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Was the Studio Display a flop?
- Thread starter GooseInTheCaboose
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There's an entire thread about alternatives to the Studio Display.
The panel in the ASD is too similar to the existing 2020 iMac 5k. There’s very little difference other than +100 nits in brightness. While the speakers are improved, arguably the webcam is worse. It also sits lower than iMac, making the $400 height adjustment a must (unless you go the route of a stand).
All things considered, it’s just not that compelling for existing iMac owners at $2000.
However, therein lies the crux: The ASD isn’t aimed at wowing existing late-Intel iMac owners. It’s a stop-gap to get the Apple Silicone rolling. They needed it to go along with the Mac Studio and Mac Mini, since they knew they were only going to release the entry level 24” iMac. Not to mention the Mac Pro being half baked (basically a studio with more I/O).
Thus, they use an ever so slightly improved panel of the discontinued 27” iMac to meet the needs of NEW M-Series owners. Better to offer something than give all business to LG’s 5K Ultrafine or other competitors.
The 27”-30” iMac M-Series “Pro” is the grand finale. And that will usher in the new display technology (mini LED etc) and the improvements many wanted to see with ASD.
In this sense, no, ASD is not a flop. It’s serving its role. And if you don’t need one right now, definitely don’t buy it because there is massive display improvements in the pipeline .
All things considered, it’s just not that compelling for existing iMac owners at $2000.
However, therein lies the crux: The ASD isn’t aimed at wowing existing late-Intel iMac owners. It’s a stop-gap to get the Apple Silicone rolling. They needed it to go along with the Mac Studio and Mac Mini, since they knew they were only going to release the entry level 24” iMac. Not to mention the Mac Pro being half baked (basically a studio with more I/O).
Thus, they use an ever so slightly improved panel of the discontinued 27” iMac to meet the needs of NEW M-Series owners. Better to offer something than give all business to LG’s 5K Ultrafine or other competitors.
The 27”-30” iMac M-Series “Pro” is the grand finale. And that will usher in the new display technology (mini LED etc) and the improvements many wanted to see with ASD.
In this sense, no, ASD is not a flop. It’s serving its role. And if you don’t need one right now, definitely don’t buy it because there is massive display improvements in the pipeline .
Next time you may consider LG's UltraFine series 27-inch 4K displays. All the above checked. I got one for a month. Was a little worried before purchase. Once I got it I was really surprised by its quality. It's only one sixth the price of ASD plus its adjustable stand.
People usually have a great camera and microphone/earphone combo from their smartphone. Great for the purpose of video conference call. I don't like to double pay to be included in a monitor. If the price isn't outrageous, I don't mind they're built in the monitor.
You limit yourself to Apple's walled garden. With one foot inside one foot outside, you'll re-discover the world around you much bigger and better.
I have two. Love mine. Pros: sharpness of text on display, great speakers, good cameras, great overall monitor Cons: can't use speakers on both monitors at the same time (stereo pair), expensive, need a desk that can elevate your displays or use a stand.
How so? The display works on both Windows PCs and Macs. It is the definition of one foot in one foot out in this respect.
With Apple Silicon, I believe Apple is going to close the last major loophole in their walled garden. New Macs are going to locked in AirTight. Your doubt is rightfully correct. It's getting more challenging to benefit from both Mac garden and PC world.
I'm always multi platforms though Mac is my daily driver. One day if I can't breathe the fresh air from outside, I'll simply and sadly quit.
With respect to my LG 4K, it comes with two HDMIs, one DisplayPort and one USB-C (with DP tunnelling and charging). It works great for everybody, MacOS, Linux & Windows. The initial setup wasn't smooth for Mac but quickly resolved. Works great ever since.
I've been very happy with mine. Unfortunately, I haven't had it for nearly 2.5 weeks because it has been sitting at the Apple Store on the other side of town waiting on a power cable replacement. Our puppy chewed through the power cable, therefore I had to take it in. Luckily, I do have AppleCare+. Unluckily, they are still waiting on that part to come in.
How can it take 2.5 weeks for a fixed power cable to come in? Goodness.
How can it take 2.5 weeks for a fixed power cable to come in? Goodness.
It's just funny that people compare 4K to 5K displays. A 5K display has twice as much pixels as a 4K display.
Why doesn't a 5K display with double the amount of pixels cost the same as a 4K display?
That “misinformation” turned out to be 100% spot on today.
This ain’t the place for using the words “misinformation” and “disinformation”
The rumor mill is all about “speculation” and educated guesses.
Man, why does the 6K Dell monitor costs $3200? It's so incredible overpriced when I can buy a 4K 32" gaming monitor that does 160hz for only $500.
