*cough* That panel is an evolution of what Apple has put in their 27" iMac for years already and nothing else. There is absolutely nothing groundbreaking about it in 2022. There's still a lot of rather unique and very neat aspects to it (PPI, coatings, half-decent factory calibration, brightness) but ahead of the curve it most assuredly absolutely definitely isn't, and it's not exactly on par with comparably priced or even cheaper displays for just about everything else display related.
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I'm genuinely surprised by the negative reviews of the Studio Display
- Thread starter CalMin
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*cough* That panel is an evolution of what Apple has put in their 27" iMac for years already and nothing else. There is absolutely nothing groundbreaking about it in 2022. There's still a lot of rather unique and very neat aspects to it (PPI, coatings, half-decent factory calibration, brightness) but ahead of the curve it most assuredly absolutely definitely isn't, and it's not exactly on par with comparably priced or even cheaper displays for just about everything else display related.
You bought the Gigabyte M32U? Look decent enough. Still has its compromises that give Apple an edge. Worth double? We’ll, that’s debatable. Max 350nits versus 600, 4K vs 5K, HDMI versus Thunderbolt 3 w/hub, a cheap plastic chassis and stand versus aluminum, speakers and webcam versus nothing? I think long term we’re going to see momentum shift a bit towards the Studio Display, but only time will tell. Apple has some clear misses here, and value is suspect. Of course, I’m not taking advice or giving any. Clearly there is a wide range of viewpoints on what constitutes a “good enough” monitor for most. My most expensive monitor purchase was a BenQ SW271, refurbished, not new.
Nobody cares about 8K. Hell, DLP projectors in movie theaters are still at 1080p in a lot of places. The content workflow for 8K is not trivial, besides simply upscaling well mastered 4K to 8K is going to blunt any impact 8K has for at least another decade. There is such a thing as more than good enough. Hell, we don’t even have proper HDR penetration yet at 4K. The move to 1080p is still not complete. My local Fox affiliate is still broadcasting via antenna at 720p.
Yes, also basically the same display as what LG has been selling for many years as the Ultrafine 5K, except it is in a shiny metal box instead of a nasty black plastic box, has a slightly brighter backlight, and some other trimmings not related to the display itself. Not exactly groundbreaking, sorry.
Most PC’s can’t even shuffle 5K to the monitors that are out now (one reason why there’s so few 5K monitors and the ones that are out cater to Macs) I think for desktop monitors, 4K and that funky half 5K (5K wide but half the vertical resolution) and curves and such will rule the day for awhile longer.
Can integrated graphics handle 8k higher than 30hz? Even so, I guess that’s only half the problem as the vendor would have to build in a capable port, too.
Hell most of the Sony 4K CineAlta's are running in 2k mode in cinemas. If you see a 3D lens on a Sony 4K its only 2k and a couple of stops dimmer. Cinemas have become crap.
I noticed this recently. I went to see Spider-Man with the kids and would have rather stayed at home and watched it on my 14” MBP
LG released their 5K monitor in 2017. 5 years later… it’s still $1299.
5K has never caught on and doesn’t seem likely to catch on. So, the situation that could cause them to drop in price (entry of other vendors into the market and starting a price war) isn’t likely to happen.I’m open to being surprised, though!
Any GPU that supports DisplayPort 1.4 can push 5120×2880 at 60 Hz and 8bpc at least (10bpc with DSC).
Any GPU that has two DisplayPort 1.2 ports can push 5120×2880 at 60 Hz and at 10bpc without DSC.
The main reason why there's so few 5K monitors is... lack of demand from the PC crowd indeed, but not because GPUs can't push that many pixels.
That was a very well reasoned response. It’s just crazy to me that the studio display is double the price. Heck you can get odyssey g9 neo for the cost of a studio display and adjustable stand. Or even an entire iMac…personally I think a better price would be $999-1199. But I’m no supply chain expert. *shrug*
Sad thing is, I was excited for an Apple branded display. This just fell flat for me unfortunately :-/
I think the Verge blew it in their review. Claimed it was essentially the same brightness as the LG UF/5K iMac. Complained that the nano-texture got dirty easily and was hard to clean. Just felt like Nilay had an agenda against the display from the start. Notice how the DP Review in contrast is glowing. Does the webcam suck right now? Yes. But let's give Apple a chance to fix that as they say they will before we make a final judgment.
Another issue is that there is this narrative that this is the same panel as the LG UF/5K iMac. It literally is not. And if you watch this review it's clear that the ASD is a serious step up.
