one of these is a computer and one is
apple's new studio display but which is
which we invited several ifixiters who
have never seen the insides of these
devices to guess i'm going to say that
this one is the computer based on the
fact that there's more going on i think
this one is a display um it has smaller
components i think this one is the
computer everything about it just
looks like the newer like imax that just
came out thinking that this guy is the
computer and i think this is the
computer i think that one's a computer
but i feel like you might be messing
with me
you're correct
this heavy thing is the display
what
this one
really
and this one's the display yeah that's
probably the display
yeah you are completely correct nice
these huge fans speakers and power
supplies tricked half our contestants
but this is indeed the display last week
we got a little ahead of ourselves and
popped the studio display open during
our mac studio teardown we've got the
link in the description if you missed it
but we're back for a deeper dive into
this dense display this display doesn't
just look like an imac it opens like one
too an imac opening tool makes short
work of the splittable foam adhesive and
just like the m1imac there's no chin to
rest the display on safely on its back
let's use some heavy duty suction cups
to lift the display just enough to free
the display connectors
and here's the reason so many were
fooled it looks a lot like an intel imac
in here like a kid in a candy store i'm
not sure where to start but since
everyone is talking about it let's grab
that disappointing webcam first every
single review says the camera quality is
terrible it's easy to blame the hardware
but is it really the camera's fault
little plastic shield some copper tape
and this 12 megapixel ultrawide camera
pops right out the iphone 11 selfie
camera from a couple years ago is also a
12 megapixel ultrawide and they look
pretty much identical hardware
hardware-wise a three-year-old sensor is
perfectly capable of packing a better
punch than all these reviewers are
seeing megapixels aren't all that matter
apple says they're working on a fix and
it's entirely possible that a software
update will save this little disaster
since this is a display we should
probably check out well the display
right this is exactly the same display
as the 5k imac and while a 60hz lcd
isn't much to write home about these
days at least apple has a native 5k
display without the computer attached
after removing the hinge screws we find
a different way to remove the stubborn
power cord it takes way less force than
some have had to use and we didn't even
need apple's fancy wheel to do it now
onto the fun stuff i'm dying to get to
both of these power supplies i have
never seen board cutouts for capacitors
before apple never does it the easy way
it's a huge amount of engineering effort
and cost to design a slim power supply
like this keeping the power supply on
the display drove three design decisions
that make this really different from the
imac first these massive fans are here
to dissipate heat from the power supply
much more than is required by the simple
a13 processor second a split power
supply board with complicated cutouts
for the thicker components apple's power
engineering team clearly put a lot of
effort into this and last the studio
display is about 50 thicker than the
imac if they had gone with an external
power supply this thing could have been
the exact same design as the imac next
up the reins of the operation a couple
connectors some screws and we're in the
clear with an a13 bionic chip and 64
gigabytes of storage for some reason
this imac mini is most of the way to a
giant iphone it even runs ios these
speakers may not be quite as slick as
the ultra thin chambers we saw in the m1
imac but they're certainly impressive
for a display don't be fooled by the two
simple torx screws or the adhesive
poking over the edge these suckers are
glued down tight no stretch release tabs
in sight extra vibration in a speaker
system is a major problem apple has even
engineered some exciting force-canceling
woofers to keep it in check so glue
isn't surprising or even bad it is
however really really annoying last but
not least let's talk ports this 27-inch
5k retina display features three usb-c
ports and since it only has one
thunderbolt 4 you can't daisy chain more
displays if you do want multiple screens
your computer has to drive them swap
that third usb-c for a thunderbolt add a
headphone jack and you've got yourself
an imac there is one other port on the
imac the ethernet port but it didn't fit
inside the aggressively thin form factor
so they banished it to the external
power supply it's wild to see what might
be an alternate universe imac if nothing
else it's an impressive testament to
apple's ability to solve problems if
they can make a power supply this thin i
think they can figure out how to make
repairs safe and easy our door is always
open