Considering Apple doesn’t seem hugely interested in updating its all-in-one iMac systems too regularly, you would imagine the company would be keen to push its own screen tech to accompany the recently updated M4 Mac mini and Mac Studio M4,
Yet it’s now been three years since Apple introduced the $1,599, 27-inch Studio Display and six years since the $5,000 Pro Display XDR arrived. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple could be filling that monitor-shaped hole with two different models within the next year.
In the Q&A section of his latest Power On newsletter, Gurman reiterates that Apple is working on a new version of the Studio Display. The reasoning is obvious: “while the price and industrial design of the current model is fair and decent, its specifications are now lacking” — the kind of rationale that could apply to any three-year-old technology.
The screen, codenamed J427, is due to arrive “either at the end of this year or early next year”, so not too long to wait.
A second product
However, Gurman now hears that a second panel with the codename J527 is also being worked on, and while there are essentially no details about what this is, there are three distinct possibilities.
The first is that this is a third generation of Studio Display, but Gurman doesn’t think that’s very likely. A third generation in development before the second is out isn’t impossible, but given it will be four years between the release of the first Studio Display and its replacement, it seems odd that Apple would be speeding the process up for the follow-up.
That leaves two possibilities. First, this is another version of the Studio Display being tested, with Apple set to decide which one to sell at a later date.
The second is that J527 is a second monitor due at the same time with different specs. That could be something as humdrum as a different size or aspect ratio, but alternatively, it could be a whole different model.
“After all, the Pro Display XDR is getting a bit long in the tooth as well, so replacing that model may make sense,” Gurman teases.
What I want to see
The Pro Display XDR, though beautiful, is an extremely niche product. At $5,000, it makes even the $3,499 Vision Pro headset look like an impulse purchase, and while it’s old, it’s hard to see much clamor for its replacement.
So could the second model be something cheaper? Given Apple hasn’t released a replacement for its discontinued 27-inch Intel iMac, you’d think there would be a bigger market of people looking for an inexpensive panel to go alongside the Mac mini instead.
While the diminutive computer can output to anything with an HDMI port, Apple offering the hardware with an own-branded screen feels like an easy win that the company has yet failed to grasp.
True, you could do that now with the Studio Display, but pairing a $1,599 display with a $599 computer feels a tough ask for consumers who may prefer to cut corners with a cheaper screen off Amazon.
Perhaps hoping for an inexpensive monitor instead of a Pro Display XDR is wishful thinking — after all, Apple has never shown any interest in making a cheaper screen before. But while two monitor codenames are doing the rounds without much additional information, I can but hope.
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