I was excited when Apple announced their new
Studio Display, a display made specifically for Macs.
Surely it would be as revolutionary
as their newly released Apple Silicon Mac lineup.
Right?
And now I'm not even angry, I'm just disappointed
because there was so much potential here.
Don't get me wrong,
it's not necessarily a bad monitor,
It's just that Apple made some truly
mind boggling decisions here
that in my opinion, ruined what could have been
a truly exceptional product.
Let me explain.
Also, quick thanks to Aura for sponsoring this video,
but more on that later.
Starting with the design, you've got to give it to Apple,
this display is absolutely stunning from any angle.
It's made entirely out of solid aluminum and glass
and the exhaust and speaker grills
are precisely machined into the metal.
Now I don't like the relatively large
bezels around the screen,
I think other monitors do this much better,
like the Dell U2720Q.
Also, the bezel is glass,
so it picks up a lot of fingerprints
which are very noticeable,
although being glass, the entire screen is also
very easy to wipe clean.
Moving on to the stand,
you get two options at the base $1599 US price point,
the Tilt-adjustable stand or the VESA mount adapter.
Now the stand is essentially useless,
I mean, it looks really nice,
but you can only tilt the monitor up and down,
there's no other adjustability.
There's no swivel, portrait mode, height adjustability.
Well, there is,
if you pay an extra $400 for the privilege
of being able to raise your screen up and down.
Even the cheapest $100 budget monitors out there
allow for more adjustability than this,
and the worst part is, if you buy this stand option
and you want to switch to a VESA mount,
maybe you change your mind,
or maybe you move to a different desk set up
where a VESA amount is more practical,
you can't change it,
unless you take the entire thing to your closest Apple store
and beg them to change it over for you.
Now, the connectivity options are decent.
There's one upstream Thunderbolt 3 port,
with 96 Watt charging and three downstream USB-C ports,
up to 10 gigabits per second
for peripherals storage and networking.
Now personally, I didn't mind
that there were no other ports on this display.
So no HDMI, no USB-A,
which I don't think is a big deal because let's face it,
if you're buying this product,
you're going to have a Thunderbolt Mac anyway.
Also, if you are wanting to daisychain
this monitor to other monitors,
that is not available,
which might be a deal breaker to some,
especially at this price point.
Moving on the speakers,
they're actually really, really good,
so big props to Apple here.
The bass is nice and punchy.
I personally would have no problem listening
to music or watching movies on this display.
Here's an example of what they sound like.
♪ We can do whatever ♪
("Whatever" by Cartoon & Andromedik)
Same with the webcam, while the quality isn't great
and is actually better on the 14 and 16" MacBook Pros,
it's a welcome addition for people who need a webcam,
especially due to the Center Stage feature
and built-in microphone array.
But like I assume, a lot of other people out there,
I don't really need either of those features.
I personally use headphones,
because A, it just sounds better
if you have a decent pair of headphones
and B, it doesn't disrupt people around you
if you're listening to music
or watching YouTube videos, for example.
And I don't regularly use a webcam,
and if I ever need to use webcam, I have one on my MacBook.
And if I actually want a good quality webcam picture
I will still need to go out and buy
a dedicated webcam from Logitech, for example.
So if you need both the speakers and webcam,
the Studio Display is a more appealing option
than someone who doesn't.
Now the best way to describe the display on this thing
is good, but also kind of boring.
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Okay, let's get back to the Display.
There's no new tech, like Mini LED or OLED,
it's pretty much the same seven year old panel
Apple used in the 27" iMac.
But an all fairness, is improved
with a more contrasty panel.
And you can definitely tell the difference
if you put them both side-by-side.
The screen is also just 60 Hertz, so no ProMotion,
although I do understand that there is a limitation here.
Pushing a 5K resolution at 120 Hertz
requires a lot of bandwidth,
something that even Thunderbolt struggles with.
Also, it does get quite bright,
Apple claims 600 nits
and I got 582 on my version,
which still stacks up very nicely against other monitors.
