Of course, the whole idea of ”if you’re the only one in a certain field” or “if you’re the best in a certain field” works, so you can price your product to your liking. Of course, this can be a mitigating factor in some cases, like when B&O consistently charges three times as much for a set of headphones, but these headphones also have a build quality, crispness that no one else can match clarity. Does this mean the price is right? No, of course not, but again; it’s a mitigating factor.
Apple’s latest Studio Display is a bit lonely, as the panel has a resolution of 5120×2880, or 5K, a resolution that’s very rare and can almost only match LG’s UltraFine 27MD5KL-B. So if you stretch a bit, you can assume that if you’re looking for 5K, this is where you’ll find it, and nowhere else. At the same time, you agree to pay £1500 for a monitor that is not industry-leading by any other parameter.
As you may have noticed, Apple’s Studio Display has proven to be a more controversial product than the expensive Pro Display XDR, precisely because of the eternal question of value. For value, in terms of flexibility, Apple still managed to put together a very exciting display.
It’s all again in stylish industrial aluminum. It proves again that true design is more timeless than the technology behind it, and even with the relatively thick screen edges and the rather frivolous placement of the VESA mount points that cover the Apple logo, the Studio Display is a beautifully made product and you’ll be amazed Happy to sit and stare, every day.
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Yes, at first glance, this sounds like romanticized Silicon Valley nonsense designed to mislead you. But at the same time, you can also see it as a challenge to the rest of the tech industry, to LG, Dell, Asus, to aesthetic conventions because there’s a long line between mainstream “creator” monitors and studio monitors way to go.
It’s called a “studio” because it’s made for semi-professionals, so what can it do? Well, 5K resolution, of course. Plus 600 NITS brightness, 10-bit color, 1200:1 contrast ratio (60Hz), with TrueTone and DCI-P3 color calibration. That means you must not have ProMotion 120Hz, or something as simple as HDR.
But as far as we know, only a handful of semi-professionals, YouTubers, Twitch streamers, everyone who uses macOS every day, actually edit in HDR, so maybe that’s forgivable? If nothing else, the most important thing here is resolution.
So this is for semi-professionals, right? Yes, for example, Apple added a very solid 12-megapixel ultra-wide webcam with a 122-degree FOV, which only further emphasizes this priority. It’s not as good as the front-facing camera on a smartphone, but as an alternative to the Logitech Brio, it does an excellent job. Beyond that, the excellent speakers use the same system as the new iMac and play Dolby Atmos-certified audio, to say the least.
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For example, there’s also a Thunderbolt 3 port for 96W charging of the MacBook Pro, and three USB-C ports for keyboards, mice – that sort of thing. The point is, these little things can add up to a really good creative editing and processing center, where web conferencing, headphone-less playback, and relatively crisp performance all come together.
So, in that sense, the Apple Studio Display is easy to recommend despite its price. If you want complete consistency between the OS and the panel, what’s the alternative? Well, Pro Display XDR. By the way, the device has features that qualify it as a Pixar graphic artist, not your semi-successful YouTube channel.
Here’s why Apple shouldn’t let it go. Higher NITS brightness is appropriate, maybe Apple should give us ProMotion 120Hz, especially considering the MacBook Pro 14 comes with it.