Now, is the lack of HDR, ProMotion, and mini-LED a huge issue here? That's really a super personal thing. I never notice ProMotion on my iPad Pro. I would certainly appreciate the deeper blacks of mini-LED but blooming does concern me a bit. As for HDR, I just don't know honestly. Furthermore I expect a Studio Display Pro at WWDC. All those items should be included on that panel. It will be easier for ASD owners to know if they are truly missing out or not once that display is released. Plus that display is going to cost a lot more than the ASD of course.
Price-wise I think the ASD is $300 more than it should be. The LG UF should not still be $1,300 after 6 years. But the 5K display market is a scarce one. And I have no doubt that Apple can and will easily get away with brisk sales given how beautiful and premium this display is.
I personally am thrilled with the ASD. The nano-texture coating is essentially in my sunlight filled home office with huge windows directly behind me. I was using a 5K iMac for 4 years prior to the ASD and this display is far brighter/nicer to my eyes. I really appreciate that.
I did also briefly contemplate a Dell 32" display (U3219Q), but ultimately passed for a variety of reasons. (Lower resolution, dimmer screen, I think it's too big for my table, less seamless macOS integration, Dell support versus Apple.)
Side note: where did you get your table? It looks very similar to mine. Yours seems bigger and is better suited for a 32" display versus mine.
I think that it's better to compare it with the iMac 27" (which when you think of it was only $200 more but with a whole computer with it). Coatings (and lamination ?) + factory calibration process are quite a bit different from the LG.
To be fair if you only spent $200 more then you'd have a crap iMac stuck to a nice monitor.
Forgot to include my desk so you can see how similar it is to yours.
I think that's it. Apple's pricing draws all the fire and distracts reviewers from the fact that this is beautiful display. The inflation adjusted price of the original 2011 27" Thunderbolt Display ($999) is about $1260. $1,700 is quite a step from that despite the extra features such as 5K.
It is too expensive and I wouldn't mind if the tone of the reviews was that it's nice but pricey. Instead they all seem to be saying that it sucks - and it clearly does not.
It's a used Ikea "Galant" desk that I picked up on Craigslist. They no longer make it with the glass top although it was a popular desk and shows up on the used market quite frequently. I bought it as a cheap test setup following Covid when I started to work from home full-time.
They can, yes, but how many PC’s made today actually support DisplayPort 1.4? I just checked a list of “best PC laptops for 2022” (because most folks are buying laptops) and the one that was the best gaming laptop said it only supported 4K at 60Hz (I couldn’t even see that it supported DisplayPort at all).
If the top seller for PC’s continue to be laptops (and that isn’t likely to change), if PC laptops generally don’t support DisplayPort 1.4, then the market for 5K monitors would be quite small… small to the point of not being worth it for anyone other than Apple and LG to make monitors for.
Yeah, the minor leagues, with a major league price tag.
When I was watching the keynote I guessed $1,500 right before they announced $1,600. Doesn't surprise me one bit what they landed on. Consider the extra $300 Apple tax.
I've read some really good reviews too. And some glowing ones on YouTube as well. Whether you believe it is overpriced or missing features, there is no denying the panel is excellent and the housing is beautiful.
Interesting about the desk. We bought ours 20 years ago at a fancy Italian furniture store. Did not expect to hear IKEA haha.
I disagree - the ASD is priced correct if my $1000 Apple Thunderbolt 27" display I have been using since 2011 is any indicator on longevity.
Try to get 11 years of monitor life in a plastic encased, less expensive monitor - I have gone thru many Dell, BenQ, HP, Gateway, etc in less than 5 years compared to my beloved Apple 27" Thunderbolt display.
$1600 is well worth it nowadays if it lasts as long as my $1000 TB display from 2011.
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I agree on it being overpriced. Frankly, I think the cost is really the source of all of the griping, and it's a gripe I share. I was really hoping for a sub $1000 display with good MacOS integration that I can sometimes use on my Windows work computer. I'm an engineer, not a graphic artist. I don't need the high resolution to run CADD software or modeling software. What I do need is a Apple oriented display that integrates well with the 16" MBP (which I'm planning to get later this year) so I don't have any of the integration issues that are so common with a Mac computer using non-Mac displays (or non-Mac anything really).
I also was wanting to run three displays, but at $1600 each, that's just too much. Maybe I can get one Studio Display and two other "affordable" 27" displays? Anyone else looking to cut costs by using this sort of "hybrid" approach with 2 or 3 displays?
Assuming the same longevity, how do you explain the premium over the inflation-adjusted TBD’s price?
There’s no such thing as a “correct” price BTW.
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