Apple's upcoming Studio Display could mean worrying news for pro users
Just a few days ago, we found out that Apple is working on a new Studio Display with a mini-LED screen. Now, that idea seems to be confirmed, with highly accurate Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman stating that this monitor should launch 'by 2026.'
The Studio Display first saw the light of day in 2022, meaning there's been a lengthy wait for updates. But that delay just highlights the problems with an even older Apple monitor: 2019's Pro Display XDR.
This is Apple's highest-end screen and is designed to be a companion to the Mac Pro. But in the years since its launch, it has been outdone by rivals in a huge number of ways. Just look around and you'll find displays with better resolutions, faster refresh rates, and OLED or mini-LED tech that outstrips the clarity and contrast offered by the Pro Display XDR's LCD screen. And when Apple is asking for a minimum of $4,999 for this display, those deficiencies are hard to swallow.
Even compared to the $1,599 Studio Display, the Pro Display XDR falls short in some respects. It lacks a webcam and an internal chip to handle things like Center Stage and Spatial Audio, while its stand alone costs almost two-thirds of the Studio Display's asking price.
The areas where the Pro Display XDR does pull ahead of the Studio Display — resolution and brightness in particular — still make it hard to justify the $4,999 starting price. Infamously, that outlay doesn't even get you a stand (an addon that costs a frankly obscene $999) or the nano-texture glass option. Combined, those two options push the display's price up to almost $7,000.
In other words, the Pro Display is a tough sell today compared to the three-year-old Studio Display, and even more so when you put it against some of the best monitors on the market. Yet despite desperately needing some love from Apple, the company appears to be showing it a remarkable lack of attention. What gives?
Simply put, Gurman says that the Pro Display XDR is less of a priority for Apple compared to the Studio Display. The Pro Display XDR is 'out of reach for most consumers,' Gurman rightly points out, and while the reporter doesn't say that Apple has outright abandoned its high-end monitor, there don't appear to be any plans to upgrade it any time soon.
With a new Mac Pro expected this year, many people will be asking where that leaves professional users. Are they expected to stick with the six-year-old Pro Display XDR? Buy the Studio Display and get an experience that is worse in some ways? Or even buy a product from a rival company? Apple can't be happy with any of those possibilities, but you would think it would do something to prevent the last one at the very least.
Apple says it's committed to pro users, but how can it do that without offering them an up-to-date, high-spec monitor? I understand the company is reluctant to pour resources into a niche, high-cost product like the Pro Display XDR (especially after the well-documented struggles of the Vision Pro), but this monitor is an essential part of its pro lineup.
After all, it sends mixed messages if Apple launches a new Mac Pro but not a monitor to go with it. Is Apple simply unable to meet the needs of its most demanding users? Professional consumers have specific requirements (often concerning color accuracy and clarity) that the Pro Display XDR is designed to meet, but releasing a new Mac Pro without a companion display leaves a gaping hole in the roster.
It's one that I don't think the Studio Display will be able to fill. While that monitor has plenty going for it — and, judging by the list of improvements said to be heading its way, it could get even better — but it's not the top-level solution that the Pro Display XDR is. If your workload involves high-end photo editing, video rendering or similarly demanding creative pursuits, the Studio Display likely won't cut it.
I can't imagine that Apple will give up on the Pro Display XDR entirely — after all, if it was losing faith in its high-end efforts, it likely wouldn't be releasing a new Mac Pro this year. But the fact that a monitor released in 2022 is getting more frequent updates than the Pro Display XDR doesn't exactly bode well. Here's hoping we learn more in the coming months.
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