Apple Studio Display - Owners Thread

[GDF]

I got the ASD at Costco also and need to order my M2 Pro Mac Mini to go with it. What spec did you get on your Mini?

I ordered the Mac Mini M2 Pro 16gb/1TB. Probably would have been fine with a regular M2 and with 512gb, but hopefully can keep this a long time too and if not then at least it is easier to replace, since will already have the ASD.

Will see what my thoughts are on the Mini Pro, once I receive it. Costco would have been a great place to get it, if they had that config or the 512gb one (that was out of stock already), as then would have 90 days to know for sure. 🙂

 

[tstafford]

I love that the recent sale on ASD has gotten a bunch of new converts. Apparently Apple should have priced it at $1300!

 

[jdelcorr]

I love that the recent sale on ASD has gotten a bunch of new converts. Apparently Apple should have priced it at $1300!

My last Apple display was the old 20 inch Cinema. I had forgotten how a single monitor can transform a desk. It gives the work environment a different aura. Although there are new displays coming with perhaps better technology, the way these interact with the Mac is priceless. I was tired of waiting for the Dell to wake up, etc..

I guess it’s the same analogy of Android vs iPhone. Android might have a higher res camera, etc.. But the experience on an iPhone as a whole is just better.

 

[DotCom2]

I love that the recent sale on ASD has gotten a bunch of new converts. Apparently Apple should have priced it at $1300!

Exactly! I wasn't even thinking of getting one. But with the lower price and my Costco bucks and the new M2 mini? It was a no-brainer for me.

 

[bob_stan]

I just got 2. They replace a 38 inch Dell ultrawide 4K monitor and I couldn't be happier. I spend most of my time programming and they are really easy on my old eyes. They seem much clearer. I also really like the integration of the microphone and web cam. I know there may be better alternatives for less money, but these work great for me and I am really happy with them.

Cosmetically they are impressive, but I have one minor complaint. When the two monitors are placed side to side the screen edges are not exactly parallel. If they touch at the bottom there is about a 1/4 inch gap at the top. Of course this is easily fixed with some small cardboard shimming, but for $1500 monitors you would think there would be some easy adjustment of this if necessary.

 

[racoop]

I just got 2. They replace a 38 inch Dell ultrawide 4K monitor and I couldn't be happier. I spend most of my time programming and they are really easy on my old eyes. They seem much clearer. I also really like the integration of the microphone and web cam. I know there may be better alternatives for less money, but these work great for me and I am really happy with them.

Cosmetically they are impressive, but I have one minor complaint. When the two monitors are placed side to side the screen edges are not exactly parallel. If they touch at the bottom there is about a 1/4 inch gap at the top. Of course this is easily fixed with some small cardboard shimming, but for $1500 monitors you would think there would be some easy adjustment of this if necessary.

Keep in mind it is simple geometry. Unless they are both perfectly perpendicular to the desktop, or perfectly aligned end-to-end in one long straight line, you will get the gap. Love mine too - arrived a few days on the $1299 Amazon sale, couldn't be happier.

 

[tornado99]

Yes all day every day. I had a 4k Iiyama before and that was slightly blurry on text rendering due to 150% scaling. Eye strain is gone now.

I'd take a 1440p or a 5k display only for programming. 4k is not right at all.

Isn't the fact that you need to pump up the brightness on a glossy display also causing eyestrain?

I'm after a monitor for coding/developing, so text quality is pretty much the only important thing. Currently on matte 300 nits displays I never get eyestrain, so I'm thinking that the new Samsung 5K might actually be better.

What brightness % do you normally run it at? 500 or 600 nits seems way too bright to stare at all day. (General question to all)

If the ASD was comfortable at 50% brightness I'd definitely be intereted.

 

[tstafford]

Isn't the fact that you need to pump up the brightness on a glossy display also causing eyestrain?

I'm after a monitor for coding/developing, so text quality is pretty much the only important thing. Currently on matte 300 nits displays I never get eyestrain, so I'm thinking that the new Samsung 5K might actually be better.

What brightness % do you normally run it at? 500 or 600 nits seems way too bright to stare at all day. (General question to all)

If the ASD was comfortable at 50% brightness I'd definitely be intereted.

I adjust the brightness on my ASDs throughout the day. Love that I can do that from the keyboard or via the menu bar. I rarely run them much above 60% or so unless I am streaming video.

You mention text clarity - that is their strongest quality.

 

[tornado99]

You can adjust the brightness of almost any 3rd party monitor from your keyboard if you use the BetterDummy/BetterDisplay app, and the monitor uses DDC.

Ok, good to know. The LG Ultrafines seem to need to be run at very high brightness to counter reflections, so perhaps the ASD is an improvement in that area.

 

[Danfango]

Isn't the fact that you need to pump up the brightness on a glossy display also causing eyestrain?

I'm after a monitor for coding/developing, so text quality is pretty much the only important thing. Currently on matte 300 nits displays I never get eyestrain, so I'm thinking that the new Samsung 5K might actually be better.

What brightness % do you normally run it at? 500 or 600 nits seems way too bright to stare at all day. (General question to all)

If the ASD was comfortable at 50% brightness I'd definitely be intereted.

