Studio Display Add-On Height-Adjustable Stand Costs an Extra $400, Nano-Texture Glass is $300

[1BadManVan]

QHD is 2560 x 1440
4K is 3840 x 2160
5K is 5120 × 2880

Just going to 4K allows me to see 50% more code on my screen, which makes me more productive. It makes it easier for me to have windows along side my editor for documentation, messages, etc, again making me more productive.

The 5k Monitor can give me QHD window sizes at a much sharper resolution, so I don't have to wear glasses which is huge for me. Or I can put on the glasses and see twice as much code vertically and have even more side windows to maximize my productivity.

If you aren't a professional, I understand why it doesn't matter to you. But if I had the choice between a QHD monitor for $300 or a 5k monitor at $1600, the choice is a no brainer. The 5k monitor pays for itself easily within a year.

The funny thing is the point of my original post I made here is the insane price hike for nano textured glass. I have nano textured glass on my 27” monitor, I guarantee it’s made by lg for both, but yet apple is charging an entire regular monitors worth to have it as an option that’s on $300 monitors? But because I stated what resolution my monitor was that has it, that somehow became the argument about the price?

 

[flapflapflap]

It's a replacement for the LG 5K monitor, the only other 5k monitor available. For $400 more you get a brighter screen, better camera, better ports, more power to connected devices, higher quality aluminum body and build construction, better visual design and better Mac compatibility.

You can say it's "too expensive" if you don't think all those things are valuable, but you can't say its "far too expensive". If you were a creative professional or developer, you'd say $400 more for a monitor I'll use 5 to 10 years? Thats less than $7 per month, most likely $4 a month. If it makes me 1/30 of 1% more productive, no brainer.

It’s worth the premium. It‘s optimized for Mac. Looks great. I will be buying 2.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

Yeah because code understanding is definitely facilitated by how many LOC you see on a screen vs. the quality of the code written or the heaviness of the abstractions or quality of the naming it's using, right? Hell I could set font size to 12pt and use a 60" vertical monitor and evidently that would make me the most superhuman engineer on Earth.

It may be hard to explain to someone who doesn't write code every day, but I'll try. I code many times faster when I'm highly focused, and I try to do everything to help gain that level of focus and maintain it. I keep two tabs open at same time so I can see two different files side by side, so I can directly understand what happens when code in one file calls code in the other file. If I had an XDR 6K monitor I would keep three tabs open at once. If I only have enough space for a single tab, I would be constantly clicking back and forth between files, and while reading one trying to remember exactly what the others did.

If the code I'm looking at doesn't fit on screen, I have to scroll up or down to see all of it. That makes it harder to remember everything the code at the beginning or end does, so you end up scrolling back and forth. I have files that are well over a thousand lines of code.

Can I still get my work done on a smaller monitor? Of course. I used to code on a Mac SE with a 512 by 384 pixel screen. But I can't code as fast and quality will suffer. Having to constantly scroll, and close and open files makes it harder to focus and concentrate as deeply because you are also thinking about what goes where so you can see instead of only thinking about what the code means.

If the XDR was only $3,000 I would own one already because it would easily increase my productivity and quality of work to. $6,000 would also be worth it as well but I have hopes Apple will have a $3,000 version soon, so I'm waiting. Eventually I'll get a 6K 32 inch monitor or two Mac Studio Monitors.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

The funny thing is the point of my original post I made here is the insane price hike for nano textured glass. I have nano textured glass on my 27” monitor, I guarantee it’s made by lg for both, but yet apple is charging an entire regular monitors worth to have it as an option that’s on $300 monitors? But because I stated what resolution my monitor was that has it, that somehow became the argument about the price?

There are no $300 monitors with nano textured glass. Nano texture is expensive because it isn't just a coating added to the glass, it's actually etched into the glass so the monitor's contrast and sharpness is less affected.

Matte coatings are much cheaper, but they reduce contrast and sharpness more.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

The funny thing is the point of my original post I made here is the insane price hike for nano textured glass. I have nano textured glass on my 27” monitor, I guarantee it’s made by lg for both, but yet apple is charging an entire regular monitors worth to have it as an option that’s on $300 monitors? But because I stated what resolution my monitor was that has it, that somehow became the argument about the price?