All these 5K and 6K monitors should cost only $500!!!!
All these 5K and 6K monitors should cost only $500!!!!
Yeah, that huge "sunk cost" of $200/year over 10 years for a high-quality monitor. Come on man, people spend more on Netflix at this point, and for the target audience, their display is literally how they make their living.
Assuming anyone in the market for a 5K display can make good, productive use of a 5K display (video editors, graphic designers), those bargain basement 4K LGs you're on about aren't going to cut it. And that additional cost of a high-quality 5K display is going to be earned back with paid work.
And all that aside, at this point some of us are putting in full 40+ hour weeks looking at their monitor. I'd surely pay a little extra to make it a nice one. There are plenty of use cases where your 4K LG is totally great. But not for everyone -- and that's where these 5K displays come in.
Took a look over the list at the beginning and it does not even mention speakers, microphones, webcam and USB-C wattage. The ones I already knew from that list all fall short in at least one of those features compared to the ASD.
Yeah but only the first 2 points seriously since I know from a past 21:9 LG display how crappy the speakers are. So I'd need external speakers and webcam. As I was saying: the Studio Display is not about only the display but about the feature-package.
If you're ok with additional devices and cables on your desk, that's totally fine. No one is forcing you to buy the display from Apple.
I don't want the additional devices and cables that go with them and I guess many others who bought the ASD feel the same.
Continuity Camera was not even announced when the Studio Display has been released. Also that feature comes with a serious limitation: I can't use my iPhone (with my personal Apple ID) as a webcam for my company MacBook (managed Apple ID) since Continuity Camera requires both devices on the same Apple ID.
Apart from that you can no longer use the iPhone during a video conference which does not work for me (and probably others) since I often need the authenticator app on it as well as do some testing of apps while I'm on a video conference.
I buy the product that fits my needs and the Studio Display does that perfectly. If some other company made a display with all the mentioned features for a better price, I'd take it.
Before the ASD I had an Eizo EV 2785 (4K with 27") which also had a brilliant picture. But the speakers are garbage, it has no webcam and only 60 watts of USB-C PD.
I totally get that there are people who don't need/want the "all-in-one" display and can totally get along with something else, which is exactly what I wrote in my last post.
So don't limit yourself to your own requirements/perspective and discover that different people have different requirements on what features a display should offer for them.
LOL. Okay.
Btw, I don't like people resorting to the idea of stop-gap for whatever seems a flop. But I found the folk a few posts above on this page an interesting read.
This isn't true. Let me know which 5K displays "don't even come close to that". I've only seen ones a few hundred cheaper...but are made of plastic, etc.
Once again: stop comparing 4K to 5K displays. It is totally fine to be happy at a lower resolution, but they are not the same.
All my displays have had firmware updates. Some of them required me finding a PC to update them.
I'm sorry, you think we should trust some guy named "DankPods"? Because he's 'notable'?
Very open to reading real stories from reputable outlets about firmware issues with ASDs. Please provide them.
Now *this* criticism I can get behind—I also wish it was 30 or bigger, and I could not splash out for a Pro Display XDR.
That is also the incorrect and misleading way to put it. Pixel sniffing is not the right way to judge display quality. I meant 5K has more pixels than 4K and higher fidelity at the same 27-inch szie. that's without doubt in absolute sense. But you don't work and view your monitor a few inches in front of it (I hope your job isn't like that). Taking viewing distance into consideration, the comparison between 4K and 5K at 27-inch is much more meaningful and useful.
This recent thread has some good discussion on 4K vs 5K: https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...m-really.2393291/?post=32320612#post-32320612
If you work in design or with photos, higher ppi really is important, it just saves time to be able to not zoom, but just get closer to the display without loosing detail.
What I miss most is hardware-calibration along the lines of Quato or Eizo. Considering the hardware inside the ASD it should be so so so easy to this, probably even with the iPhone camera as wireless input for the calibration. This would be a game changer, to have a display that can do ECIRGB and CMYK colorspace calibrated and still offer the 5K and build quality of an Apple display. (And I think the LG-Display does not offer that kind of design and feel, it's just an office plastic-y display. Samsung looks better but, as the Huawei, is a disappointment IRL).
By the way, I do not get the problems have with the ASD Webcam. I checked it against two dedicated webcam/soundbar-solutions and was impressed by how easily it beat those 500—800€ peripherals not only with the only really good «center stage» functionality but also ease of use and sound quality. In the end we opted for Camo and an iPhone 13 as webcam, which offers optical zoom and better quality, but for a built-in-webcam I was surprised by how good the ASD looked and just simply worked...
