I'm genuinely surprised by the negative reviews of the Studio Display

[vddobrev]

Does anyone know of an alternative monitor that has a build quality even close to the Studio Display? This thing is rock solid and beautifully engineered and assembled. I seriously don’t think that exists in another display, but I’d love to see if it did.

Add in legitimately great speakers and a (controversial as it may be) webcam. It’s certainly overpriced, but I just don’t think a true apples to apples comparison exists across every aspect of the product. Sure you can get a high resolution display for cheaper. But that’s not the ONLY thing you’re paying for here.

If you look at 5K displays only - no, there is no competition!

If you look at 4K displays - there is a bunch of displays that are a great competition and a better value. For example, Dell has some GREAT 32" 4K panel, and also Dell has an 8K panel.

I am not entirely sure that all-aluminum body means a better quality built and sturdy (as if a display on a desk will endure anything harsh that it needs to be made of aluminum). I only look at the display panel, the screen itself, and the bezels. I don't care of its body. For me this all aluminum body is wasted material, like am I going to take a picture with my display all-aluminum back to post on facebook or something? I can understand the "looks" thing if customers walked in your establishment and they saw the back of your display... and the big Apple logo.

Also, the sturdy stand thing - so most of the displays on the market will have a stand such that if you shake or kick the desk they will wobble. Question - are you kicking and shaking your desk every day? How does it matter, and what is the benefit of this sturdy stand? I set up my display once, my desk is stationary, it does not encounter any vigorous shakes or kicks. This is a marketing hype for me, full stop - I do not kick or shake my desk, and there is no benefit of a sturdy stand.

A camera in a display - I am fine with that, no problem, but I do not really care about it. May use it, but don't care about this feature.

Speakers in a display - its a perk, I may try them, but I rather use my own (higher quality) speakers.

Fans in a display - that is a big NO NO to me, and I will never buy another display with fans inside it. I do not want these little suckers to suck in dust into my display in between the glass and the LCD panel. Full stop! Just like the infamous iMac stain gate, this display is doomed for the same problem, mark my words. The glass is NOT laminated to the LCD panel (it is the same display as the iMac although a little improved), and when you have two fans sucking in air and dust, sooner or later, there will be dust stains on the glass surface.

All nice, but most people care as much or more about the actual panel and technology in use.

And speakers are a mixed bag - no matter how nice they are, they are blown away by most anything external that folks tend to already have or prefer - particularly if actually using this "in a Studio" in a video production role (as just one example).

Much as folks like "not having the computer in the display" -- the speakers are better off being an external, high quality kit for many as well.

Exactly - I also look at the panel quality, as that is what I look at. Not the display body - it is up against a wall anyway, and no one sees it.

Speakers - I have my HiFi for music. For zoom meetings I use headphones.

And I do not want a computer in a display, especially I do not want the two fans that are needed to cool the thing.

 

[turbineseaplane]

Fans in a display - that is a big NO NO to me,

For me too, particularly in our high desert climate with lots of "stuff" in the air all the time.
I'm constantly having to clean out fans on our FreeNAS server and my Hack (among other items)

Adding this into a monitor is a major turn off

 

[vddobrev]

All-in-all - I think, and this is my personal opinion - Apple invented a single use for a display and made one.
No problem, people that need it will get it.
Others that do not see a value in it will not, probably for these reasons:

1. There is only one input, can't switch between multiple computers, even Macs
2. No USB hub
3. Height adjustable stand costs additional $400
4. Price - not a cost effective monitor, even when considering all its perks like speakers and web cam.

However, anyone that needs a 5K display in 2022 there is no other option apart from the LG one.

 

[turbineseaplane]

No USB hub

Would it have killed them to put a USB-A and perhaps even ethernet on it?
(very nice for laptops plugging into it)

So ridiculously limited in its flexibility -- a hard pill to swallow, particularly at this price, if it doesn't exactly line up with your needs.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

This is the same conversation that surrounded the Thunderbolt Display, the Cinema Display before that, the Cinema Display before that, the Studio Display before that. People, we get it. You don’t want to pay the Apple premium to have a functionally equivalent device to what an “affordable” 4K Display provides you. You care about the panel, but the build quality is overkill and the connectivity is being labeled insufficient (which is a conversation had about every Apple device, ever), you don’t care that your monitor has a matching Apple logo. This is deja vu commentary that is as old as Apple itself.

