Just guessing - New Display this week & rebrand?

[Vincent Hanna]

Why would they not release the new 27” next week? They’re going to wait all the way to WWDC?

 

[class77]

Yes, there have been ‘some’ of a new Pro Display XDR but only with a quantum dot update to the screen which IMO is not enough to justify it’s price tag now. It will need to do more then that, I think it might be possible they give it a tandem OLED 6K screen, I mean the iPad Pro OLED screen is as bright and in some cases brighter then the Pro Display XDR one so HDR is no problem for it.

Thing is.. for Apple to have consistency with the Mac OS scaling, it has to have a 5K 27” screen and a 6K 32” screen or higher I guess like 8K? So if they launch a new Studio Display at 32” it will need to be 6K, plus have the same rumoured Mini LED screen type as the 27” replacement monitor, so you could end up with 2 monitors BOTH offering better specs and performance then the Pro Display XDR, because the new Mini LED screens are a lot better now like the MacBook Pro screen, so either you have Apple discontinuing at the same time the Pro Display XDR, or they update it TOO at the same time, or they carry on selling an inferior screen for what double the price or more? Or Apple charge you 5 grand for a 32” Studio Display?

When you look at it there are a ‘lot’ of holes in these rumours of new Apple monitors. We need to wait and see what Apple does. But at least the rumours are strong for a new 27” monitor.

Me personally? I think they will release just a new 27” 5K Studio Display with the latest LG Mini LED screens we’ve seen, with Apples tuning and glossy or matte screen options and 90 or 120HZ refresh, and then a new Tandem OLED 6K Pro Display XDR with stunning performance and a price tag to match, with no doubt endless promises of no burn in… I believe every screen Apple uses is custom anyway? Although the new 27” will be an exception if they use LG’s new panel.

One last point, I will be genuinely surprised if Apple release any new monitors this week or next week.

I've seen some talking heads say that Apple is only going to be a 90HZ refresh rate because they are limited to that. I don't understand how some of the CES refresh rates are capable of over 180Hz. Can somebody please explain why Apple would be so limited?

 

[Pezimak]

I've seen some talking heads say that Apple is only going to be a 90HZ refresh rate because they are limited to that. I don't understand how some of the CES refresh rates are capable of over 180Hz. Can somebody please explain why Apple would be so limited?

Yes, I don’t get it either. Seems display port, USB C or HDMI are better than Thunderbolt 5? Although I am not sure what speed the other ports operate at if you are using 5K at a high refresh rate?

 

[Lodano]

I guess they keep 120 Hz for the refresh of the PDXDR. Because if not, why would professionnals chose the PDXDR over the ASD ?

Anyway, does anyone know if lenghtening of the shipping delay of the ASD is a good indicator of the new version coming out soon ? They still have stocks for shipping depending of the version (NT, height adjustable, VESA etc.).

 

[xraydoc]

I've seen some talking heads say that Apple is only going to be a 90HZ refresh rate because they are limited to that. I don't understand how some of the CES refresh rates are capable of over 180Hz. Can somebody please explain why Apple would be so limited?

Because someone has to make the actual LCD panel (like Samsung or LG). And AFAIK, there are no 120Hz 5K panels made by anyone per reported supply chain leaks. Apple can of course request, but likely the yields and/or price wasn't where it needed to be for Apple to place the order. Sounds like 90Hz (again, per rumors) is the best that could be done and come in at Apple's price point.

 

[Pezimak]

Because someone has to make the actual LCD panel (like Samsung or LG). And AFAIK, there are no 120Hz 5K panels made by anyone per reported supply chain leaks. Apple can of course request, but likely the yields and/or price wasn't where it needed to be for Apple to place the order. Sounds like 90Hz (again, per rumors) is the best that could be done and come in at Apple's price point.

LG announced a new 27” Mini LED 5K monitor that runs at 165HZ native. Should be on sale in the next 2 or 3 months:

LG 27GM950B 5K Monitor Announced with a 2,304-zone Mini LED Backlight - TFTCentral

Share this contentOriginally published 26 Dec 2025, last updated 6 April 2026 Ahead of CES in a couple of week’s time, LG Electronics have unveiled their line-up of new monitors....[click link for more]

tftcentral.co.uk

 

[Vincent Hanna]

A logical explanation is the panel is indeed 120Hz, but only for TB5 Macs, and the 90Hz cap is a fallback for the 10s of millions of TB3 and TB4 Macs in use.

