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Apple's Pro Display XDR is Nearly Five Years Old With No Update in Sight

Although it's been explained dozens of times, it seems many here *still* don't understand the market and who these two displays are targeted to. And apparently never will. They're not meant for the general public doing typical desktop computing.

Simply purchase a Samsung or LG display and find happiness. And save a lot of money.
 
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MacRumors said:


Apple sells two external displays, including the Pro Display XDR and the Studio Display, but neither has received hardware upgrades in years. In fact, the Pro Display XDR is nearly five years old, having been released all the way back in December 2019.

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Below, we recap rumors about potential next-generation Pro Display XDR and Studio Display monitors, but nothing seems to be imminent.

Pro Display XDR

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Released alongside the 2019 Mac Pro, the high-end Pro Display XDR features a 32-inch screen with LED backlighting, 6K resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, P3 wide color, up to 1,600 nits of brightness, one Thunderbolt 3 port, and three USB-C ports. In the U.S., the monitor still starts at $4,999, while the optional Pro Stand costs $999 extra.

In December 2022, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman said Apple was working on an updated version of the Pro Display XDR with an Apple silicon chip, something the current model lacks. In the Studio Display, an A13 Bionic chip powers features such as Center Stage camera framing, spatial audio, and Siri voice commands. However, there have not been any recent rumors about a new Pro Display XDR, so it's unclear what Apple's current plans are.

Additional features that customers are hoping for with the next Pro Display XDR include a built-in camera, speakers, and a higher refresh rate.

Studio Display

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Apple released the Studio Display in March 2022, alongside the first Mac Studio. The monitor features a 27-inch LCD screen with 5K resolution, a 60Hz refresh rate, P3 wide color, up to 600 nits brightness, a built-in camera and speakers, one Thunderbolt 3 port, and three USB-C ports. In the U.S., the Studio Display continues to start at $1,599, although the standard configuration is on sale on Amazon for $1,349 as of writing.

In his December 2022 report, Gurman said Apple was working on multiple new external monitors, but he did not specifically mention a new Studio Display. In July 2023, Gurman said Apple's next-generation monitors could launch in 2024 at the earliest, but there are only a few months left in the year and there have been no recent rumors.

There have been on-again, off-again rumors about Apple planning a new 27-inch external display with mini-LED backlighting, which would allow for increased brightness and higher contrast ratio. In April 2023, Apple supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said the display was slated for mass production in 2024 or early 2025. It is unclear if this monitor would be the next Studio Display, or if it would have different branding.

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Article Link: Apple's Pro Display XDR is Nearly Five Years Old With No Update in Sight
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“Wow”
-Owen Wilson.
 
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citysnaps said:
Although it's been explained dozens of times, it seems many here *still* don't understand the market and who these two displays are targeted to. And apparently never will. They're not meant for the general public doing typical desktop computing.

Simply purchase a Samsung or LG display and find happiness. And save a lot of money.
Click to expand...
Thank you! So many ‘ITS NOT TOP SPECS’ posts. For my purposes, drafting and photoshop, I have literally no need for 120hz, mini led, contrast that’s state of the art, etc. I want an apple display that works every time I wake my computer, that has good reflection rejection and good brightness. And I want 5k. By my estimate, that should cost about 1k to 1200. Add the ‘apple tax’ that I have accepted to pay my entire life, and 1600 is about right! It’s slim, it’s bright, it’s quality, and it works.
 
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Dell's 6k display (the snappily named U3224KBA) might not have a pretty case and an Apple logo but it has a camera built in, it has height adjustment as standard, it rotates to portrait and it costs less than half as much as the Pro Display. If you get a refurb like I did, you can pick one up for less than Apple's non-pro display.
 
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ZeroInspo said:
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.
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It is possible that calling lots of people on here clueless isn’t very constructive and many the things you have stated as facts are just subjective opinions?

Having different opinions is not “being clueless”.