If it’s not for you, don’t buy it. If it is for you, buy it. I love mine.

 

[Cashmonee]

This is the same conversation that surrounded the Thunderbolt Display, the Cinema Display before that, the Cinema Display before that, the Studio Display before that. People, we get it. You don’t want to pay the Apple premium to have a functionally equivalent device to what an “affordable” 4K Display provides you. You care about the panel, but the build quality is overkill and the connectivity is being labeled insufficient (which is a conversation had about every Apple device, ever), you don’t care that your monitor has a matching Apple logo. This is deja vu commentary that is as old as Apple itself.

If it’s not for you, don’t buy it. If it is for you, buy it. I love mine.

But that's just it isn't it? All of those displays failed. None sold in high numbers and Apple eventually had to exit the display market. This should concern people who like the ASD as much as those who are frustrated by it. The end result will be an outdated display that gets discontinued and abandoned without making meaningful updates. And in this case, you are starting with something that is already 6 years old.

 

[patrick.a]

This is the same conversation that surrounded the Thunderbolt Display, the Cinema Display before that, the Cinema Display before that, the Studio Display before that. People, we get it. You don’t want to pay the Apple premium to have a functionally equivalent device to what an “affordable” 4K Display provides you. You care about the panel, but the build quality is overkill and the connectivity is being labeled insufficient (which is a conversation had about every Apple device, ever), you don’t care that your monitor has a matching Apple logo. This is deja vu commentary that is as old as Apple itself.

If it’s not for you, don’t buy it. If it is for you, buy it. I love mine.

You are oversimplifying. There is also quite a large group of users who actually do care a lot and just expect more from a display since Apple started with XDR and Promotion a couple of years ago - especially at the premium price point the ASD has.

 

[KPOM]

But that's just it isn't it? All of those displays failed. None sold in high numbers and Apple eventually had to exit the display market. This should concern people who like the ASD as much as those who are frustrated by it. The end result will be an outdated display that gets discontinued and abandoned without making meaningful updates. And in this case, you are starting with something that is already 6 years old.

Apple had been selling the LG UltraFine 5K for over 5 years, so they have a sense of the demand for a 5K monitor. They are marketing it as a pair to the new Mac Studio, so I don’t think they expect it to be a high volume seller.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Apple had been selling the LG UltraFine 5K for over 5 years, so they have a sense of the demand for a 5K monitor. They are marketing it as a pair to the new Mac Studio, so I don’t think they expect it to be a high volume seller.

Considering how the vast majority of what Apple makes does NOT require a separate screen to function normally, I’d agree that it’s going to be low seller, aligning with Apple’s expectations for the Mac Studio.

 

[UMHurricanes34]

But that's just it isn't it? All of those displays failed. None sold in high numbers and Apple eventually had to exit the display market. This should concern people who like the ASD as much as those who are frustrated by it. The end result will be an outdated display that gets discontinued and abandoned without making meaningful updates. And in this case, you are starting with something that is already 6 years old.

Those displays didn’t fail for me, though. My 30” Cinema Display gave me 10 years of performance. My Thunderbolt displays are still working flawlessly for me after 10 years, and even if they abandon the Studio Display like they did the TB display, I expect it to continue to perform well as what it is today, for a similar duration.

The displays were killed because Apple became more driven by P&L across the product line once Steve passed. They’ve only just re-acknowledged that not every product has to be an iPhone sized profit driver to be important to the Apple ecosystem. The display was an obvious missing piece of the puzzle, and now it’s filled. We’ll see where it goes. There’s certainly room both below and above it in the product line. I think we are going to return to the 2008-2013 era of Apple standalone displays where we will see an update every 3-5 years, but at limited size options. And I’m fine with that. Just glad to have them back in the game.

