Apple’s Studio Display is the ultimate home office monitor

Apple’s Studio Display monitor is effectively an iMac with the computer part ripped out — and for some, that could be a very good thing. This high-end display packs a gorgeous 5K screen for creative work and casual bingeing, but it really stands out with an excellent webcam, microphone and speakers that allow it to serve as an all-in-one home office powerhouse.

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However, all of that functionality comes at a steep $1,599 starting price, and it has a few notable drawbacks compared to some cheaper monitors. So is the Studio Display worth the splurge? Here’s what I think after using it as my main work (and play) monitor for a week.

Who it’s for:
Apple’s Studio Display is best suited for creatives who want a high-quality 5K screen for serious photo and video editing. It’s also great for anyone who works from home, thanks to an excellent integrated webcam, speaker set and microphone. It’s primarily made for Mac users, and using it with a Windows PC won’t give you access to all features.

What you need to know:
The Studio Display packs a 27-inch 5K Retina screen, which is great for both creative visual work and bingeing your favorite TV shows. It also gets you a 12-megapixel camera with Center Stage, a six-speaker sound system and a three-microphone array, all of which impressed in our testing. The Studio Display connects to Macs and PCs via Thunderbolt 3, and can even charge up your MacBook while connected.

How it compares:
The Studio Display isn’t nearly as expensive as Apple’s $4,999 Pro Display XDR, which has a larger and sharper 32-inch 6K Retina display. Despite its bigger size and better resolution, the XDR lacks an integrated webcam and speaker set and doesn’t even ship with a stand, so you’ll be choosing between a versatile prosumer display and one designed for heavy-duty visual work. The Studio Display is pricier than competing 5K monitors like the $1,296 LG UltraFine 5K, which also has an integrated webcam and speakers.

Disclaimer:
Content is solely created by CNN Underscored and its team of style-obsessed, health-focused, travel-hacking, product-testing, tech-savvy editors who work independently from the CNN newsroom. When you make a purchase, CNN may earn an affiliate commission.

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26 comments

    1. Great, so 56% of the pixels of the Apple Display are spread out on a much larger surface resulting in a very low pixel density of hardly above 100ppi. Apple’s has 218ppi.

  1. I’m sorry, but calling this a home office monitor is either just plain stupid, or based on a brief directly from Apple.

    1. I bought a monitor arm that’s far more adjustable that cost me €80 and they want €400 for the stand 😂

      The monitor arm I have even has cable routing inside it and holds up to 9KG.

  2. Is Apple just paying everyone to review this monitor as mediocre? I’ve seen a bunch of videos on this same monitor and everyone seems to say the same things. Expensive and lacks some basic functionality while still having some fancy stuff. The only thing missing from this video compared to the others was talking about the power cord.

  3. The title alone already makes it very clear u have no idea what you are talking about, but I guess the channel name already gave that away

  4. As an computer engineer I really totally disagree, I would almost call this disinformation.

    1. Same here, Apple products are WAY overpriced and you can buy the same or better quality for far less money.

  5. How come this is the opposite of what all other tech reviewers are saying? This thing is more expensive than the LG monitor with the same specs that came out 5 years ago. It’s one good feature is the webcam, but that’s not even as good as the one on the laptop. This display does not make sense as you can’t even daisy chain it together with others. Overall your review paints a pretty picture but ultimately a wrong picture of this display

  6. For a much lower price, you can get a 38inch ultrawide monitor, with proper stand and an actually removable power cable. This display is one of the stupidest things apple has ever created. With its limiting capabilities, low refresh rate, and poor compatibility with non-apple computers. This is actually one of the worst value home office monitor ever.

  7. It’s fluff pieces like this that make it ever harder for me to defend CNN to my associates, something I find myself doing by reflex ever more. There seems to be a disconnet in this report. He does mention the lack of HDR, the disgraceful stand arrangement/price, low refresh rate, but he does not mentioned any sort of colour accuracy test results. For a $1500+ display just saying it subjectively looks good isn’t testing or journalism. Is this a good product or is it an overpriced product with lots of caveats to consider? He seems to suggest it is both. No mention of all the reported issues early users have experienced with the webcam which would have been informative even if he didn’t experience it first hand. A disappointing fluff piece, nothing more. PLEASE try harder.

    1. This is CNN Underscored, not CNN editorial. Content like this can be sponsored and there are revenue opportunities if people click links in the article to buy the product being reviewed – it basically amounts to opinion pieces that have nothing to do with the actual news division.

  8. It seems this is a monitor with an about 800+$ Webcam and Speaker Setup. … Really? …. For Office users …? There are some specs mentioned in the Article but many importatnt ones like gamut and brightness are missing completely except for mentioning them as ‘ impressively bright’ or ‘ensuring that professional photo and video editors can properly work within the color range that their projects require’ what does that mean? 500 Nits? 1000 Nits? 95% SRGB? 100% DCI-P3?

  9. I wonder how many thousands could save on a better calibrated monitor that doesn’t have a apple logo. Apple, creating suckers one day at a time.

    EDIT: No HDR….. HAHAAHAHAHAHAHA.

  10. More overpriced Apple crap. Since when is a stand an optional extra? I bought a 49 inch curved and high refresh rate ASUS monitor for less than Apple are asking, with fingertip height and tilt adjustments at no extra cost lol.

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