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New Apple Studio Display and Studio Display XDR Don't Work With Intel Macs

This is a classic nothingburger story where everyone is upset it doesn't support Intel Macs but no one who has a Intel is buying this to begin with.

Edit* To be clear folks the 2022 Studio Display has the limitations with an official Apple compatibility list and guess what...... it's missing plenty of various old Intel Macs on it such as a 2015 Macbook Pro. Its a nothingburger story since this is monitor has always had niche support for modern Apple devices.

2022 Mac Studio = Does not officially support 7 year old Macs
2026 Mac Studio = Does not officially support 7 year old Macs

Question: Why is there new engagement rage now?
Answer: Because a headline of "no Intel support" sounds worst vs saying it doesn't support specific models like in the past while they are basically the same thing

This isn't some Apple bootlicker defense. These monitors have always been terrible for compatibly. Its just pointing out its the same thing it always has been but the headline sounds worst.
 
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Blackstick said:
Speaking unofficially on behalf of the media powerhouse I work for, we've got 2013 trash can Mac Pros STILL handling control room jobs. For a show that's on the air every morning. "Latest greatest ≠ ideal" for many Mac Pro customers.

We have the ear of Apple, they'd want us to replace these with Studios, but yeah - video guys are very often can kickers "if it works, don't touch my setup!" These are often run headless as servers too, so a display is pretty irrelevant anyway.
Click to expand...
Can absoluetly believe that. Strangely enough I went to a certain media company - with about a $180B market and saw trash can Mac Pro units in service, lots of them, in the comms room very recently.
 
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I use a Dell UP2715K.
www.macrumors.com

Apple Adds High-End 15" Retina MacBook Pro to List of Macs Supporting Dell's 5K Display

Apple has updated a support document on its website to reflect that the high-end 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, equipped with AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics, is capable of driving Dell's dual-cable UP2715K 27-inch 5K display. Apple initially released OS X 10.10.3 in April with support for the...
www.macrumors.com www.macrumors.com

Sixteen years old. More ports than the current BenQ PD2730s. Except for Thunderbolt. But I can do without that. Can use it with Mac M4, with AMD MiniPC, with iPad M4 and soon with an GTX5080.

120 Hz would have been the only reason to upgrade. Otherwise, nothing has changed technically since 2015.
 
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Blackstick said:
Speaking unofficially on behalf of the media powerhouse I work for, we've got 2013 trash can Mac Pros STILL handling control room jobs. For a show that's on the air every morning. "Latest greatest ≠ ideal" for many Mac Pro customers.

We have the ear of Apple, they'd want us to replace these with Studios, but yeah - video guys are very often can kickers "if it works, don't touch my setup!" These are often run headless as servers too, so a display is pretty irrelevant anyway.
Click to expand...
Well now I’m curious: what media powerhouse is Mac trash can-powering their morning broadcast? Fully respect if that’s confidential. 😉
 
fathergll said:
This is a classic nothingburger story where everyone is upset it doesn't support Intel Macs but no one who has a Intel is buying this to begin with.
Click to expand...
There are people who think further ahead than you do.

It is still possible today to connect monitors from the 90s to current computers. And it is also possible to connect today's monitors to computers from the 90s. Because a monitor's basic function is simply to display a video signal.

Apple turns hardware into a software product that is subject to the arbitrary restrictions of the corporation.
There is no technical reason to completely prevent functionality.

Do you understand?
This isn't about Intel and whether anyone still uses these Macs.

This is about planned obsolescence. It's a massive step to a future forcing people to regularly replace perfectly functioning hardware because the manufacturer prohibits its continued use.
 
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dugbug said:
Is this apple speak for 'intel macs cannot use all of the new features therefore we will declare them unsupported'? because surely these monitors will take a video signal
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I wouldn't put it past Apple to utilize the fancy iOS processor in the display to implement a software block that refuses to take a signal.

When the USB Superdrive first came out as a peripheral, Mac OS X prevented you from using it unless you were using a Mac without a built-in disc drive. Later OS X updates removed that software block.
 
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lazyrighteye said:
Well now I’m curious: what media powerhouse is Mac trash can-powering their morning broadcast? Fully respect if that’s confidential. 😉
Click to expand...
Of course, I don't know which “powerhouse” that is.

But I can tell you that companies think economically. While end customers buy something mostly on an emotional basis and are happy to be influenced by advertising or chase the dopamine kick of “the new,” an economically run company does not waste money on a new or more powerful product whose added value cannot be quantified.

Take Apple, for example: the company sells the Mac Pro but doesn't even use it itself. This is because the device has no added value over a Mac Studio but costs considerably more.

In TV shows and movies, it may seem as if companies always use the latest technology. That's because it's advertising.
But in reality, devices are used until a new purchase is justified. Justified mathematically, not justified by a “feeling that everything is faster”.
Maybe after a year, maybe only after 20 years.
 
