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Studio Display XDR Impressions

G

gsilver

macrumors member
Original poster
Quick notes and impressions after picking up this morning:

Looks awesome. HDR is great.

-My M4 MacBook Air does 120hz
-All features and resolution work with TB4 cable I had already connected to my M4 Max Mac Studio.

Windows (9800x3D with 5090)
-I connected to the USB-C DP output and used AMD Hybrid Graphics to use my GPU to render. I also have a DisplayPort/USB-A to USB-C cable that I connect direct to my GPU.
-Display detected as Studio XDR
-I used to be able to adjust brightness on my Mac and then plug into my PC and the brightness would carry over. It seems dimmer in Windows so I'm not sure if that is working
-I got 5k 120hz with the TB cable coming from my USB-C port on my PC to the display. HDR and variable refresh werent' detected by windows. I'll have to play with this more after work today.
-Using this cable (https://a.co/d/0jlxzcFl) I only get 4k 120hz and also no HDR or VRR. HDR works and VRR works in games, but Windows doesn't detect the capability.



UPDATE: HDR is mostly working in Windows. It works in YouTube videos and I can enable the setting in Windows display settings. Playing Doom: The Dark Ages, it gives an error while enabling HDR (HDR Hardware not supported or something to that effect.)

After enabling the HDR setting in Windows, I can go into the advanced settings for HDR (click the ">" next to HDR slider.) This shows a setting for SDR brightness which was set to halfway, I was able to use this slider to adjust the Studio Display XDR to full brightness.

UPDATE 2: Other games in Windows are working with HDR. Looks to be a Doom specific issue for the HDR error.
 
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gsilver said:
Quick notes and impressions after picking up this morning:

Looks awesome. HDR is great.

-My M4 MacBook Air does 120hz
-All features and resolution work with TB4 cable I had already connected to my M4 Max Mac Studio.

Windows (9800x3D with 5090)
-I connected to the USB-C DP output and used AMD Hybrid Graphics to use my GPU to render. I also have a DisplayPort/USB-A to USB-C cable that I connect direct to my GPU.
-Display detected as Studio XDR
-I used to be able to adjust brightness on my Mac and then plug into my PC and the brightness would carry over. It seems dimmer in Windows so I'm not sure if that is working
-I got 5k 120hz with the TB cable coming from my USB-C port on my PC to the display. HDR and variable refresh werent' detected by windows. I'll have to play with this more after work today.
-Using this cable (https://a.co/d/0jlxzcFl) I only get 4k 120hz and also no HDR or VRR.
Click to expand...

Thanks for this, I plan on getting this monitor if it checks out but will need it to work with my Mac, and my works laptop which is a new Dell which does have a USB C Thunderbolt 4 DP port, I need to find a KVM to something though to switch between the 2, do you use one at all?m I only need it to work with my Works Dell laptop even at 30HZ is fine.
 
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Pezimak said:
Thanks for this, I plan on getting this monitor if it checks out but will need it to work with my Mac, and my works laptop which is a new Dell which does have a USB C Thunderbolt 4 DP port, I need to find a KVM to something though to switch between the 2, do you use one at all?m I only need it to work with my Works Dell laptop even at 30HZ is fine.
Click to expand...
This (https://a.co/d/0aqdMvPs) has been recommended for the old Studio Display but I have yet to try it. There was a rumor of a 40gbps version coming out but I haven't seen anything about it releasing.
 
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Just got my Studio Display XDR.

Last week there was an article about Studio Display Firmware 26.3 update.

I am not seeing it. Anyone else see the firmware update?
 
gsilver said:
Quick notes and impressions after picking up this morning:

Looks awesome. HDR is great.

-My M4 MacBook Air does 120hz
-All features and resolution work with TB4 cable I had already connected to my M4 Max Mac Studio.