But there's also no proper HDR implementation
which I think is insane at this price point.
Now the 5K resolution is certainly nice,
but my opinion is, that in real life,
there's really not much difference between 4K and 5K,
specifically when talking about a 27" panel.
If you compare them side by side
and actually sit at a proper distance from the monitor,
you probably can't tell the difference.
Of course, this depends on the person.
Some people can tell and they hate it,
but personally, I haven't found it to be an issue.
Now, there is a reason why Apple uses a 5K resolution
in this monitor, and that is due to the fact
that Mac OS actually scales better in 5K compared to 4K.
This ARS Technica article goes into more detail
if you are interested,
and I guess it just comes down to,
is that minor loss of quality and increased pixelation
worth the massively increased price tag of this display
over say a 4K monitor, for example.
And now that this monitor is the only
5K resolution monitor on the market,
Apple can charge whatever they want for it.
And something I do love about Apple monitors
is the ability to change color profiles
with a few clicks of a button.
And these profiles are actually pretty accurate,
for DCI-P3, for example, Apple claims 99% coverage.
And out of the box and with no calibration,
I was able to get 98% with a Delta E value under two,
which is quite impressive.
Although for actual color professionals
the lack of full gamut coverage and also no proper HDR
is a massive deal breaker.
Okay, let's have a chat about that power cable.
You know, the one that can't be removed.
Well, it can,
but you have to basically rip it out of the socket.
I think this is probably one of the most
egregious things Apple has ever done.
I mean, look, I understand soldering SSDs to MacBooks,
you know, there are a number of small benefits
that come with that,
even though I don't support the practice,
but this?
There's literally no benefit to doing this.
There's no advantages to it.
The only person that gains anything from this
is not you and me, it is Apple.
I think the worst part about this whole thing
is that Apple engineers has had to actually sit down
and design a proprietary port so that you and I
can't remove it, but at the factory,
different cables for different regions
can still be attached.
It takes more effort and money to do this,
than simply going with a removable cable in the first place.
So if anything happens to the cable, you're screwed,
and you have to take the entire thing back to Apple
instead of just going out and buying a $5 replacement cable.
It also makes transporting the display annoying,
because you can't just disconnect it and store it in a bag,
for example, while you move to a new house or office.
I also found it funny that Apple doesn't even
feature the power cable on the packaging.
There are a bunch of other things too
that I just can't understand the reasoning behind.
The A13 chip inside the display essentially does nothing,
apart from Center Stage and Spatial Audio.
We could have had Face ID, Airplay, Apple TV, et cetera,
and this is on top of
all the other things I've already mentioned.
Now, if Apple made a few changes to this display,
I would totally buy it and use it
as my main monitor in a heartbeat.
First, ditch the A13 chip and reallocate the cost savings
to a feature that will have more impact
on the user experience,
you know, like the panel
that people will be staring at all day long.
Second, update the panel technology
to something more modern and futureproof,
like Mini LED or OLED,
and third, use MagSafe for the power plug.
And I think we can all agree
that that would make this a much more appealing product.
And it would also futureproof your purchase
for probably 10 years, at least.
Now realistically,
there aren't lot of alternatives to this monitor
at the same price point.
Again, 'cause it's the only 5K resolution monitor
available right now.
So let's concentrate on the ones
that will save you a boatload of cash,
but we'll still get you a relatively comparable product.
Honestly, these days, for about 500 bucks
you can get a really, really good 4K monitor.
Now, granted, it's not going to be quite
as good quality as this,
you're not going to have the aluminum
and the glass, for example,
but you're going to get the bulk of the features
for one third of the cost.
And I don't think the Studio Display
is necessarily a bad monitor.
I mean, if you want a decent panel, 5K resolution
for native Mac OS scaling,
a webcam and speakers,
you know, it does those things,
but I just don't think the price is very good value at all,
and there are just so many missed opportunities here.
Anyway, guys, hopefully you enjoyed this video
and I'll catch you in the next one.