With rumours abounding about an updated Studio Display from Apple, this seems like a good time to review the state of Apple’s current slate of desktop monitors, and maybe compare the competition.
I have not kept secrets about how badly I want to buy Apple’s Pro Display XDR. That would be a terrible decision, because the display is practically ancient at this point. It’s a Mini LED display with over 500 dimming zones, but that number is paltry across its 32″ canvas. The MacBook Pros are also Mini LED, and the 16″ model — a quarter of the size of the Pro Display XDR — has over 2,500 dimming zones.
I know specs aren’t everything, but basically, that’s a lot more lights, which means a lot more consistency in brightness across the display. 2,500 is five times more than 500, but it’s also in a quarter of the space, so a new Pro Display XDR would need 10,000 dimming zones to keep up. That’s twenty times more dimming zones than it has now.
The Pro Display XDR’s matte coating is also less effective than similar technology in the MacBook Pro line. In the MacBook Pro, the nano-texture coating is chemically etched, which is far more subtle than the physically etched coating on the Pro Display XDR. On my matte MacBook Pro, there is barely a perceptible loss in brightness or contrast. With the physically etched implementation on the Pro Display XDR (and Studio Display), I get a headache.
So the technology in the Pro Display XDR needs a rethink.
However, the Pro Display XDR is not rumoured to get a revision right now. Apple apparently only plans on updating the Studio Display next year. In my mind, the Pro Display XDR needs this revision much more than the Studio Display does. Apple could do nothing to the Studio Display for another five years and it would keep selling like hotcakes.
That’s because the Studio Display is a great monitor. It looks good on a desk, and despite the fact it’s “only” an IPS display, the colours and brightness are consistent across the entire panel (according to my calibration device). Competition is only now starting to catch up, with similar panels from ASUS and Samsung hitting the market this year.
The Studio Display’s rumoured updates include Mini LED, which would be interesting because it would supplant the Pro Display XDR if it were done well. There are apparently two Studio Displays in testing at Apple. I have a few theories about this:
- One of them could be an iMac.
- The rumours could be right and this is Apple’s way of experimenting with production and doing a coin toss on which one to ship.
- My dream scenario: we’re getting back to 2004, an era when Apple shipped multiple monitors simultaneously, in different sizes but otherwise with similar specifications. I would love to see a revised Studio Display available in 27″ and 32″ sizes.
What I want is the Pro Display XDR. But the technology in that display has come down in price, and it seems reasonable that a panel with similar tech (and a more modern implementation of that tech) could be made for around the same price as the current Studio Display.
Historically speaking, top-of-the-line monitor tech from Apple works its way downstream, and then the top-of-the-line monitor disappears. (See the high-end Cinema Display becoming the affordable Thunderbolt Display somewhere around 2011.) So Maybe Apple plans on removing the Pro Display XDR from the lineup entirely.
If Apple ships a 32″ Studio Display with 10,000 dimming zones next year, I will happily replace at least one of the two Studio Displays on my desk.
(It’s worth noting that ASUS just released a 32″ 6K display with similar technology to the current Studio Display. YouTubers have posted a couple reviews, and while the panel itself looks totally fine, I can’t imagine working with a flimsy, plastic thing on my desk. I have to stare at that thing all day. I would genuinely rather set money on fire and buy a new Pro Display XDR if I were forced to pick one.)