I would love to see a consumer level 24” display that’s available in the same colors as the iMac and rumored forthcoming MacBook Air redesign. I’d also love to see an update to this display with promotion and mini LED, but I expect that will be what the Pro Display is.

 

[Lammers]

But that's just it isn't it? All of those displays failed. None sold in high numbers and Apple eventually had to exit the display market. This should concern people who like the ASD as much as those who are frustrated by it. The end result will be an outdated display that gets discontinued and abandoned without making meaningful updates. And in this case, you are starting with something that is already 6 years old.

I think “failed” is difficult to assert. We have no idea what Apple would have considered to constitute success or failure for those products.

The fact that they discontinued them doesn’t necessarily mean that they failed. It might just have been that Apple’s management team at the time just wasn’t interested in doing it. That was the same management team that dropped the ports from the MacBook Pro and introduced the butterfly keyboard and the Touch Bar. So they had particular (and unusual) ideas of what good product design and strategy was.

 

[turbineseaplane]

I think “failed” is difficult to assert. We have no idea what Apple would have considered to constitute success or failure for those products.

Or any of their products..

It cracks me up when people are like "there are no Apple X,Y,Z in stock at stores - SMASHING SUCCESS!! - SOLD OUT - Everyone wants one! YAY APPLE!"

Umm - no, it doesn't work that way.
Key data is missing to know about sales numbers and success (only Apple has it)

 

[MisterK]

I finally saw on in an Apple Store yesterday and loved it. The Design really is that nice. I'm waiting for my new home office to be done getting built and some sort of firmware/software update to fix the webcam issue that people have been reporting before buying one. The webcam sounds like the worst part (I'm currently using the Logitech Brio 4K webcam). I wish Apple had really gone full out on the webcam because of how important remote work/meetings have become.

I'll be getting the matte option and the height adjustable stand. The size is going to be a downgrade from my current 32" BenQ 4K monitor, but the resolution is higher, the industrial design is nicer, and the the screen just looked way nicer.

My BenQ has the HDR that people seem to be so horny over and let me tell you, the image on the Studio Display is quite a bit nicer. Sounds like a speeds and feeds spec complaint over actual display quality.

I don't care to remove the cord and don't see the problem with it being unremovable. It's a stationary display. That's not even close to a factor.

 

[turbineseaplane]

my current 32" BenQ 4K monitor

What model?

 

[turbineseaplane]

I will say, folks that haven't experienced higher refresh rates on larger desktop monitor sizes-- oof -- enjoy the 60hz while you can. It's really hard to go back to just 60 once you get used to the smoothness of 120hz and above.

It's the sort of thing that Gruber will end up gushing about

 

[MisterK]

What model?

The BenQ PD3220U

 

[k995]

Does anyone know of an alternative monitor that has a build quality even close to the Studio Display? This thing is rock solid and beautifully engineered and assembled. I seriously don’t think that exists in another display, but I’d love to see if it did.

If that is important to you, it really is a good looking monitor.

Add in legitimately great speakers and a (controversial as it may be) webcam. It’s certainly overpriced, but I just don’t think a true apples to apples comparison exists across every aspect of the product. Sure you can get a high resolution display for cheaper. But that’s not the ONLY thing you’re paying for here.

Speakers are on par with 30-40 euro costing speakers and the price is only justifieds if youneed just about everything it offers and nothing it doesnt. So yeah for those people its the only monitor like this so any price would be justified.

 

[CalMin]

I finally saw on in an Apple Store yesterday and loved it. The Design really is that nice. I'm waiting for my new home office to be done getting built and some sort of firmware/software update to fix the webcam issue that people have been reporting before buying one. The webcam sounds like the worst part (I'm currently using the Logitech Brio 4K webcam). I wish Apple had really gone full out on the webcam because of how important remote work/meetings have become.

I'll be getting the matte option and the height adjustable stand. The size is going to be a downgrade from my current 32" BenQ 4K monitor, but the resolution is higher, the industrial design is nicer, and the the screen just looked way nicer.

My BenQ has the HDR that people seem to be so horny over and let me tell you, the image on the Studio Display is quite a bit nicer. Sounds like a speeds and feeds spec complaint over actual display quality.

