So now some expect an XDR display for $1599? Ridiculous.