Finally: Apple will sell a desktop monitor that won’t cost $5,000

It took quite some time, but Apple finally re-entered the consumer desktop monitor market with Studio Display. It’s been ten years since Apple last made and sold a consumer desktop monitor; The long-loved Apple Cinema Display was discontinued in 2011. Instead, Apple partnered with LG to sell the South Korean company’s Mac monitors through Apple’s online store. LG monitors generally got good reviews, but all things considered, there wasn’t much to write about.

The new 27-inch monitor supports 5K resolution with over 1 billion colors across 14.7 million pixels. It also features True Tone technology to attenuate color warmth in various lighting conditions, reaching up to 600 nits. The display has an anti-reflective coating, but there’s also a nanotexture glass option to further reduce glare.

To make watching videos easier, the Studio Display has six speakers – four force-compensated woofers and two tweeters that support surround sound and spatial audio with Dolby Atmos. That’s paired with three studio-quality microphones, the same 12-megapixel camera found in recent iPads, and Apple’s Center Stage technology for home video calls. The A13 Bionic chip helps drive it all.

In terms of connectivity, the monitor has three USB-C ports and a Thunderbolt 4 port that can deliver up to 96W of power. It can function as one of many monitors simultaneously connected to the new Mac Studio desktop and its new M1 Ultra chip. Or it could be one of three studio monitors connected to a new desktop.

There will be three options for mounting the monitor. You can choose a traditional tilt stand, get more freedom with a tilt and height adjustable stand ($400 extra), or mount it with a VESA mount adapter.

Studio Display orders start at $1,599 today. Shipping will start March 18th.