5 years of no updates and 5 years of no official price drops
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Apple's Pro Display XDR is Nearly Five Years Old With No Update in Sight
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As others have noted, the Pro Display XDR was not meant for "consumers" nor "gamers". It is meant primarily for video editors working in 24/25/30fps video, so the 60fps refresh rate is more than sufficient for those needs.
Probably a better idea. OLED, 120Hz, HDR & Dolby Vision, 1150 nit brightness vs 600 nit. Much better value. The only downside is no camera. But I guess you could use an iPhone in place of it.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
The perpetual defenders would spin this as protecting “the investment.” 😉
Good points. I’ll add a better webcam, 4K and better low light capability. Also, you should strongly consider “time to wake“ and ability to control monitor functions from your keyboard in your buying decision. I have a 35 inch ultra fine 5KLG in my home office, but when I go to work at my clients office, I plug into a studio display. The LG is really inconsistent at how quickly it wakes up and is ready to go. It’s a huge pain. Also, you can’t control the brightness and volume from your row of function keys the way you can with an Apple monitor. To me, unless there was something about the Apple monitor that really didn’t work for your eyesight, or your projects, the ease of use, responsiveness, and controllability make even the years old Studio Display a slam dunk for me. Waiting for my LG monitor to wake from sleep is agonizing.
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I have wondered about this a lot lately. The XDR has never been discounted or on sale anywhere. Never been sold by Apple as refurbished (in 5 years!) I still use two 18 year old 30" Cinema Displays.
I don't like the new designs (screen ratio of a pencil). The 30" are great for using side by side. Pages of paper or scripts are tall not wide, more tall space is needed. I think they made the mistake of throwing in the kitchen sink and having to price accordingly without offering a lower cost alternative. They may consider their monitors as not as important in the larger scheme of things but us non-video editor content creators (3D, designers, animators, etc.) need these critically.
I don't like the new designs (screen ratio of a pencil). The 30" are great for using side by side. Pages of paper or scripts are tall not wide, more tall space is needed. I think they made the mistake of throwing in the kitchen sink and having to price accordingly without offering a lower cost alternative. They may consider their monitors as not as important in the larger scheme of things but us non-video editor content creators (3D, designers, animators, etc.) need these critically.
My cousin works for the engineering department. He says they are planning to refresh this alongside with the new Mac Pro by adding the leftover stock front camera of the iPhone 14 into the shell.
Displays were never updated that much. But someone just needs to give Apple some real competition IMHO. Good 5k displays are a rarity.
I would love to be able to wirelessly stream to the displays (like a built in Airplay/Screen Mirroring).
Also wireless peripheral charging would be cool.
Also wireless peripheral charging would be cool.
Apple monitors really don't get updated more than once a decade. Probably a 12 year cycle. Just not a product they prioritize....announce a nice, overpriced model and let it ride for a decade. 5 years is mid cycle at best.
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
- When it conks or
- When Apple rolls out a new one and spins its greatness. Curiously, the old monitor suddenly becomes “plastic, wobbly junk” overnight. It may not have been viewed as either for all the time it has been owned…but it is now.
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Both studio and XDR monitors are failure.
For studio display, it's just another display with iMac 5K which has been used for almost a decade! Re-housing the monitor is not a good idea.
For XDR, they completely failed with a false advertisement that XDR is equal or better than reference monitors. And yet, XDR was NEVER come close to it especially with less mini-LED.
They seriously need to update both monitors with decent specs cause they are the only professional monitors with glossy finish under $5000.
For studio display, it's just another display with iMac 5K which has been used for almost a decade! Re-housing the monitor is not a good idea.
For XDR, they completely failed with a false advertisement that XDR is equal or better than reference monitors. And yet, XDR was NEVER come close to it especially with less mini-LED.
They seriously need to update both monitors with decent specs cause they are the only professional monitors with glossy finish under $5000.
it's not the lack of updates that's the problem, but the lack of price drops that's the problem
I kinda wish Macrumors.com had buyers guide for Apple's monitors.
Wait.. apple has only released 3 displays in the last 13 years; or if you prefer, 2 displays in the last 12 years.
What does anyone expect?
I suspect Apple's next display will be about 32", but *only* cost $3200
Wait.. apple has only released 3 displays in the last 13 years; or if you prefer, 2 displays in the last 12 years.
What does anyone expect?
I suspect Apple's next display will be about 32", but *only* cost $3200
problem is, theres no way to connect that to a Mac
needs Thunderbolt 5 for 5k@120Hz (so theres chance for 120 Hz Studio Display if M4 has TB5)
not sure if it supports 6k@120Hz
HobeSoundDarryl
macrumors G5
…or maximized profit in every possible thing.💰💰💰
This thread is a good reminder of how clueless most people (even what one would assume are hardcore tech enthusiasts) are about anything and everything.
These displays (the XDRs specially) don't need updates because there's literally no one else in the market making anything that even comes close to them. They don't go on sale because even at a 50% discount it is still too expensive for most people, HOWEVER those that would buy them because they can afford them and can get the use out of them will buy them at full price, because like I said, no one else makes anything like this.
Heck the Thunderbolt Display is still far ahead most monitors on the market and that released 13 years ago.
The people asking for 120hz and OLED on top, while complaining about price in the same breath are even more clueless about display technology.
The same somewhat applies to the Studio Display, except the real reason for it never going on sale is that it doesn't need to because it has a killer feature that no other monitor on the market has: Retina appropriate pixel density. The way MacOS is set up, the only way to get the full experience as Apple intended it is by using the Studio Display as a monitor because of scaling hijinks that feel very much on purpose.
Really I'm currently using a M1 iMac and I want to switch to a Mac Mini, but the one thing that holds me back is that there's literally no monitors on the market like the one on this iMac except for the Studio Display which is very expensive for a consumer monitor with such few bells and whistles (basically none). This is in essence the same tactic they use with ProMotion. One could call that greed, but if you have a unique product that has no substitute, would you really put it on sale? Especially when the profit margin is probably big enough to more than make up for the lack of volume? I think not.
premium products demand premium prices and for ill or good, there's nothing like these monitors on the market right now.
These displays (the XDRs specially) don't need updates because there's literally no one else in the market making anything that even comes close to them. They don't go on sale because even at a 50% discount it is still too expensive for most people, HOWEVER those that would buy them because they can afford them and can get the use out of them will buy them at full price, because like I said, no one else makes anything like this.
Heck the Thunderbolt Display is still far ahead most monitors on the market and that released 13 years ago.
The people asking for 120hz and OLED on top, while complaining about price in the same breath are even more clueless about display technology.
The same somewhat applies to the Studio Display, except the real reason for it never going on sale is that it doesn't need to because it has a killer feature that no other monitor on the market has: Retina appropriate pixel density. The way MacOS is set up, the only way to get the full experience as Apple intended it is by using the Studio Display as a monitor because of scaling hijinks that feel very much on purpose.
Really I'm currently using a M1 iMac and I want to switch to a Mac Mini, but the one thing that holds me back is that there's literally no monitors on the market like the one on this iMac except for the Studio Display which is very expensive for a consumer monitor with such few bells and whistles (basically none). This is in essence the same tactic they use with ProMotion. One could call that greed, but if you have a unique product that has no substitute, would you really put it on sale? Especially when the profit margin is probably big enough to more than make up for the lack of volume? I think not.
premium products demand premium prices and for ill or good, there's nothing like these monitors on the market right now.
Im more than happy with my 2 studio displays. If they ever drop the price I’ll grab a third. And for me displays last the longest, so I expect another 5 years from them.