I don't care to remove the cord and don't see the problem with it being unremovable. It's a stationary display. That's not even close to a factor.

I think that this is it. The spec sheet doesn't tell the story with this display, and it's not until you see it and use it that it all starts to make sense. It is, however, too expensive.

But... it's a joy to use with my MacBook, and the image quality (to my non-display pro eye) is superior to anything that I've tried in this price range. I love how compatible it is with my Mac - it all just works as it should and that is worth something to me.

I think a lot of reviews were written before seeing the display and using it for an appreciable period of time. Some of the later reviews, where folks got to use it for a couple of weeks before giving opinions, have come out much more positive.

I wished it was 32" as well. I don't need a Pro-display XDR, but I would have liked a sub $2k 32" monitor that is on par with the ASD.

 

[jouster]

5k studio monitor that is going to be used for office based work??? Bit of an overkill don't you think? I use MS Office for mac, have done for many years (word documents and spreadsheets) and stopped at 1080p monitors because in my opinion anything higher is just overkill.

So I am curious, if your work is all MS Office based, why do you feel you need a very expensive 5k Apple monitor?

I was just given an Apple Cinema Display, manufactured sometime between 2005 and 2011, for nothing. Its native resolution is 2560 x 1600. It is terrific for office-based work! With a $40 adapter from Amazon it works without issue with all my computers--Mac or Windows. Spreadsheets are so much clearer with the width it offers. I can't see a need for 5K for this type of usage, though I'm sure fonts are crisper and so on.

I know this post isn't about the Studio Display. I am just inordinately happy that I can use this monitor in 2022.

 

[DCIFRTHS]

...
Overall -

• Auto-brightness and True Tone!
• Speakers and microphone are excellent.
• Webcam is good enough - although I look forward to it getting better with some software tweaks. The scathing reviews don't make sense - it's perfectly fine for Zoom and FaceTime. Center stage is pretty cool - although I can see it being distracting.

Can Auto-brightness and True Tone be disabled in the monitor settings?

 

[jenelemond]

The main criticisms seem to be around price and lack of HDR which I think are fair enough. You can get HDR on much cheaper panels, but they're often just HD rather than 4K. You only have to look at these forums over the last x number of years to see that as screens get larger, Mac users really want nice crisp displays with high PPI which give you a "retina-like" experience.

These also have speakers, webcam and mic built-in which are selling points for some, not to mention they are design to work with Macs so shouldn't have any resolution issues/strangeness or wake-from-sleep issues.

The question is, are those things worth the price premium over other screens? That's down for each user to decide and isn't an eventuality they can cover in every review.

The other thing is that lots of reviews mention how old the panel is. Which is true, but it does still look great for those who don't need an HDR screen.

I can see both sides of this discussion and the webcam bug around the quality and centre stage doesn't help the case for these.

Exactly my point!!

 

[Ifti]

If you look at 5K displays only - no, there is no competition!

If you look at 4K displays - there is a bunch of displays that are a great competition and a better value. For example, Dell has some GREAT 32" 4K panel, and also Dell has an 8K panel.

I am not entirely sure that all-aluminum body means a better quality built and sturdy (as if a display on a desk will endure anything harsh that it needs to be made of aluminum). I only look at the display panel, the screen itself, and the bezels. I don't care of its body. For me this all aluminum body is wasted material, like am I going to take a picture with my display all-aluminum back to post on facebook or something? I can understand the "looks" thing if customers walked in your establishment and they saw the back of your display... and the big Apple logo.

Also, the sturdy stand thing - so most of the displays on the market will have a stand such that if you shake or kick the desk they will wobble. Question - are you kicking and shaking your desk every day? How does it matter, and what is the benefit of this sturdy stand? I set up my display once, my desk is stationary, it does not encounter any vigorous shakes or kicks. This is a marketing hype for me, full stop - I do not kick or shake my desk, and there is no benefit of a sturdy stand.

A camera in a display - I am fine with that, no problem, but I do not really care about it. May use it, but don't care about this feature.

Speakers in a display - its a perk, I may try them, but I rather use my own (higher quality) speakers.

