Apple Updates Studio Display With Thunderbolt 5 and More

[dropadrop]

I'm not aware of any audio professional, or anyone else for that matter, who claims to be able to measure bass as a percentage.

I guess most of them don’t work on statistics for a living though?

I mean there is probably no clear standard on that, but if the old monitor goes down to 70hz and the new one goes to 60hz and you consider the limit of hearing to be around 20hz then the old one would have left out 50hz while the new one would leave out 40, a difference of 10hz.

Counting that into a percentage would be simple, though it would still be pure marketing. Generally those are specified based on the sound level dropping by some amount of decibels and again there is no standard for that (better speakers use a smaller drop).

At the end of the day, I guess what they are saying is just that it goes a bit deeper.

 

[theluggage]

I'm not aware of any audio professional, or anyone else for that matter, who claims to be able to measure bass as a percentage.

...but this one goes up to 11. That's 1 better!

 

[spritle]

Me: Hey Tim Apple, what did you do with all that money?

Tim Apple: What money?

Me: The money the company gave you for monitor upgrade lessons.

 

[Big_D]

I agree, I have a 2015 5K iMac. The only reason I’ll get a new computer is because the softwares I use doesn’t get updates anymore. Otherwise it works like the 1st day and hardly few windows based machines would be this stable and last long

My 2015 HP Spectra X360 is still as good as day 1 (well, the battery life is down to around 5 hours, from 8 when new). It still works fine and I even put Windows 11 on it and it is working fine - I sold it on to a colleague at work a couple of months back.

When I moved house in 2024, I did get rid of some old computers, such as my 2009 Sony Vaio, which was still running fine, although the battery only held about an hour's charge, down from 2 when new. I did upgrade it to an SSD in 2016, which gave it a new lease of life.

At work, we are currently replacing 8-10 year old PCs, because they can't run Windows 11 - they are still running fine, just no more security updates, so they need to be replaced.

Heck, we still have a couple of old Windows XP PCs in our labs (which aren't connected to any network), because the lab equipment they are connected to won't work with newer versions of Windows. We finally replaced one of the PCs last year, when the lab got new equipment. The 2005 PC was still running fine.

 

[Big_D]

I don't know if I'm allowed to share links but the Benq MA270S just dropped and it looks like it solves a handful of problems at a lower cost than the studio displays.

If I didn't have a studio display already I'd think about it, but given what I've seen from other mac friendly alternatives, I'd wait for some solid reviews first.

MA270S｜27" 5K Nano Gloss Monitor with Thunderbolt 4 for Mac Creators

BenQ MA270S shows Mac Colorsand brings your creative vision with 5K clarity, a vivid Nano Gloss panel, and a seamless Thunderbolt 4 connection, expanding how you create, connect, and see the world.

www.benq.com

I went with the 5K version, with Thunderbolt 4 hub, but that was twice as much as the 4K version.

 

[macpro2000]

"High fidelity" is unfortunately an entirely meaningless term. Are they talking about the frequency response curve? There's no way to know.

They publish the colour space coverage of the display. So why not the frequency response?

Also, "ever created for Mac" isn't the same as "anything we've ever created."

And even so, something needs to be shown here and not just asserted. One system that comes to mind…

View attachment 2610825

That's hilarious as I still use that with my Studio/XDR/ASDx3 setup. Still works great and way better than anything that comes out of the ASDs.

 

[AbeLincoln1984]

I went with the 5K version, with Thunderbolt 4 hub, but that was twice as much as the 4K version.

I saw it on amaz0n for $999. Hope that sounds about right.

 

[Big_D]

I saw it on amaz0n for $999. Hope that sounds about right.

Yes, that's the one. It has only been a few days, but I am really happy with it. Downsizing from a 44" LG 4K HDR screen, the BenQ feels like a toy screen, but the quality of the display is really good (factory calibrated, with report, P3 display). The speakers aren't as good as the LG, but they have a fraction of the space to use, so hardly surprising.

The stand is all metal and height adjustable. There is a remote control for changing the settings, which is a big round puck with a twist-knob on top. I already had a BenQ Halo 2 light bar and, to be honest, the remote for the monitor looks OK on its own, but a bit cheap, compared to the Halo remote, which is glass and aluminium. Quickly switching between sRGB, P3 and M-Book on the 3 presets on the remote is a nice touch, though.

The only downsides are the thick borders on the panel (not the frame) and the plastic frame around the screen. The borders aren't that big, but compared to the 24" Dell monitors at work with their "infinity" panels, they work a littel big, but I quickly got used to them, certainly not much bigger than the borders on my MacBook Pro. I have put the TB4 dock away I was using and use the display on its own - I am having to use Wi-Fi instead of Ethernet, but that is the only thing missing in the set-up (we have some dell UW displays at work that are also docking stations and they have Ethernet, but it is rare to find on most monitors).

 

[bushman4]

XDR PRO has some good features however the price is high and probably only going to be used by editors and graphic creators
Unfortunately Apple got this model wrong

 

[Big_D]

XDR PRO has some good features however the price is high and probably only going to be used by editors and graphic creators
Unfortunately Apple got this model wrong

Yes, if the XDR Pro was priced at 500€-600€ more than the 5K HDR monitor with TB4 that I bought, I'd have stumped up the extra cash for it, but not an addition 2,500€ just to get 120Hz on top of the cheaper screen.!

 

[walkin]

That's hilarious as I still use that with my Studio/XDR/ASDx3 setup. Still works great and way better than anything that comes out of the ASDs.

That's hilarious, but my brother in Christ you can surely afford some Neumanns or Genelecs.

 

[macpro2000]

That's hilarious, but my brother in Christ you can surely afford some Neumanns or Genelecs.

Don't listen to music on them so they work great for YouTube, web stuff. You'll find it even more hilarious that with my $20k+ gig setup that I use a wired MX500 Logitech mouse from 2002. Love it so much I bought a lot of 30 off eBay. They'll last me til I'm gone.

 

[walkin]

Don't listen to music on them so they work great for YouTube, web stuff. You'll find it even more hilarious that with my $20k+ gig setup that I use a wired MX500 Logitech mouse from 2002. Love it so much I bought a lot of 30 off eBay. They'll last me til I'm gone.

That I can understand. Sort of.

The reason you don't listen to music on them is probably… well, never mind. Lol

DMs are open if you need any accurate colour or sound work done ;-)

 

[AbeLincoln1984]

Don't listen to music on them so they work great for YouTube, web stuff. You'll find it even more hilarious that with my $20k+ gig setup that I use a wired MX500 Logitech mouse from 2002. Love it so much I bought a lot of 30 off eBay. They'll last me til I'm gone.

I respect your mice but the mx master 4 has haptic feedback which people seem to love...

(The mx master 3 with its fancy scroll wheel was sexy to me but after going back and forth with the MX Vertical my wrist had the final say... Vertical mouses for me)

 

[zedsdead]

One of the real problems with this is that when they sell even more poorly than the original Studio Displays, Apple will take it as a reason to exist the display market again, rather than they aren't making the product people want.

I have two of the original Studio Displays, and while they are nice, the fact that after 3 years there is no meaningful upgrade at the the same price is nuts.

It also is time for these displays to have more ports, including HDMI, and act as a hub.