Two New Apple Displays Nearing Mass Production, May Launch This Year

[Agent007]

I don't mind overpaying for these because there are no other glossy monitors out there that work as well with Macs, but stop gouging us on the stand prices!!

"I don't mind overpaying" 🤦‍♂️

J427/J527 prediction: One is the current 27" Studio w/ upgraded chip ONLY and start price dropped to $1,299. The other is a new 27" 5k w/ TB5, 90hz panel. $2,499 + $499 for the box lol.

As for alternative inputs or non-16:9 aspect ratios? FORGET ABOUT IT.

 

[btrach144]

Hoping for pro motion and hdr support. Don’t really care if it’s 27” or 32”. Don’t really care about much else. The Studio Display is good. It just needs better than 60hz and it needs hdr support (actually usable hdr and not just edge lit LED LCD panel).

 

[fathergll]

Please Apple make it multiple inputs. Double TH5, HDMI, DisplayPort whatever works best for you but stop assuming people only want to use their monitor for a single Mac.

Won't happen. Apple isn't in the display business and these displays are basically Apple accessories for Apple products. They are not selling these displays with the intention of users hooking them up to their PC or anything besides Apple products.

 

[Jeeve Stubbs]

One of the two is probably the Studio Display indeed. Maybe the other one refers to the iMac's monitor? After four years, it would make sense and there are certainly some specifications that could be improved. That said, if I had to choose, refreshing the XDR's specs would have priority over the iMac.

 

[AudiA4]

Here's hoping Apple will release a 32" 6K monitor that brings the price point down to a reasonable level (NOT $5,000).

 

[Agent007]

Here's hoping Apple will release a 32" 6K monitor that brings the price point down to a reasonable level (NOT $5,000).

A few days ago I was thinking about the old 30" ACD from 2004 and thought the price was $1,999. I was thinking "man, Apple has gotten so ridiculous with everything." I just looked it up - it was $3,299 (around $5,500 today). It was lowered to $2,999 in 2005 but their displays have always been expensive and rarely updated.

Apple isn't in the display business and these displays are basically Apple accessories for Apple products

The #1 reason for Apples lack of focus on monitors historically and currently. I think they would've stopped altogether if not for the Mac-vs-PC era - the public perception that Macs were using "monitors from PCs" would've been bad for their image, especially in the stores.

Also, a "matching" monitor was a bigger deal when a "desktop" couldn't easily be hidden away (not just due to size but also because of a need to access ports or floppy, CD, DVD drives).

 

[Airmk]

Won't happen. Apple isn't in the display business and these displays are basically Apple accessories for Apple products. They are not selling these displays with the intention of users hooking them up to their PC or anything besides Apple products.

I get your point but at the end of the day Apple wants to sell as much Studio Display as possible. Supporting multiple inputs would make it a better product and would definitely help sell more units.

That said, I don’t think it’ll happen either, unfortunately. I do think Apple is making a mistake by being this stubborn.

 

[thenewepic]

I think that is pretty much standard now in this class of Retina type monitors

HDR doesn't make any sense on panel that doesn't support local dimming (i.e. non-miniLED or non-OLED). And almost all of retina monitors (for exception of Apple XDR display) don't have miniLED or OLED panel.

J427 could be an update to the current Studio Display, with an IPS Black panel and DisplayHDR 600

I'm sure Apple won't be that stupid to put lame DisplayHDR 600 in its monitors.

The other is a new 27" 5k w/ TB5, 90hz panel

90hz is a really big step. I think it'd be better to start from 75hz now then 90hz in 5 years and then 120hz in 10 years or so.

 

[Dark-Signature]

34" ultrawide (21:9) 7k3k please

Actually, there must be a manufacturer that produces such panels, as long as Apple can't make them itself in some secret basement. Conversely, however, we have to face reality and unfortunately say: such panels do not exist!

 

[Dark-Signature]

Hope they drop the crazy Pro Display and just make a larger Studio Display at a reasonable price.

And what would be a reasonable price? 2.500$ or 3.500$?

 

[sherwinzadeh]

And what would be a reasonable price? 2.500$ or 3.500$?

Well look at the new LG 32U990A, which would be pretty comparable at $1,999.

Don't forget the Pro Display launched with the new Mac Pro and was really targeted towards users with unlimited budget. Now you have Mac min and Mac Studio users who may also just want a bigger screen than the 27" Studio Display.

 

[JohannesO]

Wouldn't it be sad to present two new displays but no new desktop Mac.

 

[tenthousandthings]

I'm sure Apple won't be that stupid to put lame DisplayHDR 600 in its monitors.

You seem to think Apple is in the business of building display panels. Unless Apple is working with BOE (which is possible, and would be big news) you won’t see 1000 nits or above in a consumer-level 5K or 6K IPS display. Right now, only BOE makes them, and they are still edge-lit.

I think it’s certain a higher-end J527 Studio Display Pro with a mini-LED backlight would be certified for DisplayHDR 1000 or above *if it exists,* but it won’t start at $1599. Apple isn’t going to drop the regular Studio Display — J427 will use a standard IPS Black panel from LG Display.

For what it’s worth, Gurman’s whole premise that J427 and its successor (J527) would be in production at the same time makes no sense. Apple might well be working on a Studio Display Pro, but it probably isn’t J527.

 

[mudflap]

120 Hz. Otherwise, the monitor will be outdated before it even hits the market.

Apple should not try to sugarcoat 90 Hz in any way. Meanwhile, 32" and high-quality 4K miniLED monitors can already offer 240 Hz.

