Apple Studio Display XDR Reviews: 'Great Improvement' Over Pro Display XDR, Some Shortcomings Compared to OLED

[-BigMac-]

I'd pay Pro Display XDR price if it was 32" and 6K. I assume there must be a technical constraint of driving 6K at 120Hz and I can already hear the belling aching of internet seeing 6k at 60Hz even though for a professional monitor that is meant for color accuracy 120Hz is not a priority. Or it could be PDXDR sales werent what Apple wanted.

6k 120hz has not been a limitation for years. More to do with cost

 

[Mrkevinfinnerty]

Apple is going to reimagine displays from the ground up later this year with the Macbook Pro Max OLED.

 

[-BigMac-]

they coulda at least nixed the bezels at that price. shoulda gone oled and redesigned in general for that price.

do it if its so easy

 

[-BigMac-]

Really wanted to upgrade to 120Hz and Nano, but ~$4000 (including taxes) is just insane. Shame they didn't make a non-mini LED/non-XDR version that went to 120Hz at a better price point.

The “I want all the bells and whistles, for a wallmart budget” post. Always one🤣

 

[Spike1999]

You mean the ‘reviews,’ from just YouTubers.

 

[Gloor]

You need to reread the statement. Studio display is the same panel as the previous model as they are BOTH 60Hz!

It literally cannot be the same panel. This is 120hz, that was 60hz.

 

[Gloor]

do it if its so easy

you mean like any other manufacturer? Bezels are not hard to remove. The reason they keep them this thick is to have visual balance as the part where camera is requires more space than 'noncam' one.

 

[tenthousandthings]

This needs to be compared to the upcoming LG 27GM950B, which offers similar specs (27" 5K HDR mini-LED with 165hz refresh rate) but without the Center Stage camera and Apple silicon chipset. I don't think LG's monitor will be quite as bright (it's listed as HDR10) but might be a suitable alternative. After all, Apple relied on LG's UltraFine monitors for years!

HDR10 is a video format -- it's not a measurement of brightness. LG has said it will be certified for DisplayHDR 1000. So not quite as high as the XDR, but not bad.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Huh? Going from 32-inch 6K to 27-inch 5K is not better.

Or you can watch the review and see why he said that.

 

[losthismarbles]

they coulda at least nixed the bezels at that price. shoulda gone oled and redesigned in general for that price.

I see a lot of that.. what is it with current consumers and 'trends'..? everybody's pushing the bezel-less like it's a 'must' somehow.. Do you grasp why it still has bezels? It's called physics.
- Heat makes monitors of this size expand and contract, that's why many "super" good monitors have that cracking sound when they suddenly warm up or shrink again. You'll be foregoing that.
- Vibrations are another thing, this monitor has a fan inside; vibrations are bad for sensitive electronics, lest said electronics are coupled, mechanically, elsewhere; enter said same metal casing. Other "super" monitors do not have that, extra cost to them.
- Warping due to weight is also an issue; you've probably never come across it, but for a monitor that will last you as long as this one will? It's a real issue, will happen 100% with plastics. You've just escaped that too. Your money not gone to waste, huh?

Regarding OLED, do you know what you're asking, or is this another 'trend' thing?
- this kind of money, i'd prefer if it lasted me decades. And it will. Would not have with OLED, barely a few years at these specs and that's at best.
- you go and compare an expensive retina with what 'goes' for OLED today. Go on, i'll wait. See if you reach any conclusions, regarding actual, perceived quality versus 'advertising'.

 

[gusping]

Are you basing this on soft assumptions or solid rumors? Genuinely curious because $3200 is more than I was hoping to pay for a true high nit HDR display. I would consider 3rd party options if they used the same panel.

The new crop of 6K displays don’t use the same panel and don’t get anywhere close to the nits of the 6K Pro Display XDR.

I'm talking about 5K monitors for this comparison. These models I suspect use the same panel and backlight as the Studio display: LG 27GM950B and MSI MPG 271KRAW16 ($899 MSRP, out in H2).

Separately, there are another five 5K monitors I can list that are 27in and 5K but have no mini LED backlight - Asus ROG Strix XG27JCG (£700 and out now), Acer Nitro XV270X P, Samsung Odyssey G80HF, MSI MAG 271KPD7 ($499 MSRP), and Samsung Odyssey G80HS.

 

[ThomasJL]

A “great improvement” over the Pro Display XDR? How is that possible when the screen is smaller by 5 inches (27-inch on the Studio Display XDR versus 32-inch on the Pro Display XDR)?

Furthermore, it’s not a “pro,” as in “professional,” display if it has speakers and a webcam. Professional displays are for professionals who buy higher-quality professional-level external speakers and a higher-quality professional-level webcam instead of the comparatively much lower quality and much smaller built-in speakers and webcam.

How is Tim Cook so clueless that he can’t understand all that? Didn’t he notice that no professional displays on the market have speakers and a webcam?

 

[DarwinOSX]

The fact that they have 2 displays and both extremely expensive for what they are and only one size tells me that we won't see any update again for at least 4 years. So I guess I'll have to get something else. Lets see how Samsung prices their 6k 32" that they announced recently

Samsung displays are generally garbage. But cheaper.

