What you need to know
- Apple's Studio Display has been dogged by webcam issues in its early reviews.
- A new report from John Gruber notes the display runs iOS 15.4.
- Gruber says that multiple sources have told him a software update could improve image quality, and even elevate the camera to levels of the new iPad Air and current Pro.
Following early Apple Studio Display reviews dogged by webcam issues, new insight from John Gruber notes the display runs iOS 15.4, and further claims that a software issue might not only fix the update but elevate quality to that of the iPad Air.
From Daring Fireball, an update posted to the Studio Display review now states:
Maybe I should hold my breath. Multiple little birdies familiar with the Studio Display, each birdie independent of the others, tell me that the image quality problems really are a software problem, not hardware — a bug introduced at the last minute — and a future software update might not merely somewhat improve image quality, but raise it to a level commensurate with the iPad models equipped with the same camera (the new Air and last year's Pros), modulo the differences between the M1 and A13 ISPs. That would be excellent news, if true. But someone at Apple is having a very bad day today, if true.
The revelation means Apple might not only be able to improve the webcam's quality to expected levels but even push its performance beyond expectation to match the M1 iPad Pro (2021) and iPad Air.
Gruber goes on to note that if you check the display firmware version of the display in System Information, you can see that the Studio Display runs iOS 15.4, with the same build number as the current iPhone and iPad build of Apple's mobile software.
Gruber noted the discovery was a surprise but went on to suggest that "this means that if the camera image quality issues can be remedied/improved via a software update, we're not waiting for a bug fix release for MacOS 12, but for iOS 15."
In response to multiple queries about the quality of the webcam on the new display, Apple noted that it had discovered a software issue and was working on a fix for the matter.
The newest display from Apple looks like a display for the masses. With four ports, six speakers, a decent camera, and more, it's a perfect display to hook up to any Mac you have.