What LG monitor offers nano texture glass? I've never seen one that does.

 

[CoffeeMacBook]

Not interested until Apple brings out a display that is

1) Curved 21:9 Ultra wide

2) 100-120Hz or greater

3) 34-38 inches

4) 5K2K or better

I like the 27" 5K monitors for one reason, I can fit more information into a smaller footprint due to the resolution. Awhile back, I decided to get an external monitor and opted for a 27" that only had 2k resolution natively at max. It was a huge monitor for my desk, took up a lot of desk space and I could barely fit all of my Photoshop menu's plugins, and work applications all on one screen comfortably. Yes I could scale the menu's down, but the buttons and graphics themselves have a limitation for downscaling.

I ended up having to return it, and bit the bullet on shipping it back because it was unusable for the work I do. The biggest upside for more resolution in less of a footprint, is that I can scale the software UI down while leaving a giant workspace to view the actual project files (whether that's a PSD or the XYZ plains on a 3D rendering software).

The only problem I have with Ultra-Wide is that I need to see straight lines perfectly straight when I design or draft designs. Curved monitors are meant for consumers or gamers. Professional designers, technicians, CAD designers, architects? I don't know that a curved monitor is ideal for their workflow. I'm not saying it's undoable, I'm sure there are designers and architects who make it work but trying to look at straight lines across a wide plain and seeing it curve makes it less than ideal for work that requires accuracy.

I currently have a 32" 4K monitor. It took a few weeks to get use to the size, but at my sitting distance, the edges of the screen is a strain to view. I can understand why curved monitors are ideal for this scenario, however I've found that the most comfortable monitor size for my work and desk setup/sitting distance is a 27" monitor (dual or triple setup) with 5k and fitting more screen real estate into that footprint on a flat plain. I'm able to "curve" the monitors towards me and still have it remain perfectly flat.

Refresh rate are limited by the ports, and so until those get upgraded - you'll be waiting awhile:

Can these be daisy chained?

I was wondering the same thing, and have been with Apple Support Chat trying to get answers - see my post below regarding the Studio Display:

There are so many questions I had for the Mac Studio Display and I've been with Apple Chat multiple times to get some answers. I will post them down below incase anyone is wondering:

Mac Studio Display 27"
Not capable of Daisy Chaining - There is only 1 Thunderbolt 3 port (Upstream) that can power your Mac, but depending on how many monitors you get (dual, or triple setup) it will take up ports on your computer/laptop.

Portrait Mode Auto-Recognition - The Vesa mount/stand version of the studio display is capable of automatically switching to vertical/portrait mode vs landscape. Only the Vesa mount/stand version can be rotated vertically.

MacBook Pro 16" - Capable of powering up to 4 Studio Displays, if using the HDMI port (3 USB-C, 1 HDMI).

Brightness/Dimming - Capable of brightness and dimming via keyboard controls through your Mac desktop/laptop. How it's done, I don't know? I've never had an Apple Display.

Just going to 4K allows me to see 50% more code on my screen, which makes me more productive. It makes it easier for me to have windows along side my editor for documentation, messages, etc, again making me more productive.

Agreed. After having used a 5K iMac a few years back, going to a 2k monitor nearly halted my productivity. I ended up having to return the monitor and went for a 32" 4k.

I like being able to fit more things onto the screen. It increases my productivity. For my work flow, there is only so much you can do to minimize the menus, dialogue boxes, and icons on a particular software suite before the native resolution becomes a limitation.

View Photoshop on a 2K monitor vs a 5k monitor regardless of physical size of the monitor, at native resolution the increase allows more of the canvas to be seen while the menus shrink.

32" @ 6K is overkill for me though. I also strain to see 32" with my current setup and distance, especially at the corners. I have a very long desk with not a lot of depth in the z-index of things. A 32" monitor would be better suited at like 3+ feet distance for my neck. I'm currently around 2 feet away from my monitor, so the 27" is a great size.

Edit: Also, I prefer to see the entire screen and only leaning in/zooming in physically to focus on any particular detail when necessary. So the 32", only seeing the center of the screen clearly and having to lean back to see everything is a tad awkward for me and takes getting use to, but my preference is to see everything clearly and then leaning in or pulling the monitor closer to me if I need to focus on any details.