 

[conmee]

TB3/4 doesn't have the bandwidth to drive 5K@120Hz without some compression tricks. Keep in mind, the 5K@165Hz isn't necessarily meant to be run off a laptop, it'll be powered directly from a discrete GPU which will have more than enough dedicated bandwidth to drive the monitor. To @Vincent Hanna point, there's no reason a 120Hz ASD couldn't just fall back to 90Hz or 60Hz for older Macs. My Alienware 4K display tops out at 120Hz on my 2019 16" Intel MBP and 165Hz with an M5 MBP. But with a dedicated GPU in a PC it tops out at 180Hz (FHD/1080p@360Hz).

 

[DaveOP]

Because someone has to make the actual LCD panel (like Samsung or LG). And AFAIK, there are no 120Hz 5K panels made by anyone per reported supply chain leaks. Apple can of course request, but likely the yields and/or price wasn't where it needed to be for Apple to place the order. Sounds like 90Hz (again, per rumors) is the best that could be done and come in at Apple's price point.

Asus already has a 5k/180 refresh rate monitor out and available, the XG27JCG. LG and MSI have also shown these monitors at CES.

 

[xraydoc]

Asus already has a 5k/180 refresh rate monitor out and available, the XG27JCG. LG and MSI have also shown these monitors at CES.

But do they have the color and image quality that Apple demands? Legitimate question. I don't know the answer, but I guess we'll find out if Apple brings to market a 120Hz display with their panel or not. I'm not sure most Asus displays are up to the same standards, but we'll see.

 

[IvyKing]

Now for some nightmare fuel for xraydoc: Seeing rumors of touchscreens coming to MacBooks, I started wondering if someone at Apple was insane enough to make a touchscreen Studio Display.

Considering his line of work, I can fully understand why he doesn't want anyone fingers getting anywhere near his screens.

 

[Pezimak]

Asus already has a 5k/180 refresh rate monitor out and available, the XG27JCG. LG and MSI have also shown these monitors at CES.

FYI MSI has not yet stated if it will be manufacturing that monitor, it is purely a concept for now. So don't pin your hopes on getting it any time soon if at all.

 

[PaulD-UK]

Quote: “ MSI has not yet stated if it will be manufacturing that monitor…”

I took that to mean they might not be able to get enough screen panels if they were planning to use a supply of Apple’s QC rejects from the manufacturer of whatever panel Apple are going to be using in their refreshed Studio Display. 😉

There were monitors that used rejected panels LG made for the original 5K iMac, but they were never as good as the iMac screen….

 

[Pezimak]

Quote: “ MSI has not yet stated if it will be manufacturing that monitor…”

I took that to mean they might not be able to get enough screen panels if they were planning to use a supply of Apple’s QC rejects from the manufacturer of whatever panel Apple are going to be using in their refreshed Studio Display. 😉

There were monitors that used rejected panels LG made for the original 5K iMac, but they were never as good as the iMac screen….

View attachment 2607799

Their official wording is:

"We are told by MSI that this screen was custom built as a prototype for CES this year, and they are still exploring whether to develop new Mini LED monitors or not. At this time, consider it a non-committed product, but hopefully something with this kind of spec will be produced at some point."

MSI MPG 272QPX is the First 27" Size 500Hz Monitor, and it Also Has a Mini LED Backlight - TFTCentral

Share this contentVery quietly launched and showcased at CES this week, and missed amongst all the exciting OLED news (our full round-up of the best display news from CES is....[click link for more]

tftcentral.co.uk

So don't go raising your hopes up that it will be brought to market. CES has had many prototypes of devices shown off over the years that have never made it into production.

 

[class77]

A logical explanation is the panel is indeed 120Hz, but only for TB5 Macs, and the 90Hz cap is a fallback for the 10s of millions of TB3 and TB4 Macs in use.

If that's the case, last year's Mac Mini Pro can run it. Man, I hope that speculation turns out to be correct

 

[ascender]

Maybe there will be two new 27" ASDs - one with just a refreshed SOC and webcam, maybe refresh rate, then a mini-LED version with higher refresh rate?

If they're not announced next week then I guess its going to be at WWDC.

 

[jabbr]

@ascender

I dunno, I imagine Apple wants to sell the next version for at least 5 years and a regular IPS panel is going to age really poorly in the modern monitor market

I really think the original ASD should have been miniLED but they of course chose to ride out older, cheaper tech

 

[thenewepic]

A logical explanation is the panel is indeed 120Hz, but only for TB5 Macs, and the 90Hz cap is a fallback for the 10s of millions of TB3 and TB4 Macs in use

“millions of TB4 Macs in use” can drive up to 165Hz right now, so this explanation doesn’t make much sense.