What I miss most is hardware-calibration along the lines of Quato or Eizo. Considering the hardware inside the ASD it should be so so so easy to this, probably even with the iPhone camera as wireless input for the calibration. This would be a game changer, to have a display that can do ECIRGB and CMYK colorspace calibrated and still offer the 5K and build quality of an Apple display. (And I think the LG-Display does not offer that kind of design and feel, it's just an office plastic-y display. Samsung looks better but, as the Huawei, is a disappointment IRL).
By the way, I do not get the problems have with the ASD Webcam. I checked it against two dedicated webcam/soundbar-solutions and was impressed by how easily it beat those 500—800€ peripherals not only with the only really good «center stage» functionality but also ease of use and sound quality. In the end we opted for Camo and an iPhone 13 as webcam, which offers optical zoom and better quality, but for a built-in-webcam I was surprised by how good the ASD looked and just simply worked...
Plus:
I also think the ASD/Studio-Combi is a stopgap-solution (and in many ways so much of what Apple seems to offer in terms of Desktop machines is, the Darth Vader, the back-to-the-roots-cheesegrater, the iMacPro, the 24" and now the Studio). While I love(d) most of these machines, the iMacPro was and still is a nice kit and we have one 24" iMac in the studio which we all love, it weighs nothing, the display rocks and it is just such a fun machine, I wish it was 27—30"... there seems to be not discernible aim or strategy here, just reacting to what is (im)possible to do for Apple. Trashcan does overheat and connot be sold in EU, let's come up with some better cooling mechanism for the iMac/Xeons. M1 Pro will not work thermally in the iMac form factor? Well, let's built two enclosures and split display/SOC up again.
In the end I feel there should be a small and a larger iMac for solid desktop work, offering basically the same horsepower as an 16" MBP in a more office-friendly form factor. And then one or two systems that split monitor and machine, either a Mac(Pro) that is scalable from «Studio» pricing level to something more ambitious. Or a Trashcan/Studio Doc-System and something that is much more modular, powerful and a long-term investment. I think at the moment the Studio is a very nice machine indeed, but having a powerful AIO as with the iMacPro would be very nice as well (ideally with a TB4-input that turns that machine into a display for laptops etc).
I also think the ASD/Studio-Combi is a stopgap-solution (and in many ways so much of what Apple seems to offer in terms of Desktop machines is, the Darth Vader, the back-to-the-roots-cheesegrater, the iMacPro, the 24" and now the Studio). While I love(d) most of these machines, the iMacPro was and still is a nice kit and we have one 24" iMac in the studio which we all love, it weighs nothing, the display rocks and it is just such a fun machine, I wish it was 27—30"... there seems to be not discernible aim or strategy here, just reacting to what is (im)possible to do for Apple. Trashcan does overheat and connot be sold in EU, let's come up with some better cooling mechanism for the iMac/Xeons. M1 Pro will not work thermally in the iMac form factor? Well, let's built two enclosures and split display/SOC up again.
In the end I feel there should be a small and a larger iMac for solid desktop work, offering basically the same horsepower as an 16" MBP in a more office-friendly form factor. And then one or two systems that split monitor and machine, either a Mac(Pro) that is scalable from «Studio» pricing level to something more ambitious. Or a Trashcan/Studio Doc-System and something that is much more modular, powerful and a long-term investment. I think at the moment the Studio is a very nice machine indeed, but having a powerful AIO as with the iMacPro would be very nice as well (ideally with a TB4-input that turns that machine into a display for laptops etc).
Amazing how OP stirred up the crap and the hatred of some here is equally amazing…
Good for all of you that you can now buy the Samsung competitor for 1599 in the US, and no, that is not overpriced…
I’m done with this thread… rather read Gurman telling us that Apple has more tha. 1 product in development, which is as useful information as the OP
Good for all of you that you can now buy the Samsung competitor for 1599 in the US, and no, that is not overpriced…
I’m done with this thread… rather read Gurman telling us that Apple has more tha. 1 product in development, which is as useful information as the OP
I literally just posted a link to the thread that listed several different 5K displays.
So we're gonna ignore the hardwired power cord then?
I like mine (glossy, adjustable stand).
It's built from freaking solid slabs of aluminum with the highest quality possible; certainly better than any competitor's monitor. The display is crisply-excellent and perfectly suited to Macs.
Could it be better? Sure, I'd like 32"+, 120 Hz+, and OLED blacks. That will all come eventually. In the mean time, I'll be enjoying this one.
It's built from freaking solid slabs of aluminum with the highest quality possible; certainly better than any competitor's monitor. The display is crisply-excellent and perfectly suited to Macs.
Could it be better? Sure, I'd like 32"+, 120 Hz+, and OLED blacks. That will all come eventually. In the mean time, I'll be enjoying this one.