Windows (9800x3D with 5090)
-I connected to the USB-C DP output and used AMD Hybrid Graphics to use my GPU to render. I also have a DisplayPort/USB-A to USB-C cable that I connect direct to my GPU.
-Display detected as Studio XDR
-I used to be able to adjust brightness on my Mac and then plug into my PC and the brightness would carry over. It seems dimmer in Windows so I'm not sure if that is working
-I got 5k 120hz with the TB cable coming from my USB-C port on my PC to the display. HDR and variable refresh werent' detected by windows. I'll have to play with this more after work today.
-Using this cable (https://a.co/d/0jlxzcFl) I only get 4k 120hz and also no HDR or VRR.
Click to expand...
Is there any noise from the fans you can hear in a quiet room?
 
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How are the speakers? I have a reg. Studio Display and the speakers seem decent. Curious how the improvement is? The 120Hz sounds amazing!!!
 
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First impression: I absolutely love mine.

I've been working on a Studio Display for the past 4 years and the difference in color depth and vibrancy is striking. Fully able to drive 120 Hz off a base model m4 MacBook Air. I did notice some ghosting when dragging windows around to test the frame rate, but I changed the frame rate from adaptive to a fixed 120 Hz and that appeared to mitigate the ghosting. HDR content is truly beautiful.

The speakers are quite good, but I use a set of external speakers so I'm not able to make a quality comparison to the Studio Display 1 baseline. Not a gamer so I can't speak to gaming on it.

Is it worth the price? Depends on your budget and your priorities. The original Studio Display was heavily mocked for its price back in 2022, but the people who used them daily all seemed to love them, myself included. 8 hours/day adds up to 2,000 hours/year staring at a screen, and I couldn't be happier that this display will be the one in front of me for the next 10,000 hours or so.
 
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ElGrandisimo said:
First impression: I absolutely love mine.

I've been working on a Studio Display for the past 4 years and the difference in color depth and vibrancy is striking. Fully able to drive 120 Hz off a base model m4 MacBook Air. I did notice some ghosting when dragging windows around to test the frame rate, but I changed the frame rate from adaptive to a fixed 120 Hz and that appeared to mitigate the ghosting. HDR content is truly beautiful.

The speakers are quite good, but I use a set of external speakers so I'm not able to make a quality comparison to the Studio Display 1 baseline. Not a gamer so I can't speak to gaming on it.

Is it worth the price? Depends on your budget and your priorities. The original Studio Display was heavily mocked for its price back in 2022, but the people who used them daily all seemed to love them, myself included. 8 hours/day adds up to 2,000 hours/year staring at a screen, and I couldn't be happier that this display will be the one in front of me for the next 10,000 hours or so.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this, do you still notice ghosting at 120hz, is it worse than the original SD and is it noticeable in normal use?
 
TheBigApple2006 said:
Thanks for this, do you still notice ghosting at 120hz, is it worse than the original SD and is it noticeable in normal use?
Click to expand...
No, it isn't anywhere near as noticeable now that I've set it to 120 Hz as when I first plugged in and the monitor was set to Adaptive (47-120 Hz). I'm going to stress test it a bit more later today and if it's still an issue, I'll be sure to share it with you all.
 
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ElGrandisimo said:
No, it isn't anywhere near as noticeable now that I've set it to 120 Hz as when I first plugged in and the monitor was set to Adaptive (47-120 Hz). I'm going to stress test it a bit more later today and if it's still an issue, I'll be sure to share it with you all.
Click to expand...
Thanks, that would be great. Do you also notice the vignetting/row of black pixels around the edges of the screen which is typical of miniLED screens? The Macbook Pro and iPad M1/2 had it.
 
gsilver said:
Mine came with firmware Version 26.3 (Build 23D8128).
Click to expand...
Thanks, I learned how to look up the firmware version number and I can confirm the same build on mine. Looks like review units shipped with an earlier version but release day units have 26.3 firmware installed at the factory.
 
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TheBigApple2006 said:
Is there any noise from the fans you can hear in a quiet room?
Click to expand...
My room sits at 38db right now. Not anywhere near silent. But I will say the ASD XDR appears to not be noticeable. If you're a musician or such where your professional job requires minimal background noise, you might want to do more research. I have a LaCie d2 as a TimeMachine drive and the drive is louder than the XDR even during its more silent moments.