 

[DarwinOSX]

I'm currently using a 48" OLED TV for my monitor and never going back to anything close to a 27" mini-LED backlit monitor. What were they thinking with these price points?

Hilarious that you would compare at tv to this.

 

[steve217]

That iJustine thumbnail is just incredible 🤣 Hats off.

Made me think of the “freshly dead” head in Young Frankenstein.

 

[DarwinOSX]

Not buying until there is a discount. Too expensive for blooming.

Blooming was fine back in 2019 but oled is the king and apple wanting $3.3k is crazy for blooming to be mentioned in 2026.

read the reviews you are commenting on. there is no blooming. Apple got rid of that through some special software and processing sauce.

 

[Gloor]

Well, I wouldn't generalise. Its not long time ago when MBP had LG displays and Samsung ones and the samsung ones were way better than the LG.

Anyway, we shall see. Right now there isn't anything to see here as you can either get super outdated tech for $2kCAD or you get up to date tech for $4.5kCAD. Neither makes sense

Samsung displays are generally garbage. But cheaper.

 

[btrach144]

read the reviews you are commenting on. there is no blooming. Apple got rid of that through some special software and processing sauce.

Read the news story you are commenting on.

“YouTuber Marques Brownlee said the Studio Display XDR is ‘better in every single way’ than the Pro Display XDR because it's brighter with improved contrast and less blooming, plus it has an extra Thunderbolt port.”

Less blooming is still blooming. On a $3,300 monitor.

 

[writ_waggle.7t]

Hilarious that you would compare at tv to this.

Why?

4k/120Hz
HDR
P3 accurate
Infinite contrast / no blooming
Immersive size
Around $600 on sale

 

[writ_waggle.7t]

read the reviews you are commenting on. there is no blooming. Apple got rid of that through some special software and processing sauce.

Wow, now that's hilarious.

 

[kiranmk2]

+ For someone like me, not affluent, the lack of OLED/QD-OLED is a plus. This thing will last. Money put to use. OLED would not last me, i kinda, actually, use my monitors. They do burn, OLEDs, still. So for this kind of money, longevity is a major plus for me, not a minus. I suppose "reviewers" are excused for thinking it a downside, end of the day they got theirs for free, so who cares i gather ^^

It may surpeise you to learn that MiniLED displays don't neccessarily last longer than OLEDs. The RTings torture tests of a range of TVs found that whilst OLEDs may burn in slightly, MiniLED displays were the most likely to catestrophically fail as a lot of them had entire strips of the backlight LEDs fail, leaving large parts of the display completely dark.

Three year test shows OLED is significantly more reliable than LCD, with most lasting more than 10,000 hours — 20 TVs failed out of 102 tested

Price and reliability don't scale.

www.tomshardware.com

It literally cannot be the same panel. This is 120hz, that was 60hz.

This is how badly Apple have announced this launch - there are still people who don't realise that there are two different Studio Display models launching: The Studio Display that is still 60 Hz (and the same panel as before) and the Studio Display XDR which is 120 Hz, Mini LED (and twice the price)

 

[Lyot]

Tired of the misguided praise for OLED for computer monitors. They surely have some benefits and are great for playing games and watching movies. But they are (at least currently) not great for professional content creation. Perhaps most importantly, the amount of brightness an OLED can display depends on the contents of the image displayed and the display dims itself if a bright image is displayed for a long time. Current OLED computer displays can peak high but only sustain a couple hundred nits across the whole image. If you edit an image or movie and drag the brightness slider too far the whole display dims, so you risk ending up overexposing.

Also:
- The text clarity is worse on current OLED monitors due to the subpixel layout.
- The eye comfort is usually worse for productivity use, as most OLEDs have high frequency flickering.
- The power consumption is generally higher unless in dark mode.
- There is risk of burn in.
- The brightness will degrade over time much faster than LED backlights.

 

[jakey rolling]

Does anyone know what the deal is with the integrated power cable?

It looks pretty, and no other reason.

Apple knows their customers.

 

[macbookj0e]

Really wanted to upgrade to 120Hz and Nano, but ~$4000 (including taxes) is just insane. Shame they didn't make a non-mini LED/non-XDR version that went to 120Hz at a better price point.

Same. I was waiting to see what apples new monitors were about but the pricing is crazy. I mean I expect that from Apple but these seem especially bad.

Instead I’ve ended up with an LG 27” 120hz and yeah while it’s not 5k, it was about 10% the cost of a Studio Display!

 

[Pezimak]

Are you basing this on soft assumptions or solid rumors? Genuinely curious because $3200 is more than I was hoping to pay for a true high nit HDR display. I would consider 3rd party options if they used the same panel.

The new crop of 6K displays don’t use the same panel and don’t get anywhere close to the nits of the 6K Pro Display XDR.

LG are realising a MATTE screen one, and MSI may or may not release a glossy version with the same panel. they have not confirmed it yet. So one is maybe the other is matte. Both of them have half the brightness of the new Apple Studio Display XDR, in fact I don’t thin any monitors will match it’s brightness of 2000 nits?