The Apple Studio Display Is WEIRD!

Apple's new Studio Display has been both praised and panned—as usual, we feel things are a bit more nuanced and many reviewers have missed the mark. Is it good? Yes. Is it expensive? Certainly. Most of all, though? It's just downright weird.

[snazzy]

While I was writing, I was too in the zone to think of something fairly obvious I've since considered. Maybe—just *maybe*—it's also over-engineered because they had been intending to put in a different (perhaps mini-LED panel) but had to scrap stuff late into the project due to supply chain and/or tech reasons. Would explain why this monitor is engineered out the wazoo in every other way. Perhaps it was supposed to be a loaded, crazy, insane $2, 500-3, 000 monitor but the panel wasn't ready in time and they had to ship this weirdo thing. Just some potential food for thought!

[GradyGalbraith]

I knew about the a13, actually makes some sense overall. But the 64GB of storage is hilarious. That means the studio display is both more powerful and equal in storage to the very HIGHEST END Apple TV. Why didn’t they take advantage of that? A built in Apple TV would’ve been a neat selling point, and an included remote would’ve been a pittance at $1600.

[oleoskareriksen]

Funniest part of this display is that it can detect what orientation it’s in and automatically change the content to match, but neither of the stand options let you rotate it

[RaidOwl]

Would I love to have one of these? Absolutely. Would I pay retail for it? Absolutely not. Had they launched this around $1k I would very seriously consider it, but at $1600 there is no shot. Great review, Quinn.

[RyanAKiefer]

Part of me wonders if the A13 design was an earlier prototype attempt at what became the M1 iMac, and they decided to recycle the internals and sell it as a monitor rather than scrapping the R&D work. It's a truly bizarre set of internals otherwise.

[lukemiani]

I definitely think a miniLED ProMotion panel was intended for this thing, we've been hearing about that panel's existence for ages and it seems like it would fit in this chassis perfectly. But then again, why release a desktop without giving us a monitor to go next to it? Slap the ol trusty iMac panel in it (not making it anymore so there's plenty of spares) and bob's your uncle. Wait a few months for a Mac Pro announcement, stick the miniLED panel in it and re-use the other stuff, you're good to go!

[danielyaseen]

Snazzy Labs, I am so happy that this isn't an April fools prank. Thank you!!!!

[zacharystudio]

definitely the most well thought through and comprehensive review on this. always appreciate your take.

[zollotech]

Good review Quinn and definitely some fair points. I was thinking the same thing about the mini-LED panel being a possibility, but production may have been a problem with shortages.

[JCBShortFilms]

Every time I hear you say "Fact:"

Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica 😂

[Evie]

I love how Quinn just doesn't waste any time with nonsense, and just gets to the point, while making the video fun to watch. Well done ;)

[Battlecry]

refreshing to see an apple reviewer to actually critique it instead of saying "its the only 5k display that's not ugly so its good"

[changez]

I feel like this was designed to move old materials they had lying around - wait for the 2nd gen to see what this is truly capable of.

[StetsonDoggett]

I will say, I do wish other OEMs considered offering glossy display options. I was trying to shop around for a 4K panel at 120Hz (or higher) with a glossy finish, and I wasn’t finding many options.

[dannywinget]

Great perspective of the Studio Display. I probably shouldn’t of bought one. We are just in a weird place where the Pro Display XDR is probably going to get a refresh as well. Everything else I can probably deal with the but the single backlight sheesh.

[johnsnow]

OR....this WAS the 27 inch iMac and they scrapped it but used the idea to make a monitor. Like, this was literally the 5K M1 iMac right through production and then they changed course and made it a monitor. Or maybe it's just the weed talking.

[Rehmoss]

I like the theory that the iMac Pro will be identical in design, but with M2 Max/Pro chips instead of the A13. Clearly having the same design means that the display was cheaper to design and manufacture. They basically killed two birds with one stone. But it also doesn't really make sense to do this either, because the display ends up being too expensive (because its too much like a computer). I wonder if covid supply chain issues caused this, somehow. Like maybe they had planned to make the display and iMacPro more substantially different but then realised that it would delay the product releases too much. OR they scrapped the iMac Pro at the last minute, but having put all these effort in the design, decided to repurpose it for a display.

[Merabbit]

Such a good review, best I’ve seen for this display. Wish I would have seen it first to save my time, but I’m glad you did the work and put in the effort. Excited to see the iMac Pro with this design, it makes so much sense. Great review. Thank you.

[GregsGadgets]

I made it into this video. What a snazzy day.

[aembury]

Amazing video. Amazing conversation.

By far one of the best voices in this space. Thank you, Quinn.