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Apple Studio Display update may arrive a year later than expected

Apple Studio Display


Apple's rumored update to the Apple Studio Display may not arrive in 2025 after all, with a release in 2026 now expected for the premium Mac display.

On Thursday, a report claimed an update for the Apple Studio Display is in development, which could bring an improved miniLED backlight to the design. However, a few days later, another report states that the timeline is a bit longer than first offered.

According to Bloomberg's "Power On" newsletter on Sunday, the claim of a new 27-inch Apple Studio Display is repeated. The new model is said to have a similar design to the 2022 original, and "roughly" the same size of screen.

This time, however, it is said that the device is being prototyped by Apple, in a very early stage of the design and production process. Codenamed J427, the report doesn't offer any new specification details.

However, the new model will apparently be marketed as a companion item to the M5 MacBook Pro lineup.

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While the Apple Studio Display is getting a refresh, the same can't be said for the Pro Display XDR. It is reasoned that the $5,000 monitor is less of a priority due to it being far out of reach for most consumers, though Apple is still interested in the professional market.

Dueling schedules

Sundays report by Mark Gurman offers a timeline that is longer than that proposed by Ross Young of Display Supply Chain Consultants. In Thursday's report, Young said a release later in 2025 was on the cards for the model.

The late 2025 period is close enough to 2026 that a delay in production could result in a 2026 introduction rather than 2025.

Both Gurman and Young have good track records when it comes to Apple products on the horizon, however Young is a specialist in displays. Young also offered more detail about the potential display.

That includes a switch of the LED backlighting system for a miniLED version. The change can allow for the use of localized dimming, increasing the range of shades the display can output, approaching the levels of OLED panels.

Young also brought up that ProMotion could be introduced with the screen. Rather than the 60Hz screen the existing Apple Studio Display can output, a ProMotion version would infer there would be an adaptive refresh rate system, which could go as high as 120Hz.

17 Comments

macxpress 17 Years · 5947 comments

I wonder if they'd bump the size up to a 30" display? I would be nice to see 120Hz ProMotion. Or, perhaps they'll offer the same 27" Studio Display for a cheaper price ($1199 or something like that) and then offer a more expensive 30" Studio Display and then obviously the XDR display for a lot more. I would really like to have (2) 27" Studio Displays but I also don't wanna spend $3500 on displays lol. They'd be a lot better than the cheaper LG 27" 2k displays I have now. 

1 Like · 0 Dislikes
libertyandfree 12 Years · 207 comments

macxpress said:
I wonder if they'd bump the size up to a 30" display? I would be nice to see 120Hz ProMotion. Or, perhaps they'll offer the same 27" Studio Display for a cheaper price ($1199 or something like that) and then offer a more expensive 30" Studio Display and then obviously the XDR display for a lot more. I would really like to have (2) 27" Studio Displays but I also don't wanna spend $3500 on displays lol. They'd be a lot better than the cheaper LG 27" 2k displays I have now. 

 Highly unlikely to be a 30” display since Apple maintains a 218 ppi with a 5k display being 27” while the 6k is 32”.  A 30” would mean a 5.5k display (weird) or Apple would need to drop the ppi to 196 and neither seems plausible.  

3 Likes · 0 Dislikes
omasou 8 Years · 650 comments

My guess, similar to iPad Pro. Same resolution, p

hysically smaller (perhaps thinner) and smaller bezels.

Needs TB5 hub replacing TB3 or monitor still born.

2 Likes · 0 Dislikes
bulk001 17 Years · 814 comments

Unless it is a chip swap and camera bump, Apple seems incapable of delivering anything in any sort of a reasonable time frame. Apple Watch Ultra they were able to come up with a new color and not even a better chip. The one product they did “rush” (after years of development) seems to be a bit of a failure necessitating a move to third parties to clear out their inventory of goggles. Apple “Intelligence” that they have been working on for 7 years I think Cook said has had a faltering rollout too. TL:DR it is no surprise that they will take years and years more work on this before it finally, if ever, sees the light of day. 

1 Like · 4 Dislikes
nubus 9 Years · 734 comments

bulk001 said:
Unless it is a chip swap and camera bump, Apple seems incapable of delivering anything in any sort of a reasonable time frame. Apple Watch Ultra they were able to come up with a new color and not even a better chip. 

Indeed! Apple delivered the Mac, iPod (developed and launched in less than 12 months), and iPhone... all under the same CEO. For a decade the next big thing was going to be Car and AVP. Concepts copied from Musk + Zuckerberg. One didn't ship and one shouldn't have. Apple upgraded AirPods Max, keyboards, trackpads, and the "charge on back" mouse to USB C thanks to EU but let everything else stay unchanged.

I don't want to see Musk near Apple but someone should review project management and product development before Cook is going full Copland/Taligent on us. From Siri and iPadOS to not being focused on AI and still not delivering. Dell is shipping Tandem OLED in laptops and Asus (Asus!) is delivering Pro displays with tech Apple might use in 2026.

1 Like · 5 Dislikes