The new Studio Display XDR has killed off the Pro Display XDR, and at $5000 was out of most Mac users' reach. Even after seven years without an update, it offered features its replacement does not.
When the Pro Display XDR launched back in 2019, it was the first Apple-branded monitor in three years. Then for three more years, it was the only one until the Studio Display launched in 2022.
There were strong rumors that Apple had at least been intending to release something three years later in 2025. But instead, it was four years, and the launch of two versions of the Apple Studio Display.
One version, the base, doesn't seem particularly noteworthy, but the new higher-specification does. If nothing else, the Studio Display XDR is the display that killed off the Pro Display XDR.
Given that the only thing Apple does more rarely than release a new display is update an old one, it surely was time for the Pro Display XDR to be discontinued. It lasted seven years without a change, and the new Studio Display XDR does offer advantages.
It has a 120Hz Adaptive Sync screen, where the Pro Display was a 60Hz model.
Gains and losses
But the Pro Display XDR was also a 32-inch screen, where its successor is only a 27-inch one. The Pro Display XDR was a 6K screen, and the Studio Display XDR is 5K.
That may be enough to send some potential buyers looking into the used market.
As well as specification changes, though, it's also possible that the new screens hint at changes inside Apple. There does definitely seem to be a resistance against larger monitors, for one thing.
The first glimpse of the Pro Display XDR at WWDC 2019 — image credit: Apple
Only, when the Pro Display XDR came out, it was presented as a product of Apple's aim to serve its professional market. Or rather, all of its professional markets.
"There's many different types of pros and obviously they go really deep into the hardware and software and are pushing everything to its limit," said John Ternus, Apple's senior vice president of Hardware Engineering, in 2018. "So one thing you have to do is we need to be engaging with the customers to really understand their needs."
"Because we want to provide complete pro solutions not just deliver big hardware which we're doing and we did it with iMac Pro," he continued. "But [instead] look at everything holistically."
The iMac Pro, Pro Display XDR, and last Intel Mac Pro came out of this consultation with users. The iMac Pro didn't last that long, and the Intel Mac Pro was launched too close to Apple Silicon for its own good.
The sole survivor was the Pro Display XDR. For those who needed and could afford it, the Pro Display XDR was a superb monitor.
It was also the first time Apple offered a nano-texture display to cut down on reflective glare. Choosing that did bring the price up to $6,000, but nano-texture has since then slowly spread as an option to the MacBook Pro and the iPad Pro.
Both the new models of Studio Display can be bought with nano-texture screens, which only raise their price by $300.
So Apple's best screen technology is now available as an option on both of its standalone displays — and there's a free cleaning cloth included. But that 5K instead of 6K, and that 27-inches instead of 32-inches, it means the Pro Display XDR will be missed.