Every review I saw about the XDR when it was released basically said that it was too expensive and the colour and backlight accuracy were insufficient to replace reference screens, so it was just a “good, but very expensive” monitor…. And that was when it was new.

The studio display is decade old technology, and a ridiculous price except for one thing:

Both are effectively “one trick ponies” by running at 220 DPI, but for any other criteria they are a horrible value proposition.

The people who are the true winners are those who are fine running
- 27” 4K, at 1440p Point Size, non-integer scaling,
- 27” 4K, at 1080p Point Size integer scaling,
- 27” 1440p screens

Those people are the lucky ones and they get to revel in their subjective opinions and much cheaper, better for them, screens.
 
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anthony13 said:
Thank you! So many ‘ITS NOT TOP SPECS’ posts. For my purposes, drafting and photoshop, I have literally no need for 120hz, mini led, contrast that’s state of the art, etc. I want an apple display that works every time I wake my computer, that has good reflection rejection and good brightness. And I want 5k. By my estimate, that should cost about 1k to 1200. Add the ‘apple tax’ that I have accepted to pay my entire life, and 1600 is about right! It’s slim, it’s bright, it’s quality, and it works.
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My feelings exactly. I work in Lightroom every day and have processed many thousands of photos. My ASD worked right out of the box without needing to use my calibrator in order to make spot-on prints, first time, every time.

If you're deep into photography (and that probably goes for video - though that's not my thing) and fussy about color and consistency, the ASD is a bargain. It's no doubt the same with the Pro Display XDR. Some people will never understand that.
 
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I suspect most of the complainers here don’t actually use professional monitors. Both the Apple displays outperform a lot of much more expensive ones by quite a bit.

If you think these are expensive then some of the HDR edit/ref displays are $20k+ and you can quite happily pay $2900 for an inferior 4k version of the ASD with a pretty looking hood stuck on it.

Dell’s top end 4k 27” panel doesn’t get anywhere near the ASD. I have one sitting next to it. And that replaced a Benq one which cost more than the ASD about 4 years ago.
 
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This is simple. Just add a 32" Studio display to the lineup and put in a better quality camera. OLED, MiniLED...who cares because people can't afford it. The regular LCD panel is plenty good for your average customer.
 
Pro Display XDR remains awesome. Super happy that it is delivering what I expected and could actually last the 10 years I planned it to. Even with that long lifetime it will remain expensive at over $1 / day. Then again, all my work is online and most of the time I am seeing world through the top-quality pixels on this display.
 
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citysnaps said:
Although it's been explained dozens of times, it seems many here *still* don't understand the market and who these two displays are targeted to. And apparently never will. They're not meant for the general public doing typical desktop computing.

Simply purchase a Samsung or LG display and find happiness. And save a lot of money.
Click to expand...
I had an LG 4k display and it’s not half as good as the studio display.
 
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The studio display is one of my best purchases. As a home worker it is important to me to have a good IT set up and mine currently works. There are some things I would want to change about it but are not essential 120hz, support for Apple TV, on/off button, brightness control.

For me the main change I would want is the ability to have more than one input. Or have hdmi and thunderbolt inputs, I have a work laptop and MacBook that I connect to it and the only way I can change which I view is by switching the cables
 
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ZeroInspo said:
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. ...
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Exactly. It was nonsensical to suggest that it being "years" since an "update" is even remotely unusual.
 
I would love to have one of these monitors if it had an HDMI port so that I could connect my PS5. In the end, I decided to get a monitor that could connect to both my MacBook Pro and PS5.
 
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Scoob Redux said:
Why would a well-specced display need an upgrade?? 🧐
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I don't know...maybe because Apple would sell more displays if they improved the technology at shorter intervals. What if they only upgraded MacBooks every 5-7 years? All hell would break loose, that's what.
 
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Love the xdr display and aim to purchase a second with the nano etch finish. Absolute top notch as it gets. These displays look amazing from all sides including the back!

While there may be some minor improvements I find it difficult to imagine this can be replaced with anything better at least for the next few years.
 
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