I will say that I plugged the monitor into the power outlet and then my face was near the top of the monitor to start plugging the TB5 cable to my mini. I was surprised to feel the fan was on even though it had no TB5 cable connected. So I'd be curious to do further testing to see if the fan runs when the computer is off.
djinn said:
How are the speakers? I have a reg. Studio Display and the speakers seem decent. Curious how the improvement is? The 120Hz sounds amazing!!!
Click to expand...
Bass seems to get a little bit deeper. Biggest thing that I've noticed is max volume though. While I have no scientific measurement, I feel that my old ASD at 100% is closer to ASD XDR at 80%. If I go higher than 80% it starts to hurt my ears. So it seems to have a lot of range.
TheBigApple2006 said:
Thanks, that would be great. Do you also notice the vignetting/row of black pixels around the edges of the screen which is typical of miniLED screens? The Macbook Pro and iPad M1/2 had it.
Click to expand...
Yes, I do see vignetting around the edges using the default out of box settings/brightness while viewing this white forum background on MR. Less noticeable on colored area of the screen.
 
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btrach144 said:
I will say that I plugged the monitor into the power outlet and then my face was near the top of the monitor to start plugging the TB5 cable to my mini. I was surprised to feel the fan was on even though it had no TB5 cable connected. So I'd be curious to do further testing to see if the fan runs when the computer is off.
Click to expand...
Even if your device has nothing to do with my and other users „problem“, you may use this
how to easy test fans
as a reference what and how to test. Whatever you figure out will not help the old ASD users, but just out of curiosity it will be interesting to see.
 
gsilver said:
This (https://a.co/d/0aqdMvPs) has been recommended for the old Studio Display but I have yet to try it. There was a rumor of a 40gbps version coming out but I haven't seen anything about it releasing.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I've seen that one mentioned and yes that they were supposed to have been working on a 40GB one. Some have also recommended the Sbarent http://sabrent.com/collections/accessories/products/sb-tb4k which is Thunderbolt 4 so hopefully will give 5K 120FPS with a Mac.
 
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Mine just arrived as well. The Apple packaging is just another level.

As far as the Display concern - Just awesome! What a Display. From first impressions I say it is even better to what Apple promised. Photos in LR are looking awesome. The Colors are 😍. BW is also 🥰

No Problem with my M1Pro 16MBP, apart from just 60hz. Also works fine with my work laptop. (Lenovo Thinkpad T14 Gen5).

The price is high, but if you can afford one just got for it!
 
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tim@ipad said:
Mine just arrived as well. The Apple packaging is just another level.

As far as the Display concern - Just awesome! What a Display. From first impressions I say it is even better to what Apple promised. Photos in LR are looking awesome. The Colors are 😍. BW is also 🥰

No Problem with my M1Pro 16MBP, apart from just 60hz. Also works fine with my work laptop. (Lenovo Thinkpad T14 Gen5).

The price is high, but if you can afford one just got for it!
Click to expand...
Got a chuckle, "... if you can afford one just go for it!"
 
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btrach144 said:
My room sits at 38db right now. Not anywhere near silent. But I will say the ASD XDR appears to not be noticeable. If you're a musician or such where your professional job requires minimal background noise, you might want to do more research. I have a LaCie d2 as a TimeMachine drive and the drive is louder than the XDR even during its more silent moments.

I will say that I plugged the monitor into the power outlet and then my face was near the top of the monitor to start plugging the TB5 cable to my mini. I was surprised to feel the fan was on even though it had no TB5 cable connected. So I'd be curious to do further testing to see if the fan runs when the computer is off.

Bass seems to get a little bit deeper. Biggest thing that I've noticed is max volume though. While I have no scientific measurement, I feel that my old ASD at 100% is closer to ASD XDR at 80%. If I go higher than 80% it starts to hurt my ears. So it seems to have a lot of range.

Yes, I do see vignetting around the edges using the default out of box settings/brightness while viewing this white forum background on MR. Less noticeable on colored area of the screen.
Click to expand...
Thank you for reporting back on the speakers.
 
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