Review: Apple Studio Display XDR

There's a category of halo Apple products that seem to exist primarily as a flex. It's niche. It's hyper-specific. It does something no other product in its class can do, at a price almost no individual could justify. Think the Mac Pro or the Vision Pro.

The Pro Display XDR was one such product when it launched in 2019. The sticker shock was unbelievable, and at the time, it was delivering HDR capability at a level no other monitor in its price range could. Now that the Pro Display XDR isn't alone in that regard, Apple has launched the Studio Display XDR—a monitor with more modest claims about its unique status. Hence, the $1,700 price drop from the original Pro Display XDR.

The Studio Display XDR still does a few things that no other monitor can, but the competition has somehow made this an even more niche monitor than it used to be.

Disappointment Is Real

The speculation about the sequel to the Pro Display XDR and Studio Display were running rampant leading up to the days of the launch. Some said both monitors would be Mini-LED, and others said Apple would use updated chips inside. After all, it had been six and a half years since the Pro Display XDR, and surely Apple would be back to raise the bar again. Meanwhile, it had been three years since the Studio Display, which was highly criticized for its price and lack of features at the time. Apple would learn from its lessons and give the people what they want.

No one out there guessed that the new base Studio Display would be nearly identical to the first version outside the upgraded webcam and still be sold at the same price of $1,599. Even worse, no one would have predicted that the the Studio Display XDR would be smaller and lower resolution than the original.

It measures 27 inches instead of 32, and has a 5K resolution instead of 6K. For some people, it's going to be hard to accept a 27-inch version of this monitor, no matter what. For those people, I'd suggest you check out the LG Ultrafine 6K that I tested late last year. It's much cheaper, and even with a 60 Hz refresh rate, it'll scratch your itch for a large, supersharp premium monitor.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

Now that you've dealt with your disappointment, let's get to what makes the Studio Display XDR special. It's not the design, which is essentially identical to both the original base Studio Display and the new one. The complete flat screen is thick, but it's 1.3 inches versus 1.2 inches, so not noticeable versus the standard model. Apple stuffs a lot in, including active fans, the A19 Pro chip, a 12-megapixel 1080p webcam, three microphones, two Thunderbolt 5 ports (and two USB-C ports), and a six-speaker sound system. All of these features are not new, but are still unchallenged the world of monitors. The speakers sound particularly full, bassy, and balanced. They're so good, I was actually excited to listen to music on them.

The main physical difference between the Studio Display and XDR model is the weight. The screen alone on the XDR model itself is two pounds heavier. Internally, the base Studio Display also uses the standard A19 versus the Pro chip, presumably to help with the image processing an real-time tone mapping needed for HDR.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

The XDR model also comes with the height-adjustable stand. It used to be an add-on for $1,000 and now comes standard. There's tons of height adjustment to find what's comfortable, and it can even get tall enough to fit an open MacBook Pro right beneath it, if that's your preferred setup. I was also reminded of how smooth the tilt on the stand feels to adjust. Most monitor stands (and even monitor arms) feel quite rigid. But also, no monitor that costs thousands of dollars should lack something as basic as height adjustment.

HDR to the Max

It all comes down to HDR, also known as High Dynamic Range. It's why this monitor exists. One of the problems with HDR, though, is it's hard to quantify and measure. You know it when you see it, most often on your TV or your phone. But to really stack up the Studio Display XDR against the competition, you need to understand how Apple approaches HDR—and explain why this monitor mostly likely needed to be 27 inches instead of 32 inches.

The Studio Display XDR is an LED display with local dimming, much like the original Pro Display XDR. But the new model takes a dramatic step up in how many tiny lights are used to backlight the panel, also known as dimming zones. More dimming zones means more precise light control, leading to better HDR performance and less negative effects like haloing and blooming. That's where the Studio Display XDR takes a big step forward.

The Pro Display XDR only had 576 dimming zones, and the time, it felt mind-blowing. But the Studio Display XDR has 2,304 dimming zones. That's on a smaller screen, too, meaning the pixel-to-dimming zone ratio is even greater. Dropping the size from 32 inches to 27 inches allows Apple to achieve a ratio closer to what the MacBook Pros have. (For reference, the screen of the 16-inch MacBook Pro has 2,554 dimming zones). The result is that there is nearly no blooming to speak of, and there's less haloing than on any other LED monitor I've tested. It doesn't have the precise control of OLED, with individually lit pixels, but it's closer than it's ever been.

Photograph: Luke Larsen

Squeezing in more dimming zones is only half the equation for great HDR. You also need as much brightness and contrast as you can crank out, and the Studio Display XDR delivers on an unprecedented level.

Apple says this can go up to 2000 nits of peak brightness, and when I measured it myself with my colorimeter, it maxed out at 1905 nits in a 25 percent window. That's really impressive. Meanwhile, it can even do 1701 nits at 49 percent and 948 nits at full screen. This is easily the brightest computer monitor I've ever tested. While the contrast and color performance can't quite compare with OLED, creators working in HDR will get a lot more from the Studio Display XDR. For example, I've tested the Dell 32 Plus QD-OLED, which can do HDR quite well, but only maxes out at 946 nits. And that's only in a 1 percent window.

Most of your use of the Studio Display XDR will be in SDR, not HDR. Here, there are a few trade-offs. First, I measured the max brightness at 463 nits, though the display can range up to 1000 nits in bright rooms using the ambient light sensor. You can't just force it to 1000 nits though. According to my SpyderPro colorimeter, I measured an average Delta-E color error of 0.76, which is quite accurate. I will say, performance in the AdobeRGB color space only came up at 88 percent, which is behind what you get in OLED monitors.

Some Warnings

There are some limits with compatibility for the Studio Display XDR. No Intel Macs are supported at all, which shouldn't be a problem for most people, so long as you didn't buy a Mac Pro recently. The desktop computer was the very last Intel-powered Mac in the lineup and was only discontinued in 2023. Beyond that, there are some Macs that can't support the 120-Hz refresh rate. For example, the M1 Pro, Max and Ultra chips only support 60 Hz on the Studio Display XDR. That means even if you bought an M1 Ultra Mac Studio, you're locked at 60 Hz. That's a bummer.

This is a smaller thing, but one of the USB-C ports in the back is for power delivery to charge your laptop over a single cable. This is common these days in monitors, but the one included can only deliver 96 watts of power. The 16-inch MacBook Pro comes with a 140-watt power supply. If you're doing intense tasks on something like the M5 Max, you need all that power, but this means slower charging. There have been some reports that on the 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M5 Max, it couldn't hold a charge with its own 96-watt power supply during heavy loads like gaming.

Then there's the price. Like with the Vision Pro, Apple feels confident charging a lot for this very niche use case monitor. However, monitors with true HDR aren't as much a novelty as they were in 2019. Back then, lots of monitors marketed HDR without the proper backlighting to back it up. But a lot has changed in seven years and the market is now flooded with affordable OLED and Mini-LED monitors that can actually do HDR, largely thanks to the popularity of OLED in PC gaming.

The unique thing about the Studio Display XDR, then, is how strong the HDR effect is. Don't get me wrong: The complete package is very strong and the HDR performance really is top tier for those that want it. But like the Vision Pro, it won't be the disruptive force it's claiming to be, and the majority of us will go back to wishing Apple would make a 32-inch monitor, or maybe something more affordable to pair with the Mac mini or MacBook Air. As of now, neither the Studio Display or Studio Display XDR fit the bill.