Fans in a display - that is a big NO NO to me, and I will never buy another display with fans inside it. I do not want these little suckers to suck in dust into my display in between the glass and the LCD panel. Full stop! Just like the infamous iMac stain gate, this display is doomed for the same problem, mark my words. The glass is NOT laminated to the LCD panel (it is the same display as the iMac although a little improved), and when you have two fans sucking in air and dust, sooner or later, there will be dust stains on the glass surface.


Exactly - I also look at the panel quality, as that is what I look at. Not the display body - it is up against a wall anyway, and no one sees it.

Speakers - I have my HiFi for music. For zoom meetings I use headphones.

And I do not want a computer in a display, especially I do not want the two fans that are needed to cool the thing.

Solid post. Very fair and raises valid points.
My concern is also the fans.
I tend to open up my MacBook and my NAS every summer in order to blow our excess dust that may have been sucked in. Just to give it a general clean out for the year ahead. The fact that I can see how much dust these items suck in over time, coupled with the inability to be able to clean out an item, does concern me somewhat.

 

[CalMin]

Can Auto-brightness and True Tone be disabled in the monitor settings?

Yes.

Solid post. Very fair and raises valid points.
My concern is also the fans.
I tend to open up my MacBook and my NAS every summer in order to blow our excess dust that may have been sucked in. Just to give it a general clean out for the year ahead. The fact that I can see how much dust these items suck in over time, coupled with the inability to be able to clean out an item, does concern me somewhat.

We will have to see over time about the dust issue. I haven't heard that being a problem for the Pro Display XDR which also has fans and has been out for a couple of years.

My personal long-term concern is that it runs iOS and at some point Apple could obsolete it. There's a guy a couple of posts up who is using an old Cinema Display and is happy with it. I wonder if the ASD will have a similarly long shelf-life?

 

[zach-coleman]

My personal long-term concern is that it runs iOS and at some point Apple could obsolete it. There's a guy a couple of posts up who is using an old Cinema Display and is happy with it. I wonder if the ASD will have a similarly long shelf-life?

I agree that it running iOS seems short sighted, and I kind of wish that didn't happen. However, if it stopped getting updates I'm not sure it would cease working. It still must be recognized as a generic screen device since it works on windows, right?

 

[CaptRB]

For all the negative reviews of the Mac Studio display - I have to say that overall I really like it. I was expecting it to suck with all the comparison's to LGs years old 5K display tech, lack of HDR support and all the other things that YouTubers have been griping about.

I’ve had it setup about 24hours now and the only thing might might prevent me keeping it is the 27in size - which feels a bit cramped coming from a ~8 year old 30” Dell U3014 which currently sits alongside it. The Dell runs at 2560 x 1600 vs. the Studio Display 5120 x 2880, so the new monitor is quite the upgrade.

Disclaimer - I'm not a graphics pro and my work is all MS Office based.

Overall -

• The Apple display is crisp, bright.
• I love Apple’s fit and finish - even the unboxing was fun.
• It integrates beautifully with MacOS. Brightness and volume adjustments just work.
• Auto-brightness and True Tone!
• Speakers and microphone are excellent.
• Webcam is good enough - although I look forward to it getting better with some software tweaks. The scathing reviews don't make sense - it's perfectly fine for Zoom and FaceTime. Center stage is pretty cool - although I can see it being distracting.

The only issue is the price. And I suppose if the Studio Display was <$1,000 it would have reviewed better with some. As it stands, it feels expensive, but so do all Apple Products e.g. AirPods Max, MacBooks, HomePods, keyboard/mice. It's priced as a luxury item vs. a commodity.

For me, the test will be against the $900 Dell U3223QE (32" 4K) that I have on order and which arrives next week. The best monitor will stay and the other will get returned.

Overall though I really like it.

View attachment 1977502

The extra 400 for height display is really offensive. While I don't have budget limits, I won't accept that kind of crazy gouging.
It's a good display. It should have been 30" or 32" and it should have a height adjustment that doesn't cost 400 bucks. Apple will still sell these, but not to me.

Robert