 

[omicronx9]

It may be hard to explain to someone who doesn't write code every day

I like how you didn't understand a thing I said heh. I'm a PE at a tech company. No offense but your claims about how seeing more code with more columns or whatever in higher resolution makes you a better engineer are laughable. They're something I'd expect a completely new engineer or intern fresh out of college to say. To state the obvious, you won't tell the difference between 4k and 5k. You will, on the other hand, see huge differences between 60hz and 120hz. Some rudimentary knowledge about the machines you use to do your programming would've helped you to understand this, and you wouldn't be making these outlandish claims.

 

[ilikewhey]

This is consumer-level display in 2022. It only has HDR 600 and is sized 27" for FFS. It's far more ergonomic to have a VESA mount anyway.

1500 is not consumer level, my dell u2720q at 500 bucks is consumer level.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

I like how you didn't understand a thing I said heh. I'm a PE at a tech company. No offense but your claims about how seeing more code with more columns or whatever in higher resolution makes you a better engineer are laughable. They're something I'd expect a completely new engineer or intern fresh out of college to say. To state the obvious, you won't tell the difference between 4k and 5k. You will, on the other hand, see huge differences between 60hz and 120hz. Some rudimentary knowledge about the machines you use to do your programming would've helped you to understand this, and you wouldn't be making these outlandish claims.

I have a 120hz display. Don't see much of a difference. I do see the difference between seeing 100 lines of code and 50.

I've been a developer for a very long time, but even as a newb engineer fresh out of college I understood this because the biggest increase in productivity I've ever experienced was adding a Radius portrait display to an accelerated Mac SE.

 

[dav1dd]

I'm very disappointed in the price of this display. It is a lovely display, to be sure — well worth the money. That said, creating two monitors for designers/developers and zero for average consumers is strange to me. There are many people who want a decent monitor (other than crappy LG or Dell monitors) that match their Apple computer. If it costs a bit more than one of those crappy $300 monitors, fine. The average consumer isn't going to spend $1500 on this monitor and doesn't need this level of a monitor. I guess I will keep waiting and hoping.

That's the sleight of hand. They're actually dressing up the consumer-level display as though it's for the designers/developers.

 

[bsolar]

No offense but your claims about how seeing more code with more columns or whatever in higher resolution makes you a better engineer are laughable.

Different developers can have very different setups and consequently very different requirements. I tend to use very small areas to display code because I purposefully want to limit how much code I deal with at a time. I still need quite a lot of screen estate since I often have open reference documentation, prototype versions of what I'm working on and remote collaboration tools.

What makes you a better engineer can be a lot different to what make another a better engineer.

To state the obvious, you won't tell the difference between 4k and 5k.

Let's take as example this monitor distance calculator. There are many available but they use more or less the same underlying formulas. They are often based on TV or movie theater setups, but the same logic more or less applies to whatever you are doing.

The calculator gives for a given monitor size and resolution the minimum distance based on FoV, and a visual acuity distance based on pixel size.

• 27"@4K: Minimum distance 0.43 m (1.4 ft), Visual Acuity distance: 0.52 m (1.7 ft)
• 27"@5K: Minimum distance 0.43 m (1.4 ft), Visual Acuity distance: 0.44 m (1.4 ft)

As you can see at 27"@5K the two distances are basically the same and the monitor can be comfortably used as near as about 0.43-0.44 m (1.4 ft). The same screen size at 4K increases this distance to 0.52 m (1.7 ft), because although the screen could comfortably be at a shorted distance according to the FoV, it requires a longer distance to preserve visual acuity.

This is merely about the physical characteristics: on top of that you have to consider how MacOS performs HiDPI scaling. On MacOS the "optimal" way to do HiDPI scaling is with a 200% factor. This leads to the following actual "real estate" resolutions:

• 4K: 3840 × 2160 -> 1920 x 1080
• 5K: 5120 x 2880 -> 2560 x 1440

On MacOS different scaling factors are possible but they lead to reduced sharpness.

