Interesting. Waiting for the full teardown from iFixit.
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Here's a Sneak Peek Inside Apple's New Studio Display
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I do not like the fixed power cord, but for me an external power supply would be much worse!
Here in Germany this indirectly required by the „Arbeitsstättenverordnung“, which for example recommends the angle at which the monitor is viewed (a bit oversimplified, as this regulation is more complex). And yes, some books under the stand could probably fulfill the regulation as well.
The problem is that, last month, you could get nearly the same display/audio/webcam functionality and comparable cosmetics in a $1800 iMac which included the rough equivalent of a $1100 Intel Mac Mini.
So, from an iMac owner's point of view, you'd feel like got the 5k display for something like $700. Now Apple want $1600 for something only incrementally better. Actually, an Intel iMac with i9, the best GPU and 32GB of RAM came out at about $3800 c.f. a Studio Max + display at $3600, which doesn't sound so bad - but at the time there was no headless Mac to compare it with, so it was still easy to feel that you'd "paid" under $1000 for the display.
If you want to replace your 5k iMac, getting a M1 Mini and a third party 4k display makes very good economic sense and is a very practical proposition but you can't get away from the fact that 4k - while perfectly good - isn't quite as nice (for macOS) as a 27" 5k display. Problem is, nobody apart from Mac users gives a wet slap about 5k so I guess the panels are getting too expensive to bundle with those low-end iMacs.
Really, this isn't a 2022 problem - it's the cows coming home from years ago when we all bought into iMacs with built-in displays and no external inputs. If we all had mythical Intel xMacs driving third-party displays (may be LG 5ks, or other third party 5ks from when they were actually a thing) we'd happily be plugging our old displays into Mac Studios and waiting for affordable large-screen mini LED displays to appear.
I think the only advice in that situation is to either pucker up and buy the Studio Display for your Mini/Studio or look for alternative size/format configurations of 3rd party displays that side-step the fractional scaling issue. Ultrawide? 40" 4k? 3:2? Pair of 24" 4k?
NB: of course, the other frustration with the SD is that you're paying for (and, apparently, cooling) that whopping power supply that is totally redundant if you're using a desktop Mac...
Da_Hood
macrumors regular
Board on the left is power supply, on page 2 someone claims 285w, if true nearly double the imac. It’s “flattened” compared to the brick adding to the surface area. The smaller board upper right looks to be some sort of DC bus to power 3 usbc and the 5A charger.. That charger could power the iMac for moderate tasks.
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Remember how Steve Jobs didn't want to make TVs because they lasted too long? I guess the solution turned out to be "Charge as much as 5 displays so that after 10 years, it was like they replaced it every 2 years!"
Think Different.
Think Different.
hybrid_x
macrumors 6502a
Yebubbleman
macrumors 603
InuNacho
macrumors 68010
I love Internet-connected stuff! It's good for me and great for the environment when it becomes e-waste after 3 years!
CWallace
macrumors G5
So many people are going to "give in" to this 27 inch monitor by Apple because it is what they have been pleading with Apple to release for over half a decade.
I am arguably one of those people and if I am upset about anything, it is is that Apple made us wait five years for this. It should have been launched after the Thunderbolt Display was withdrawn.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
In your effort to be humorous and dunk on me, you missed my point.
There is no display that is what I was hoping for
(still 5k, but less stuff inside)
CWallace
macrumors G5
Actually there is - the $900 Iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS.
Should work with a TB to DP1.4 cable.
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turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
Nah - those are all like the Planars IX2790's and made with reject iMac panels
Not a great solution unless you like stuck/dead pixels all over
(I've tried all of the options the last 5 years in this space)
CWallace
macrumors G5
Fair enough point. 🙂
And this is why many of us are actually happy for the Studio Display since it doesn't have the compromises the cheaper 5K monitors do. 😉
Yes but there are other issues too. Cables can become damaged. Monitors are easier to move with no cable attached. Cables are easier to manage when they aren't permanently attached.
turbineseaplane
macrumors Penryn
I had a set of those Klipsch ProMedia 2.1's a while back and the satellite speaker cables were permanently attached.
Oh my god was it awful trying to do the setup I had with wall mounting.
I wil **never** do that again
It was definitely a cost cutting move at some point, as I'd had the PM 2.1's back when they were a newer product (early 2000's) and the satellites had jacks for the connections.
