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It’s not overpriced. 5k monitors are generally in the same price range. They all seem overpriced because they don’t benefit from the mass production that’s made 4k displays extremely cheap. We’ve seen 4k panels drop in price due to huge supply, but that won’t happen with 5k, so they’ll always be more expensive.

Yes, you have the Apple tax for the over-engineered stand and mediocre webcam. Still, the fact that the Apple Studio Display just works when you plug it in, without needing settings, adapters, or a clunky gaming design, makes it great for anyone who wants a crisp display with native Mac resolution.
My non Apple monitor just worked (and continues to work) when I plugged it in. No settings adapters or clunky gaming design
 
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The speakers in the studio display are FAR better. It’s laughable how bad the Samsung ones are. Better external speakers are $100’s of dollars. Don’t forget your crappy plastic enclosure with crappy over molded stand that wiggles when you bump the table. The better quality may not be your thing, but you can’t claim it’s the same.
Atleast he can adjust super complex stuff like the height witouth paying 100's of dollars.
Don't defend stupid things apple invented.. or overpriced af ones
 
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No clue how people do it

I was visiting a relative last weekend and helping him on his Mac Studio + Studio Display

Felt "muddy" or something

Wouldn't trade it for my 120hz 4k OLED for anything

You really can't go back from high refresh rate (or OLED!! -- everything is GORGEOUS)

macOS is optimised for 5K and it look quite bad in 4K, especially text in applications like spreadsheets.

If you care about text on macOS, you want 5K and high DPI.
 
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You're not wrong, but I'd rather ask *why* a 5K display is needed.
  • editing 4K content + space for the UI - good reason
  • other uses but macOS still doesn't handle fractional scaling - less good reason
There is little competition for 5K monitors simply because no one else needs them. There just isn't enough demand in a Mac-only market to fill a niche market with many products. Apple could fix this problem by improving support for fractional scaling (not just 2x for Retina)...
I didn’t say it was needed. I use a 4k monitor that cost me 160 bucks.
 
My non Apple monitor just worked (and continues to work) when I plugged it in. No settings adapters or clunky gaming design
Yeah. I use a 4k monitor that cost me 160 bucks. It’s not too lame but does need an adapter, doesn’t have usb c. But if you want that sweet apple native resolution you’ll need to go 5k. And retina you’ll need to go with a particular size. By that point you’re in Apple studio display price territory so why not?
 
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Atleast he can adjust super complex stuff like the height witouth paying 100's of dollars.
Don't defend stupid things apple invented.. or overpriced af ones
Do you manufacture? Do you have any idea what goes into making a telescoping stand? I wouldn’t pay for that feature either because I don’t need it. That said, who are you to decide what’s overpriced, especially for others. I’m sure you spend money on things I’d find stupid to spend money on. But you won’t see me wasting my time complaining about them on a forum.
 
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I have another POV to share.

My LG 5K monitor died after 2.5 years of use, and I opened it up to try to fix it (I'm a hardware engineer). The build quality of the internal hardware was on the cheap side - pretty much on par with low-cost mass produced consumer electronics. LG had to replace it.

Now, take a look at the internals of the Studio Display. I doubt that many people care about internal build quality and attention to detail. I can tell you that it's incredible.

Why should you care about internals, beyond high correlation with reliability? Because Apple has a strong culture around high quality and attention to details. When this is part of your culture, it runs through everything associated with the product - from the package to the quality of soldering and beyond.

The point is this: Apple sells thoroughly premium products -- at a premium price for the segment that appreciates and can afford them. Most other companies sell regular products at a regular price, and that's great too.

I certainly agree that Apple prices some products at a premium plus extra premium. But after having the opportunity to directly compare the LG and the Studio Display that recently replaced it, I have to say that the base Studio (at MSRP of $1600) provides a lot more value for the dollar than the LG (MSRP $1300) in almost every aspect you can imagine, except for height adjustment, perhaps (I got the VESA one so don't care).
 
Do you manufacture? Do you have any idea what goes into making a telescoping stand? I wouldn’t pay for that feature either because I don’t need it. That said, who are you to decide what’s overpriced, especially for others. I’m sure you spend money on things I’d find stupid to spend money on. But you won’t see me wasting my time complaining about them on a forum.

Same here. Before purchasing my ASD I tried one out at the Apple Store. The basic tilt stand worked fine for me. If I was 6'3" in height, or sat high in a chair, that might be different. In that case I would have purchased the height adjustable stand option.

For what I do I need that display. The other option would have been the Pro Display XDR - but I wasn't prepared to spend $5K and it was really overkill for my image processing needs.

As a nice bonus... the ASD also gave me an additional three USB-C ports which I use to drive three 32" 4K LG displays for running X-Plane.

If I was just doing basic computing, checking email, researching stuff on the internet, etc. any 27" display would have been fine.
 
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That’s your opinion. I 100% disagree with your take.
When the new Mac Mini drops end of this month I'll be adding a Studio display to the shopping cart along with it.

I've read all the reviews of 5K alternatives and considered also gutting my 2017" iMac 5K 27" turning it into a display.

At the end of the day this is a business expense, not a personal one. My business can afford it.
I want the height and tilt optional extra.
The other makes of 5K displays all seem to get comparatively awful reviews particularly for quality and build.
I don't see many reviews complaining about the quality of the Apple Studio 5K.

I hope they refresh the Studio display end of this month too but I don't really care if they don't. I'm getting it.
There's not much else out there to choose from and I've become accustomed to a 27" 5K display. Not downgrading.
 
Go see one in a store. I have yet to see any monitor in that price range that looks as nice. I love mine.
I have. It's nice but not nice enough to justify the hefty premium even though it would be a business expense for me. It's also too small, which is the same reason why I went with a Studio instead of another iMac.
 