This means it's definitely possible to tell a difference between 4K and 5K and this leads to different optimal distances for the same screen size using the different resolutions, not to mention different "real estate" resolutions if one wants to use the screen with the "best" HiDPI scaling factor.

Whether these differences matter in your situation depends, but even assuming they don't matter in your situation, it doesn't mean they don't matter in general.

 

[timmodugdale]

$300 gets you crappy. You will need to spend at least $500 for a decent monitor. There are some very nice ones that are in the $800-$1,100 range that offer the same features, if not more, aside from the A13 chip which may do some neat tricks for compatible iPads.

I would question your use of the word "NEED". This was the premise of my original post. An ordinary user who is browsing the web, working on documents and spreadsheets, etc. doesn't NEED a high-end monitor. I like a lot of the features on the new monitor (built-in camera, and hub) are great... but they don't need 5K display. Apple keeps aiming beyond the average consumer to more high-end users as if they are the norm. They are not.

 

[ColdShadow]

It's a replacement for the LG 5K monitor, the only other 5k monitor available. For $400 more you get a brighter screen, better camera, better ports, more power to connected devices, higher quality aluminum body and build construction, better visual design and better Mac compatibility.

You can say it's "too expensive" if you don't think all those things are valuable, but you can't say its "far too expensive". If you were a creative professional or developer, you'd say $400 more for a monitor I'll use 5 to 10 years? Thats less than $7 per month, most likely $4 a month. If it makes me 1/30 of 1% more productive, no brainer.

I still don't think you can justify $1600 for a 27" 60Hz monitor.
I understand it's supposed to be a high end and pro user 5k display but still,this price is WAY too HIGH.
how much was the iMac with 5K display integrated? how much better is this monitor? is $1600 price tag still justified?
many pro users are using LG CX / C1 OLED 48 TV as monitor..that's a 4k 48 INCH OLED 120Hz panel with pretty much every feature available today.and it's $1000 or less.and LG is releasing a 42 Inch version too.
I think this monitor is easily $600 over priced.

 

[izzle22]

It’s funny how everyone is complaining about the price and function of this display. I paid $1299 for the 20 inch Apple Cinema Display back in 2004. This display is so much better and not that much more 18 years later. I also paid $2000 for a G5 tower that is garbage compared to the $2000 base Mac studio.

 

[timmodugdale]

I still don't think you can justify $1600 for a 27" 60Hz monitor.
I understand it's supposed to be a high end and pro user 5k display but still,this price is WAY too HIGH.
how much was the iMac with 5K display integrated? how much better is this monitor? is $1600 price tag still justified?
many pro users are using LG CX / C1 OLED 48 TV as monitor..that's a 4k 48 INCH OLED 120Hz panel with pretty much every feature available today.and it's $1000 or less.and LG is releasing a 42 Inch version too.
I think this monitor is easily $600 over priced.

I don't have the expertise to provide an accurate estimate, but I agree that it is too expensive. The hub, the camera, and the 5K all make it more expensive. I would have liked an ethernet port on it, as well, for that price (like the old Apple Displays did).

 

[cmaier]

I would have liked an ethernet port on it, as well, for that price

Funniest thing I’ve read all day.

 

[RenegadfeMonste]

I'm very disappointed in the price of this display. It is a lovely display, to be sure — well worth the money. That said, creating two monitors for designers/developers and zero for average consumers is strange to me. There are many people who want a decent monitor (other than crappy LG or Dell monitors) that match their Apple computer. If it costs a bit more than one of those crappy $300 monitors, fine. The average consumer isn't going to spend $1500 on this monitor and doesn't need this level of a monitor. I guess I will keep waiting and hoping.

This is the one thing that doesn't make me hate the fact that my 13" M1 MBP can only support 1 external display. As I can never afford 2 Studio Displays.

 

[123]

Even if they would implement their own display protocol they would still be limited by the bandwidth of Thunderbolt

If they implement a completely new protocol (which, since they started to turn monitors into PCs, is not ruled out) it is entirely possible because everything except games can be very well compressed losslessly. For example, scrolling is exactly that: scrolling. no other information has to go over the wire.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

I still don't think you can justify $1600 for a 27" 60Hz monitor.
I understand it's supposed to be a high end and pro user 5k display but still,this price is WAY too HIGH.
how much was the iMac with 5K display integrated? how much better is this monitor? is $1600 price tag still justified?
many pro users are using LG CX / C1 OLED 48 TV as monitor..that's a 4k 48 INCH OLED 120Hz panel with pretty much every feature available today.and it's $1000 or less.and LG is releasing a 42 Inch version too.
I think this monitor is easily $600 over priced.