If you can manage any reflections it's fine. I have blinds in front of me so I can diffuse everything out. It's only point light sources that are an issue on glossy displays.

As for brightness, 50% it is absolutely fine. I probably run it like that most of the time. Comparable to my Iiyama 4k at full whack which is about 280-300 nits top.

Not sure about the Samsung. I'm paying for the fact this thing just works, which it does. And comes with a pretty decent audio system and reasonable camera.

 

[trevor-b]

Any idea what might be happening here?

I've had the Yiwentec for months connecting to my 2 M1 MBPs and the Studio Display.

Today I find that while I can switch between the two MBPs, the mouse and keyboard (both connected via bluetooth) don't transfer over and I have to manually select the switch on the keyboard and mouse that is configured for the laptop that I've switched to. I've never had to do this until now.

 

[fdw777]

I’m thinking about the Apple refurbished display and wondering what you think about getting AppleCare+ with the purchase. Is it worth it?

 

[Swissfashion]

I’m thinking about the Apple refurbished display and wondering what you think about getting AppleCare+ with the purchase. Is it worth it?

I had bad luck with my refurbished ASD. Glitches and flickering. Therefore I‘d get AppleCare+ with it after the two week window in which you can return it. The price is about 8% of the Display cost and definitely worth it for peace of mind for three years.

 

[AustinIllini]

I felt silly buying this, and yet I absolutely love it and don't regret it at all.

 

[racoop]

I felt silly buying this, and yet I absolutely love it and don't regret it at all.

Haha same here, esp. on the $1299 Amazon sale. When it took me about 60 seconds to set it up and be running on my MBP, I knew I made the right choice. Love it!!

 

[Lioness~]

I’m thinking about the Apple refurbished display and wondering what you think about getting AppleCare+ with the purchase. Is it worth it?

I always buy AC+ to my more expensive and larger Apple stuff, the Mac’s and the ASD now.
Also good if you need to send it in to Apple, much much easier.

 

[JimMoriarty]

A few weeks ago, I got myself a StudioDisplay with nano texture and albeit pricey, I am happy with my purchase and think it's a very fine display. I am currently running it with a MacBook Pro 13" from 2019 and it makes the fans spin up constantly.

Has anyone experience using the StudioDisplay with an M2 MacBook Air? Thanks!

 

[xraydoc]

A few weeks ago, I got myself a StudioDisplay with nano texture and albeit pricey, I am happy with my purchase and think it's a very fine display. I am currently running it with a MacBook Pro 13" from 2019 and it makes the fans spin up constantly.

Has anyone experience using the StudioDisplay with an M2 MacBook Air? Thanks!

Should run excellently. My daughter uses her M1 MacBook Air on a Studio Display regularly. She's a graphic designer and copy editor and the performance is more than satisfactory for her.

 

[JimMoriarty]

Should run excellently. My daughter uses her M1 MacBook Air on a Studio Display regularly. She's a graphic designer and copy editor and the performance is more than satisfactory for her.

Great, that's good to know! Thanks for your reply.

 

[zorinlynx]

Has anyone installed the beta firmware update for the Studio Display? Any change in behavior for better or worse?

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

Nothing I can do to fix this.

Auto brightness on Studio Display has failed. No reboot of monitor or Mac is working.

I’m not going to install any beta to see if it fixes it.

There is nothing in system information that can even tell me if there is a hardware or software problem.

Who the hell ships a monitor or even OS without a utility to let us detect what is the problem?

 

[Martyimac]

Nothing I can do to fix this.

Auto brightness on Studio Display has failed. No reboot of monitor or Mac is working.

I’m not going to install any beta to see if it fixes it.

There is nothing in system information that can even tell me if there is a hardware or software problem.

Who the hell ships a monitor or even OS without a utility to let us detect what is the problem?

No monitor I have ever owned over the last 25 years had a utility, that I am aware of, that would do what you want. That being said, if you are in warranty then contact . Even out of warranty I would still contact .

 

[tstafford]

No monitor I have ever owned over the last 25 years had a utility, that I am aware of, that would do what you want. That being said, if you are in warranty then contact . Even out of warranty I would still contact .

I would think all ASD are under warranty (at least in the US). Comes with a one year warranty and was released less than a year ago.

 

[Martyimac]

I would think all ASD are under warranty (at least in the US). Comes with a one year warranty and was released less than a year ago.

Then you know what you have to do.

 

[purplerainpurplerain]

No monitor I have ever owned over the last 25 years had a utility, that I am aware of, that would do what you want. That being said, if you are in warranty then contact . Even out of warranty I would still contact .

I am saying the OS diagnostic should be saying what’s wrong. There is nothing. User left in the dark. Windows at least will tell you if some hardware is failing by putting a Red Cross next to anything in the device manager tree.

On macOS we have to scratch our head. The sensor doesn’t even appear in the System Profiler under any device tree so that we can see it is functioning normally.

This isn’t a third party monitor. It is integrated with the OS and the Mac and it is just dumb that we could have bugs and failures and don’t have any app in the OS to check the hardware.