I don't believe there are any 5K 5120x2880 120Hz displays. That's a lot of pixels to push at once. I hope Apple can pull it off. Currently there are no 32" displays that are near 218ppi which is what every display on every Apple product has been since 2016 or 2017. That's Retina. I don't care about 240Hz on a Mac. I mean it would be nice but we are not doing to get 5K at 120Hz for a few years.

 

[EugW]

Currently there are no 32" displays that are near 218ppi which is what every display on every Apple product has been since 2016 or 2017. That's Retina.

There are actually already several non-Apple 218+ ppi / 6K 32" displays out there.

BTW, the 2017 MacBook Air screen is not Retina.

 

[Vladie]

A few days ago I was thinking about the old 30" ACD from 2004 and thought the price was $1,999. I was thinking "man, Apple has gotten so ridiculous with everything." I just looked it up - it was $3,299 (around $5,500 today). It was lowered to $2,999 in 2005 but their displays have always been expensive and rarely updated.

Ok but in fairness to your original thought, they then dropped the price AGAIN the following year (2006) to $1999 and then cut it AGAIN to $1799 in 2007. So within the course of 3 years they HALVED the price. The Studio Display has had zero price drops in 3+ years and the XDR has had zero price drops in 6+ years. So you were right originally: Apple HAS gotten so ridiculous with everything.

 

[ErneX]

Currently there are no 32" displays that are near 218ppi.

Yes there are:

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/the-complete-list-of-6k-32-monitors.2459226/

 

[UltimaKilo]

144hz or bust.

 

[fathergll]

I get your point but at the end of the day Apple wants to sell as much Studio Display as possible. Supporting multiple inputs would make it a better product and would definitely help sell more units.

That said, I don’t think it’ll happen either, unfortunately. I do think Apple is making a mistake by being this stubborn.

Apple's goal isn't to sell as many Studio Displays as possible just like their goal isn't to sell as many Magic Mouse as possible or copies of Final Cut/Logic...etc. If it was Magic Mouse would have official Apple driver support from Apple or programs like Final Cut/Logic would have a Windows port. They purposely keep these to the Apple ecosystem. Devices that make them a lot of revenue like iPhones/iPads they want to sell as many as possible and develop Windows support for that.

It's not about being stubborn, they actually don't want to be in the 'display business' and are only doing displays aimed at Apple users. Heck Apple has no issue simply not even selling displays if it came down to it like when they stopped selling them in 2016 and they would probably rather not sell displays at all if they were hypothetically given a choice between designing them for PC/Mac support or exiting the business completely.

 

[newyorksole]

Since i picked up a MBP M4 w/ Thunderbolt 5...waiting patiently for a product drop 👀

same omg. I’m really loving my Apple product lineup at the moment.

it’s really just missing a Studio Display to replace my curved LG.

 

[Agent007]

Ok but in fairness to your original thought, they then dropped the price AGAIN the following year (2006) to $1999 and then cut it AGAIN to $1799 in 2007. So within the course of 3 years they HALVED the price. The Studio Display has had zero price drops in 3+ years and the XDR has had zero price drops in 6+ years. So you were right originally: Apple HAS gotten so ridiculous with everything.

THAT is why I remember that price.

I should have done a more in-depth search before I came to a conclusion based on the Google AI overview. "Fool me once..." and all that.

EDIT: yeah it's been so long since they did price breaks on a lot of their outdated tech (AP Max for example)

 

[thenewepic]

You seem to think Apple is in the business of building display panels

No, why do you think so?

Unless Apple is working with BOE (which is possible, and would be big news) you won’t see 1000 nits or above in a consumer-level 5K or 6K IPS display

This is ok, no "fake" HDR then.
BTW, Apple Studio Display already has 600 nit brightness so Apple could slap "HDR" on it and push into market, but it didn't. Why? I think because people at Apple understand that HDR on a monitor that doesn't have dimming zones wouldn't meet Apple's high standards.
I personally have an IPS monitor with HDR600 support. Tried HDR once and never used it since then. Because of bad quality it provides.

 

[EugW]

No, why do you think so?

This is ok, no "fake" HDR then.
BTW, Apple Studio Display already has 600 nit brightness so Apple could slap "HDR" on it and push into market, but it didn't. Why? I think because people at Apple understand that HDR on a monitor that doesn't have dimming zones wouldn't meet Apple's high standards.
I personally have an IPS monitor with HDR600 support. Tried HDR once and never used it since then. Because of bad quality it provides.

Apple doesn't use the VESA HDR classification at all. They don't use it on the Pro Display XDR either.

 

[tenthousandthings]

BTW, Apple Studio Display already has 600 nit brightness so Apple could slap "HDR" on it and push into market, but it didn't. Why? I think because people at Apple understand that HDR on a monitor that doesn't have dimming zones wouldn't meet Apple's high standards.
I personally have an IPS monitor with HDR600 support. Tried HDR once and never used it since then. Because of bad quality it provides.

They can’t call the current Studio Display “HDR” because technically it doesn’t support HDR. It’s an SDR display. It doesn’t support the HDR-10 protocol or any other HDR format. Apple uses something built into macOS called EDR (Extended Dynamic Range) to compensate for it.

You don’t say what monitor you have, so I can’t comment on that, but a big part of what is required for VESA DisplayHDR 600 certification is a contrast ratio of 2000:1 or better. It’s not just about brightness.

 

[tenthousandthings]

Apple doesn't use the VESA HDR classification at all. They don't use it on the Pro Display XDR either.

To be fair, DisplayHDR was only in its second year when the Pro Display XDR launched in 2019 — really it wasn’t until 2024 that it became a meaningful test:

VESA Improve DisplayHDR Certification Criteria Including Positive Changes to HDR 400 Tier - TFTCentral

Updates, changes and improvements to the VESA DisplayHDR certification programme with their CTS 1.2 requirements

tftcentral.co.uk