Pro Display XDR - Owners Thread

[Silly John Fatty]

For microphone I'd buy an external one if needed.
As speakers I still use my 20 years old 2.1 JetBalance JB-465 system. So no "technology" at all, everything is wired and mid-range speakers are quite small. You just get 60W of very pleasant sound and nothing else.

So my point is to use separate simple devices that perfectly perform their function.

Thanks! My problem is that this scenario takes up so much space. I love that the Studio Display has a great internal microphone that works well and doesn't take any additional space. I don't want to get a real big studio microphone, I would have to get something as small as possible.

I've seen things like these, but they don't have many reviews and it looks ugly.

Another problem I've encountered with having it all separate is that when you are on the phone with someone on FaceTime, and you use your webcam microphone for example, and you hear the person speaking through the HomePod mini for example, they will have feedback and hear their own voice.

I'm not sure how the Studio Display handles this. After all, their voice is also emitted over the speakers and you would assume it would get back into the Studio Displays microphone, but apparently it doesn't. Probably it's some sort of good design behind it.

 

[ThomasPicard]

I use my iPhone with Continuity Camera

Works without problems - sound and picture quality is good enough for me..

For Speakers I have some small Monitors (Adam Audio) - as Sound Quality is important to me

 

[etc]

Thanks! My problem is that this scenario takes up so much space. I love that the Studio Display has a great internal microphone that works well and doesn't take any additional space. I don't want to get a real big studio microphone, I would have to get something as small as possible.

I've seen things like these, but they don't have many reviews and it looks ugly.

Another problem I've encountered with having it all separate is that when you are on the phone with someone on FaceTime, and you use your webcam microphone for example, and you hear the person speaking through the HomePod mini for example, they will have feedback and hear their own voice.

I'm not sure how the Studio Display handles this. After all, their voice is also emitted over the speakers and you would assume it would get back into the Studio Displays microphone, but apparently it doesn't. Probably it's some sort of good design behind it.

Well, you can use webcam's microphone if you're satisfied with the quality. For calls I prefer to use wireless headphones to hear people, but use webcam's microphone (Logitech made it for XDR). So there's no such thing as echo or feedback, I also can hear people better, and they also hear me better because webcam's mic is much clearer than the one in the headphones.

 

[Silly John Fatty]

Well, you can use webcam's microphone if you're satisfied with the quality. For calls I prefer to use wireless headphones to hear people, but use webcam's microphone (Logitech made it for XDR). So there's no such thing as echo or feedback, I also can hear people better, and they also hear me better because webcam's mic is much clearer than the one in the headphones.

The Logitech webcam mic works fine, but I still need external speakers to hear the other person. Unfortunately, when using the HomePod, I run into feedback issues. I could use my AirPods instead, but since I have frequent, often very short calls, it’s too inconvenient to put them on every time.

One great thing about the Studio Display is that it seamlessly handles audio transitions. For example, I could have music playing, and when a call comes in, the music fades out smoothly. Once the call ends, the music fades back in, making the experience feel effortless.

Right now, it’s a frustrating situation because there doesn’t seem to be a good solution that integrates both music playback and calls effectively. Most conference devices are likely terrible for music playback, while options like the HomePod lack a microphone and don’t work well with my Logitech microphone setup.

To make things worse, I have music from the Mac playing on the HomePod, but system sounds still come through the Mac mini’s built-in speakers, which are absolutely awful. It’s a total mess! 😂

 

[etc]

The Logitech webcam mic works fine, but I still need external speakers to hear the other person. Unfortunately, when using the HomePod, I run into feedback issues. I could use my AirPods instead, but since I have frequent, often very short calls, it’s too inconvenient to put them on every time.

One great thing about the Studio Display is that it seamlessly handles audio transitions. For example, I could have music playing, and when a call comes in, the music fades out smoothly. Once the call ends, the music fades back in, making the experience feel effortless.

Right now, it’s a frustrating situation because there doesn’t seem to be a good solution that integrates both music playback and calls effectively. Most conference devices are likely terrible for music playback, while options like the HomePod lack a microphone and don’t work well with my Logitech microphone setup.

To make things worse, I have music from the Mac playing on the HomePod, but system sounds still come through the Mac mini’s built-in speakers, which are absolutely awful. It’s a total mess! 😂

Well I think you need to try to use simple speakers then. You shouldn't get an echo, because there would be no delay

 

[- rob -]

I topped my WWDC 2nd gen wishful thinking thread, but wanted to also goose my fellow XDR fans about possibility of an incoming refresh.

Also, how’s it been going? Everybody’s XDR monitors holding on okay?

 

[shurcooL]

My 2 XDRs are serving well 5 years in, no issues. As much as I look forward to a higher refresh version thereof, I’m also enjoying the time while the first XDR is still the best external display Apple makes.

 

[uller6]

Mine has developed shadows on both right and left sides of the screen (maybe 1 cm wide). Still overall a great screen that I use at work every day.

 

[etc]

I topped my WWDC 2nd gen wishful thinking thread, but wanted to also goose my fellow XDR fans about possibility of an incoming refresh.