I don't have that display, so I'm not sure what you're on about. I'm just saying I've heard bad things about both.

But I get it: you love your ASD and don't mind spending too much money. That's great! I'm happy for you!
To be fair, the average overall score between both isn’t even close on most retailers.

3.1 x 4.6 ⭐️ on Amazon
3.5 x 4.8 ⭐️ at Best Buy
3.5 x 4.5 ⭐️ at B&H

And basically any other store that carries both.
 
macOS is optimised for 5K and it look quite bad in 4K, especially text in applications like spreadsheets.

If you care about text on macOS, you want 5K and high DPI.
This (to an extent)!!

My 5k iMac display makes everything look insanely crisp, especially text, like no other display I tried since. I was using my MBP display next to a few 4k ones I bought and it was just disappointing by comparison. The iMac one looks amazing and just as crisp as my “3k” 14” MBP does thanks to the density. And Apple always delivers with the nits.
 
When the new Mac Mini drops end of this month I'll be adding a Studio display to the shopping cart along with it.

I've read all the reviews of 5K alternatives and considered also gutting my 2017" iMac 5K 27" turning it into a display.

At the end of the day this is a business expense, not a personal one. My business can afford it.
I want the height and tilt optional extra.
The other makes of 5K displays all seem to get comparatively awful reviews particularly for quality and build.
I don't see many reviews complaining about the quality of the Apple Studio 5K.

I hope they refresh the Studio display end of this month too but I don't really care if they don't. I'm getting it.
There's not much else out there to choose from and I've become accustomed to a 27" 5K display. Not downgrading.
Any plans for that iMac once you pull the plug? 👀
 
Any plans for that iMac once you pull the plug? 👀
Options are:
  1. Sell it at a price that they'll use it instead of converting it to a display and if it doesn't sell...
  2. Convert it to a 5K display and give to one of my high school kids
  3. Give it to one of my high school kids as is for work/play.
  4. Convert to a 5K Display and have 2 displays on my desk (least likely, I'm a one display developer. Old school.)
EDIT: I'd like to add that not going the iMac route again, while initially expensive, as I feel it frees me to upgrade just the box quicker than the 7+ years I've hung onto my current iMac. I can change to a newer mini or even a Studio as needed.
 
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Options are:
  1. Sell it at a price that they'll use it instead of converting it to a display and if it doesn't sell...
  2. Convert it to a 5K display and give to one of my high school kids
  3. Give it to one of my high school kids as is for work/play.
  4. Convert to a 5K Display and have 2 displays on my desk (least likely, I'm a one display developer. Old school.)
EDIT: I'd like to add that not going the iMac route again, while initially expensive, as I feel it frees me to upgrade just the box quicker than the 7+ years I've hung onto my current iMac. I can change to a newer mini or even a Studio as needed.
Fair! I purchased my 2017 iMac planning to use it solely for the display, but the previous owner took such great care of it and it doesn’t have a Fusion Drive, so I ended up just using it as a second/desktop Mac instead of a display for my MacBook Pro. It runs great, all things considered. Upgraded the RAM to 24GB and it hasn’t given me grief yet.

Giving/selling someone the machine as an overall package vs just for parts is fair. I wouldn’t feel as guilty if it were a Fusion Drive though.

Whenever I no longer have need for it, I would love to leave it for my niece’s as their first desktop.

Just crazy to think how many amazing 5k retina displays are just being junked or thrown out. I purchased so many displays trying to find the cost/balance and the iMac, if it were super easy to covert, is the best bang for the buck hands down. Can’t find a more affordable and capable 5k 27” display, that you can’t use unless you want to take the risk.
 
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Just crazy to think how many amazing 5k retina displays are just being junked or thrown out. I purchased so many displays trying to find the cost/balance and the iMac, if it were super easy to covert, is the best bang for the buck hands down. Can’t find a more affordable and capable 5k 27” display, that you can’t use unless you want to take the risk.
Well that's my beef with my 2017 5K iMac.
What a damn shame that a display, which is still "current" and top end, should be junked just because it's CPU is an out of date Intel i7. Going Mac Mini & Studio avoids that waste a 2nd time.
There's been valid points made on this thread that the price of the 5K Studio display is the price of an iMac back when I bought mine.
It is over priced. I don't disagree.
However the lack of competition at the same resolution and quality just leaves me resigned to buying the whole Apple package because I know that it'll last a decade if necessary and its re-sale value will, comparatively, retain a decent amount of value.
 
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Well that's my beef with my 2017 5K iMac.
What a damn shame that a display, which is still "current" and top end, should be junked just because it's CPU is an out of date Intel i7. Going Mac Mini & Studio avoids that waste a 2nd time.
There's been valid points made on this thread that the price of the 5K Studio display is the price of an iMac back when I bought mine.
It is over priced. I don't disagree.
However the lack of competition at the same resolution and quality just leaves me resigned to buying the whole Apple package because I know that it'll last a decade if necessary and its re-sale value will, comparatively, retain a decent amount of value.
Once you’ve used Mac displays it kind of ruins other displays for you. Be it the hardware itself or the software that won’t allow it to use other displays easily to the same outcome. At first I was disappointed the Acer display I purchased looked “sad” next to my MacBook Pro. But now next to the iMac display the MacBook Pro is the one looking a little lackluster 😂 mine is running an intel i5 with 512 GB SSD and 24GB RAM. I can definitely hear it running, but unlike my intel MBP I can’t feel the heat and the performance is still fine, so at least so far it is working out great as a second Mac vs what I intended to do which was convert it into a 5k display for my MBP.
 
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