TB3/4 doesn't have the bandwidth to drive 5K@120Hz without some compression tricks

Sure there will be some compression. Do you know that all modern macs use compression even with Studio Display and XDR Display? Because DP1.4 can’t provide even 5K 10Bit 60Hz without DSC, let alone 6K 10bit 60Hz. (There is a workaround with two tiles but modern macs don’t use it).
5K@180 can be pushed even through DP1.4 with DSC (Apple devices support maximum of 165Hz tho). There are no real 6K monitors with more than 60Hz but theoretically DP1.4 could provide 120Hz at this resolution (with DSC, of course). TB4 uses primarily DP1.4 as a video carrier so the above information is also true for it.

 

[xraydoc]

Now for some nightmare fuel for xraydoc: Seeing rumors of touchscreens coming to MacBooks, I started wondering if someone at Apple was insane enough to make a touchscreen Studio Display.

Considering his line of work, I can fully understand why he doesn't want anyone fingers getting anywhere near his screens.

For sure. No fingers on my displays!

 

[ascender]

@ascender

I dunno, I imagine Apple wants to sell the next version for at least 5 years and a regular IPS panel is going to age really poorly in the modern monitor market

I really think the original ASD should have been miniLED but they of course chose to ride out older, cheaper tech

But for most people, the original ASD is still probably the best all round monitor you could buy.

Setting aside those who want/need something specific that the ASD doesn't offer, for everyone else, they get an incredibly bright 5K display with retina-like resolution in a housing which looks good and also has decent speakers and an "ok" webcam.

It wakes from sleep instantly, works with the Mac keyboard shortcuts out the box, one cable to connect and power their laptop and has ports in the back to charge their stuff.

I guarantee the majority of buyers won't know or care the refresh rate or screen technology in use.

And I'd be totally ok with that, except due to macOS scaling and the lack of other Apple-supported options, the ASD doesn't work for the rest of us.

 

[Pezimak]

But for most people, the original ASD is still probably the best all round monitor you could buy.

Setting aside those who want/need something specific that the ASD doesn't offer, for everyone else, they get an incredibly bright 5K display with retina-like resolution in a housing which looks good and also has decent speakers and an "ok" webcam.

It wakes from sleep instantly, works with the Mac keyboard shortcuts out the box, one cable to connect and power their laptop and has ports in the back to charge their stuff.

I guarantee the majority of buyers won't know or care the refresh rate or screen technology in use.

And I'd be totally ok with that, except due to macOS scaling and the lack of other Apple-supported options, the ASD doesn't work for the rest of us.

It also has only one input socket and incredibly slow response time and the screen tech is very old now. No HDR at all to speak off either so rubbish for any media viewing. When it was launched it was alright, but really it is out dated now.

 

[ascender]

It also has only one input socket and incredibly slow response time and the screen tech is very old now. No HDR at all to speak off either so rubbish for any media viewing. When it was launched it was alright, but really it is out dated now.

Most people don't even know what HDR is though or even want to have multiple inputs.

Viewing media on it still looks good as its on a high-res display which is nice and bright.

I'm not disagreeing btw, the "enthusiasts" like us would like an ASD with the latest tech, multiple inputs etc but Apple products aren't aimed at us. They never really have been, especially when it comes to monitors.

 

[Pezimak]

Most people don't even know what HDR is though or even want to have multiple inputs.

Viewing media on it still looks good as its on a high-res display which is nice and bright.

I'm not disagreeing btw, the "enthusiasts" like us would like an ASD with the latest tech, multiple inputs etc but Apple products aren't aimed at us. They never really have been, especially when it comes to monitors.

I disagree, most people do know what HDR is as they are exposed to it daily, on films and television, and on phone screens and phone cameras, Apple themselves have done huge marketing campaigns over HDR iPhone camera features.

Also it isn’t enthusiast level to want more then one input, that is Apple RDF in effect, Apple are literally the only manufacturer to offer one input at any price level, even if you own multiple Apple devices you have to unplug them to use an Apple display, Apple used to offer multiple input sockets on their monitors. Many would like to see that again.

 

[the future]

A 27“ 5K display for 3300 USD? F*** off, Apple. That would be the price for a 32“ 6K display with the same specs.

 

[jabbr]

Yooo what are they smoking