Also, how’s it been going? Everybody’s XDR monitors holding on okay?

Mine is 2.5 years. It is fine. Shadows on sides were there from the beginning, but dimming probably became less uniform. It's difficult to say how much, because it wasn't uniform from the beginning too. Also I noticed two stuck pixels once, but they are gone now after playing HDR content.

 

[romanof]

Three years old, but still working fine. I have had the problem from the beginning that on restart of the Mac or the screensaver, about half the time the brightness will be twice what it is set to. It knows what it should be since when I click on the brighness bar, it instantly resets to the proper value. Not a Mac or OS problem since it has seen several of each over the years. But, it is still the best monitor I have seen, anywhere. (And for 6 grand, it had better be.)

 

[mac-jam]

Just checking if you guys have the same display options as I just got a xdr display and my studio display resolution seems better so just checking if something is wrong perhaps on the settings.

 

[etc]

Just checking if you guys have the same display options as I just got a xdr display and my studio display resolution seems better so just checking if something is wrong perhaps on the settings.

What you mean "seems better"? Post your studio display settings too

 

[mac-jam]

The resolution, I would have expected more screen space on the xdr.
Will post when back, on the road at the moment.

 

[etc]

The resolution, I would have expected more screen space on the xdr.
Will post when back, on the road at the moment.

I guess you use scaled resolution (not default) on your Studio Display which gives you more space by loosing picture quality, i. e. rendering more pixels than display's physical resolution. There's no such option on XDR by default, the highest resolution there is the best in terms of quality (especially text) and space. To get more resolution options you need additional software like SwitchResX

 

[Ifti]

Three years old, but still working fine. I have had the problem from the beginning that on restart of the Mac or the screensaver, about half the time the brightness will be twice what it is set to. It knows what it should be since when I click on the brighness bar, it instantly resets to the proper value. Not a Mac or OS problem since it has seen several of each over the years. But, it is still the best monitor I have seen, anywhere. (And for 6 grand, it had better be.)

Wonder if it is an OS problem, as I have the same thing on occasion on my M3 MBA........
Saying that, haven't had it in a while so maybe an update fixed it......

 

[romanof]

Just checking if you guys have the same display options as I just got a xdr display and my studio display resolution seems better so just checking if something is wrong perhaps on the settings.

I have an XDR and a SD side by side, and frankly, I see no difference. In fact, had the Studio Display been available at the time, I would have gone with it instead. I don't do moving graphics as in gaming, only static stuff like Kicad so I care less about framerates. Or photos/videos so pure blacks mean nothing.

Text on both is superb and again, I see no difference in visual quality.

 

[mac-jam]

I have an XDR and a SD side by side, and frankly, I see no difference. In fact, had the Studio Display been available at the time, I would have gone with it instead. I don't do moving graphics as in gaming, only static stuff like Kicad so I care less about framerates. Or photos/videos so pure blacks mean nothing.

Text on both is superb and again, I see no difference in visual quality.

What resolutions do you get on each?

 

[romanof]

What resolutions do you get on each?

I don't change anything - just connect them and let them come up native. 6k on the big one and 5k on the SD. Using a Mini M2 pro now, but an M2 Studio before and originally an MI mini (with only the XDR). Look exactly the same on all of them.

 

[flowrider]

^^^^To get all resolutions:

1. Click On Advanced at bottom of "Displays"

2. Click on Show resolutions.

3. You'll get a list like this:
l

Lou

 

[romanof]

Default on the XDR. 3008 x 1692. If I use the 6016 x 3384 option, everything is really tiny. Probably good for video editors, but not for coders.

Default also on the Studio. 1512 x 982

 

[PaulD-UK]

@romanof "Default also on the Studio. 1512 x 982"

That's the HiDPI (default) resolution of a 14" MacBook Pro.
If you have a Studio Dsplay attached then it's default should be 2560x1440.

 

[romanof]

Nope. I can change to that of course, but moving between a Mini Pro and a new Macbook pro (14") keeps the default at 1512 x 982. I may have some no-change checkbox checked, but on either it looks fine. And as I said, I do mostly CLI text so I just care about text clarity which is super on both SD and XDR.

 

[macpro2000]

I have an XDR and a SD side by side, and frankly, I see no difference. In fact, had the Studio Display been available at the time, I would have gone with it instead. I don't do moving graphics as in gaming, only static stuff like Kicad so I care less about framerates. Or photos/videos so pure blacks mean nothing.

Text on both is superb and again, I see no difference in visual quality.

The blacks are the difference. Not even close.

 

[romanof]

Very true. And side by side that aspect cannot be missed. Fortunately, my room is in a basement with no external illumination so I always have the nits very low and the gray of the SD not really noticeable. Even set to 500 nits in a dark room is like looking into the sun. My XDR is on the P3-500 nit preset and the brightness slider is only about 1/3 full.

 

[etc]

^^^^To get all resolutions:

1. Click On Advanced at bottom of "Displays"

2. Click on Show resolutions.View attachment 2492238

3. You'll get a list like this:
l View attachment 2492241

Lou

That does not work for XDR:

But again, here is the thread about adding custom resolutions if you need.