Creatives were super excited by the announcement of Apple's brand new Mac Studio and Studio Display last week. Particularly the latter – finally, an Apple display that didn't cost upwards of $5M (okay, $5,000). But if initial reactions are anything to go by, Apple may have rushed the launch of the Studio Display.
The company bigged up the screen's webcam prowess last week, calling the Studio Display "best combination of camera and audio ever in a desktop display." But it may have spoken a little too soon. (You might want to check out the rest of the options on our best 4K monitors roundup.)
The Studio Display hasn't got off to an auspicious start (Image credit: Apple)
Early adopters have claimed that the webcam is actually, well, dire – with one reviewer even comparing it to that of an "old Blackberry". "It looks awful in good light, and downright miserable in low light," says The Verge, while The Wall Street Journal's Joanna Stern claimed it made her look "like the star of a ‘90s home video." Ouch.
And in a rare move for Apple, the company has already acknowledged the problem – and promised a fix. In a statement, a spokesperson for Apple says it has “discovered an issue where the system isn’t behaving as expected," and improvements will arrive in the form of a "future software update".
Apple Studio Display reviews...wow - what is going on with that webcam?! Update needed pronto.March 17, 2022
Honestly, it's kind of shocking that Apple has managed to botch such a huge (and expensive) launch. Reviewers can only judge a product based on what's in front of them, not the promise of a future software update. Was this thing not properly tested?
The only positive here is that Apple is suggesting the issue is down to software rather than hardware. Indeed, with the same camera as the 2022 iPad Air and last year's iPad Pro, we'd expect solid performance from the Studio Display's snapper. Hopefully, that's what we'll eventually get when Apple sees fit to roll out said software update. Still, at least the Mac Studio itself is blowing users away.
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Daniel John is Design Editor at Creative Bloq. He reports on the worlds of design, branding and lifestyle tech, and has covered several industry events including Milan Design Week, OFFF Barcelona and Adobe Max in Los Angeles.
