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Apple Studio Display - Mini Review
Apple Studio Display - Mini Review
So you've ordered your amazing M1 Mac Studio. Great! Now you need a monitor.
But you'd be daft to go with a 4K monitor when you're used to the beautiful 5K Retina screen from your old 27" iMac.
You quickly realise you have 3 options:
- LG Ultrafine 5K
- Get used to a lower-resolution monitor than you already have, probably with worse colour
- Buy an Apple Studio Display
Then you double-check the price of the Apple Studio Display and nearly fall off your chair. Seriously, Apple! How much?
Good Stuff
- It's one of very few 5K Retina screens.
- The colour gamut is good with accurate reproduction, as far as I can tell.
- The style matches your Mac Studio, more or less.
- It has Thunderbolt connectivity and acts as a Thunderbolt / USB-C hub.
- It powers / charges the connected device, so you don't have to charge your MacBook separately.
- It has 600 nits of brightness, which is decent for a monitor (but not so good by TV standards).
Bad Stuff
- Aaargh! The price! That's nearly as much as your 27" iMac cost!
- The screen lighting isn't totally even. Mine vignettes in the corners. For the money I want even lighting.
- The audio isn't great. It has very prominent bass, so if you're a fan of Bose you'll love it, but if you want neutral audio, you're out of luck. You'll still need a pair of decent monitors.
- You're paying for a mobile phone processor to run the thing. Why, Apple, why? Maybe in the future they'll start making this do something more impressive than letting the camera track you. Until then, it's burning electricity for very little benefit.
- It has active cooling, so isn't silent. A monitor with a fan? :O
Conclusion
If you want a monitor to match your Mac Studio that isn't a step down from your old 27" iMac screen, you don't have a huge amount of choice. But Apple are going to really squeeze as much money as they can for the privilege.
Despite the cost, don't expect a perfect screen, or decent audio.
If Apple took the panel out of this and stuck it in a dumb case without the webcam, mobile phone processor, memory and cooling, it could be a pretty decent monitor, at a lower price point. But meanwhile, you're stuck with this.