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KRG said:
Apple is a company that makes premium tech. Their mission is to deliver the best customer experience and make lots of money doing so. These are top notch, very expensive displays designed for people who don’t have a problem dropping $$$ on tech.
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Nope, they’re just straight up overpriced
 
con2apple said:
There are people who think further ahead than you do.

It is still possible today to connect monitors from the 90s to current computers. And it is also possible to connect today's monitors to computers from the 90s. Because a monitor's basic function is simply to display a video signal.

Apple turns hardware into a software product that is subject to the arbitrary restrictions of the corporation.
There is no technical reason to completely prevent functionality.

Do you understand?
This isn't about Intel and whether anyone still uses these Macs.

This is about planned obsolescence. It's a massive step to a future forcing people to regularly replace perfectly functioning hardware because the manufacturer prohibits its continued use.
Click to expand...


It's nothing burger story. We already know Apple has compatibility support list for the 2022 Apple Studio Displays. Where on the list do you see '90s computers' below?

My point is simple. This is the exact same thing Apple has done for years now. They have a list of compatible computer that are tested to work with all the features as these displays are basically mini computers with IOS chips. Not being on the list doesn't mean it 'won't work at all', it means it's not a supported device and some things may not work obviously. This is all par for the course with how this monitor has always been so why is anyone surprised they don't officially support Intel Macs which is gone now?

They are terrible buys if you want "compatibility" and I don't believe for a second there are Intel Mac owners who are in the market for this monitor in 2026. Just people upset at the idea of it not that they are impacted.

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2022 Studio Display is compatible with the following Mac models running macOS Monterey 12.3 or later:

  • Mac Studio (2022 or later)
  • 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019 or later)
  • 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021 or later)
  • 13-inch MacBook Pro (2016 or later)
  • 15-inch MacBook Pro (2016 or later)
  • MacBook Air (2018 or later)
  • Mac mini (2018 or later)
  • Mac Pro (2019 or later)
  • 24-inch iMac (2021 or later)
  • 27-inch iMac (2017 or later)
  • 21.5-inch iMac (2017 or later)
  • iMac Pro (2017)
 
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Studio Display worked well with Mac Pro 5,1 and even Mac Pro 6,1 with proper eGPU or up to 4K natively.

Also worked well with a PC, but BootCamp drivers must be installed + extra Apple keyboard for brightness. That's it.
 
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Schizoid said:
I wouldn’t worry, nobody with Apple Silicon’s gonna buy them either!
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Mostly true. There are a lot of very good, high end displays out there. I don't know if the Apple displays have some key edge over all of those others or not, but most will gladly take one that is almost as good for less money without limitations.
 
A lot of people moaning in this thread don't understand this has nothing to do with "CPU" and everything to do with Thunderbolt protocols which are not always fully compatible with some older machines. They aren't even fully compatible with all cables. USB4 has the same issue.

For example, I can connect my Studio Display to my PC's USB4 port but only with a USB4 cable, not with the Thunderbolt 3 cable the display came with.

That isn't Apple's fault. In this case the PC's USB4 port hates Thunderbolt 3 cables because those cables predate USB4 and don't support the protocols.
 
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kalsta said:
No—not if this sets a precedent for Apple displays. The whole point of buying a separate monitor (as opposed to say an iMac) is that you can upgrade your computer in the coming years and keep your working display.
Click to expand...


Nope its the same thing that they have done since 2022 Mac Studio display. I edited my above post for more context which is below.


----------------------------------------

"Edit* To be clear folks the 2022 Studio Display has the limitations with an official Apple compatibility list and guess what...... it's missing plenty of various old Intel Macs on it such as a 2015 Macbook Pro. Its a nothingburger story since this is monitor has always had niche support for modern Apple devices."

2022 Mac Studio = Does not officially support 7 year old Macs
2026 Mac Studio = Does not officially support 7 year old Macs

Question: Why is there new engagement rage now?
Answer: Because a headline of "no Intel support" sounds worst vs saying it doesn't support specific models like in the past while they are basically the same thing

This isn't some Apple bootlicker defense. These monitors have always been terrible for compatibly. Its just pointing out its the same thing it always has been but the headline sounds worst.
 
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Well. I have been using apple products all my life. For one reason or another, like a week ago, I have decided to buy a monitor. For reasons you may not understand, I will not pay more for my display than my mac (joke intended). I bouth a 150 dollar monitor from LG. And you know what? It does the same thing and frankly speaking, I don't see the difference (maybe I'm just colorblind btw, but I really don't).
 
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Ursadorable said:
Exactly. Any other monitor, I can plug my PS5 into and have it work fine.
Click to expand...

Yep, this kinda crap from Apple is a no-go for me. I have a 120hz 27" Dell Thunderbolt monitor, and it has 4 inputs and a built-in KVM. Currently hooked it up my MBP (which it works PERFECTLY with), my work-provided Dell Latitude, and a Nintendo Switch.

..and it cost >$800.
 
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