If a 120hz 5k monitor existed anywhere in the world maybe I'd agree with you.

The world doesn't support HDR at over 4K sizes because 4K is less than half the pixels and thunderbolt can't drive it at 5k resolution.

So given there are only two 5k monitors available in the world, and this is clearly far higher quality than the LG and only $400 more, it's a reasonable price. Saying it's $600 overpriced is saying it's not as good as the LG, which is laughable.

 

[tdbrown75]

Snagged a Studio Display with the height adjustable stand from a local Apple store this morning.

I found the standard height monitor to be too low for my tastes, I liked the extra heft of the height adjustment stand, and the display sits further forward than it does with the plain tilt. The mechanism also looks so darn cool. It was a lot of money but I’ll have this monitor for many years And to me it’s worth it.

And finally back to the 5K 27” I have missed so badly since moving from an iMac to a laptop.

Tim

 

[Abazigal]

I'm very disappointed in the price of this display. It is a lovely display, to be sure — well worth the money. That said, creating two monitors for designers/developers and zero for average consumers is strange to me. There are many people who want a decent monitor (other than crappy LG or Dell monitors) that match their Apple computer. If it costs a bit more than one of those crappy $300 monitors, fine. The average consumer isn't going to spend $1500 on this monitor and doesn't need this level of a monitor. I guess I will keep waiting and hoping.

My guess is price. Apple is willing to release monitors for pro users because they understand there's a market willing to pay a premium for the quality of displays and the level of integration that they offer. Consumers are likely more price-conscious, and there really isn't much Apple can do to differentiate their displays while sticking to a reasonable price point.

 

[SlaveToSwift]

Snagged a Studio Display with the height adjustable stand from a local Apple store this morning.

I found the standard height monitor to be too low for my tastes, I liked the extra heft of the height adjustment stand, and the display sits further forward than it does with the plain tilt. The mechanism also looks so darn cool. It was a lot of money but I’ll have this monitor for many years And to me it’s worth it.

And finally back to the 5K 27” I have missed so badly since moving from an iMac to a laptop.

Tim

Congratulations!

I'm so far unable to pull the trigger. I have a 27 and 30 inch Dell 4k monitors that were always adequate until the Studio Display announcement, and now I am wondering.

I feel like that 40 year old married guy who has always said "a good marriage is worth putting the work in" until the 25 year old receptionist started flirting with him. Now every time his wife ignores him or disagrees with him over the slightest issue he's like "I can't take this anymore!!!!!!!!!!"

 

[kyykesko]

I wish this had an integrated Apple TV with Remote so I can use it as a smart monitor/TV. I'll stick with my Samsung Smart Monitor I guess.

That would raise it's praise by a meager $999 anyway. So cheap! Especially compared to the cleaning cloth that's probably only $299.

 

[kyykesko]

I am happy the display is finally here.
I think the price seems to be fair and glad to see the nano and stand are cheaper BTO options now. This is a good sign that maybe the upcoming XDR display might be cheaper than before. So, I guess WWDC we might see the MacPro and XDR 2.0. Let's hope so.

Thank you for finally illustrating me Apple's point with these ridiculous prices. First they shoot up so high it's totally insane and after a while just "only" ludicrous pricing will be seen as a "good sign"? I wouldn't have believed it would work if someone had told me beforehand, but I guess I have to believe my eyes.

I'm not too fond of tiny 27" monitors but I might consider this if the price included the adjustable stand and the coating. I'm not ready to pay a price of another monitor for those, and without them the monitor simply isn't good enough for the price. I'm aware it may well be so for those who are fanboy enough to want to add several hundred for the Apple logo alone.

 

[seeker7125]

Cost a lovely $400 for them to convert the stand to the VESA amount one (needed it for a business). Joy