MacBH928
macrumors G3
I am guessing the more stuff into it is necessary to make it function. I previously imagined it was just the displayed with a wire
mikeboss
macrumors 68000
obviouslogic
macrumors 6502
Or spend $1300 on a 5K LG UltraFine Display... that LG could be used as an external display and wasn't tied to a computer. That $1800 iMac was always only ever going to be an iMac... It wouldn't matter if it cost $100, it is useless to someone who needs a standalone display. There is an inherent price differential (cost savings) when you combine all components into a single chases/case. In the iMac it was just another component that cost around 700-800, but there's a lot more to a display than just the panel that was included in the iMac.
How is it that a 1TB HD cost only $30 for an internal drive and $129 for an external drive when they are the exact same same HDD?
The real issue and problem here is that these are two totally different markets... one is an all-in-one computer, and the other is a stand alone display and trying to compare the cost of each is a little ridiculous. Especially considering the quality and feature set of the Studio Display as compared with other computer displays on the market.
Right now, Dell sells a 27" 4K UltraFine display for just over $1500!!! So this Studio Display is not a bad value.
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obviouslogic
macrumors 6502
Hmmm... why didn't you buy the 5K LG? Seems like the exact display you want!?
It's not "two totally different markets" for 27" iMac users who's only like-for-like upgrade path is suddenly to buy "separates" (to borrow the Hi-Fi term) at a substantially higher price, with only minimal improvements in display quality.
I don't think the people who were already in the "separates" systems market have anything to complain about - they can keep their existing displays, and if that means an LG Ultrafine, decide for themselves whether the Studio Display is a worthwhile upgrade... and part of the reason they were using separates might be because 27" @ 5k wasn't their preference, anyway.
Except that boils down to (a) it looks swish, (b) it's one of the very few choices if you want 5k @ 27" because you've been 'spoiled' by an iMac and (c) nice speakers - but probably no substitute for external speakers & redundant if you're using an external audio interface. Apart from that, it's all iffy - limited stand, buggy webcam, silly fixed mains cable.
Except they're currently as common as rocking horse poo so you probably can't buy one, plus, you're still paying for a Thunderbolt dock, ~100W power supply, so-so quality webcam, speakers, mic. etc. Also, both lack one feature missing on virtually every competing display: multiple DisplayPort and HDMI inputs so you can easily plug other equipment into them without cable juggling.
It's essentially a take on the same concept as the Studio Display - just a little bit worse all-round - and the standard-def Thunderbolt and Cinema displays before it - and that concept is really a laptop docking station rather than an external display for a desktop computer. It's not really an alternative.
If you use external speakers & audio interface (e.g. anybody doing music/AV production which is a major segment of the higher-end Mac market) the speakers are pointless. If you want a decent quality webcam, that will be separate. If you're podcasting etc. you'll want a proper ext. mic (& probably audio interface => external speakers). If you are using a desktop system then the ability to power a laptop is redundant.
...and, of course, if you want a dual screen setup, well - quadraphonic sound and 3D Zoom meetings anybody? Nah, didn't think so.
...and if you do want that all-in-one convenience? Well, we're back to all those 27" iMac users who've just been thrown under a bus.
bobbygeo
macrumors newbie
uller6
macrumors 65816
I can't easily measure the power consumption for the studio display without disconnecting a bunch of stuff, but maybe this will help put things into perspective. My UPS shows me using 137 watts for the following load:
iMac M1, maximum brightness, 2 external SSDs
Studio display, maximum brightness, charging my iPad with screen on
2 HomePod Minis, actively listening to music
2013 MacBook Pro, lid closed but active as caching server/pihole with thunderbolt/ethernet dongle and 2 external SSDs
4 smart light switches
a single LED light bulb
That's a whole lot of stuff connected for relatively little power. I estimate that the studio display uses ~60 watts at full brightness. Apple says it uses ~30 watts in their environmental report, but that is measured at some unspecified brightness: https://www.apple.com/kr/environment/pdf/products/displays/Apple_Studio_Display_PER_March2022.pdf
iMac M1, maximum brightness, 2 external SSDs
Studio display, maximum brightness, charging my iPad with screen on
2 HomePod Minis, actively listening to music
2013 MacBook Pro, lid closed but active as caching server/pihole with thunderbolt/ethernet dongle and 2 external SSDs
4 smart light switches
a single LED light bulb
That's a whole lot of stuff connected for relatively little power. I estimate that the studio display uses ~60 watts at full brightness. Apple says it uses ~30 watts in their environmental report, but that is measured at some unspecified brightness: https://www.apple.com/kr/environment/pdf/products/displays/Apple_Studio_Display_PER_March2022.pdf
CWallace
macrumors G5
Not sure if this was answered, but:
The ASD can provide up to 96W of power via the ThunderBolt port to charge a MacBook Pro so if it is doing that, then power consumption will be higher.