Apple has reportedly acknowledged that the company's $1,599 Studio Display is experiencing some very unfortunate sound issues such as distortion and cutting out.
A new report from MacRumors says that Apple has sent a memo to authorized service providers acknowledging " that customers may find themselves facing speaker issues with the company's $1599 display." Issues described in the report include "sound unexpectedly and abruptly cutting out, audio playing at a high speed, distorted audio quality, and choppy playback."
The report cites a multitude of users experiencing an array of audio issues including problems recording sound with the built-in microphone.
That doesn't sound good
Last week @mjtsai started collating reports of users experiencing the issues. "Audio recording from my Apple Studio Display microphone is still fundamentally broken in every app. Latest OS and display firmware versions," wrote one user.
"For the last month or so, the speakers on my Studio Display have been broken," wrote Tsai. "Whenever I start playing music (or any other audio), it works for a few seconds and then cuts out."
Thankfully, there's a fix. "Apple says that customers facing issues should unplug the Studio Display from power, unplug any accessories or devices connected to the display, wait ten seconds, then reconnect the Studio Display to power." There's more good news too, with an explicit note from Apple stating this is not a hardware issue, but instead a software fault that can be addressed in an update to the Studio Display's software.
When working, the audio on the Apple Studio Display is really quite excellent. From our review: "The built-in cinema speakers also score highly — for display speakers. They provide rich sounds and work well in a pinch, but they won't replace your wireless headphones." This along with its stunning quality makes the Studio Display one of the best monitors you can buy for your Mac.
The Studio Display received numerous complaints when it was first reviewed over the poor quality of its webcam, which Apple has since improved with updates.
Bottom line: Apple doesn't introduce new monitors often. Many heads get turned, especially by the most loyal Apple fans, when it does. The Apple Studio Display isn't a great product but a very good one. If you can look past its limits and really want a 27-inch 5K display, it's worth considering — if you can find one on the market to get in a reasonable time frame.
