Apple Studio Display
A 12-Month Review
Great Screen, Great Sound, But Missing the Soul of the 27-inch iMac
After living with the Apple Studio Display for about a year, my opinion of it has settled into something quite balanced. It’s a very good display in many ways, the screen is excellent and the speakers are surprisingly powerful, but at this price point it still feels like Apple left a few things out.
Most of all, it constantly reminds me of the product it replaced: the 27-inch iMac.
The Things the Studio Display Gets Right
The biggest strength of the Studio Display is the screen itself.
The 27-inch 5K Retina panel is extremely sharp. Text is crisp, colours look accurate, and macOS scaling works perfectly at this resolution. Whether you're writing, browsing, editing photos, or working with multiple windows, the display feels comfortable and spacious.
Even after twelve months of daily use, the screen quality still feels premium.
Another standout feature is the built-in audio system. The six-speaker setup is genuinely impressive for a monitor. For everyday use , video calls, music, YouTube, or casual listening while working, the speakers are more than good enough that you often don’t feel the need for external speakers.
For many people, that alone helps keep a desk setup simple and uncluttered.
The Feature That Feels Missing
For a display that costs as much as the Studio Display, the biggest omission is the refresh rate.
The monitor is limited to 60Hz, and while that’s perfectly fine for general work, it does feel slightly behind modern premium displays. Many monitors at similar prices now offer 120Hz or higher refresh rates, which makes scrolling and animations noticeably smoother.
Once you’re aware of it, the lack of a higher refresh rate becomes one of the few things that makes the Studio Display feel less “future-proof” than it should be.
At this price, 120Hz really should have been included.
Where the Old 27-inch iMac Still Wins
Technically speaking, the Studio Display is a very capable monitor. But when it comes to design presence, it’s hard not to compare it with the old 27-inch iMac.
The 27-inch iMac was more than just a computer. It was a single, beautifully designed object that felt like a centrepiece in a room. Everything was integrated, computer, display, speakers, and camera, into one elegant piece of hardware.
The Studio Display, by comparison, feels more like a component of a setup rather than the main attraction.
It’s well built and solid, but it simply doesn’t have the same visual impact or iconic feel that the 27-inch iMac had sitting on a desk.
In a home environment especially, the iMac felt like something designed to be seen. The Studio Display feels more like a professional tool.
The Trade-Off Apple Made
Apple clearly moved toward a modular system: a separate Mac computer and a separate display. From a practical perspective this does make sense.
You can upgrade the computer later while keeping the same display, which could extend the lifespan of the monitor. That kind of flexibility wasn’t possible with the old all-in-one iMac.
But the trade-off is that the setup feels less elegant.
Where the iMac was a complete object, the Studio Display feels like part of a system of parts.
Final Thoughts
After a year of use, the Apple Studio Display still feels like a high-quality product. The screen is excellent, the speakers are genuinely great, and it integrates beautifully with macOS.
But at this price, it should really include a 120Hz refresh rate, and from a design perspective it doesn’t quite capture the iconic presence that the 27-inch iMac once had.
It’s a very good monitor.
It just doesn’t quite feel like the design statement the iMac used to be.