The Pro Display XDR Review: A Game-Changer for Creatives

As a professional photographer and videographer, I've had the opportunity to work with some of the best monitors on the market. But none have impressed me quite like the Pro Display XDR from Apple. This 6K monitor is designed to meet the demands of professionals in the creative industry, including photographers, videographers, and illustrators.

The Pro Display XDR is designed for photographers working in the P3 color space on a Mac. It's also perfect for illustrators who need high resolution and detail in their work. The 6K resolution provides an incredible level of detail and clarity that's hard to find elsewhere. But what really sets this monitor apart is its ability to display true blacks, even in the shadows. This makes it ideal for photographers who want to achieve precise color control and accuracy.

But it's not just about the technical specifications - the Pro Display XDR is also a stunning piece of design. The backlit screen is surrounded by a sleek and futuristic frame that adds to its overall aesthetic. And when you turn on the monitor, the AttarBack panel lights up with an eye-catching glow. This is more than just a pretty face, though - it's also a clever design feature that helps dissipate heat from the backlight.

Speaking of heat, one thing that really impressed me about the Pro Display XDR was its quiet operation. Unlike many monitors on the market, this one doesn't have any fans - instead, it uses a clever cooling system to keep the heat at bay. This makes it perfect for use in quiet workspaces or shared offices.

Of course, no monitor is without its flaws. One thing that did surprise me was the cables that come with the Pro Display XDR. While they're certainly nice to look at, I found them to be a bit flimsy and prone to tangling. And while the monitor itself is incredibly quiet, it's worth noting that the fans do kick in when you turn on the display - just not loudly.

Another feature that caught my attention was the black levels of the Pro Display XDR. By eyeballing the blacks, I can confidently say that they're some of the best I've ever seen on a desktop monitor. This is especially true for OLED displays, which often struggle to produce deep blacks. But the Pro Display XDR's NanoCell technology manages to deliver tonal range in the shadows that's hard to find elsewhere.

Skin tones are another area where the Pro Display XDR truly shines. Until you see it up close on a portrait or still life, you don't realize just how precise and accurate it is. It's like having an IMAX screen right in your own home office - and it's incredibly expensive.

But the real kicker here is the price. The $5,000 Pro Display XDR is certainly a significant investment - but for professionals who need this level of quality and accuracy, it may be worth every penny. And while it's not compatible with all Macs (due to its Thunderbolt 3 connection), users can connect it via Blackmagic Design external GPU.

One thing that might seem like a small issue, but actually has some significant implications for users is the lack of inputs. The Pro Display XDR only has one Thunderbolt 3 port - which means you can't plug in multiple machines and switch between them on the fly. This is particularly frustrating for users who need to work with multiple sources at once.

Finally, there's a bit of alchemy required to get this monitor working smoothly with your Mac or PC. For example, it requires custom calibrations and user reference modes - which are currently still in the operating system roadmap. But Apple thinks that you won't need these features, so they're not included out of the box.

In conclusion, the Pro Display XDR is a truly exceptional monitor that's sure to make waves in the creative industry. Its stunning 6K resolution, precise color control, and quiet operation make it an ideal choice for professionals who demand the best. But with its hefty price tag and limited compatibility, it may not be the right choice for everyone.

Stand and Monitor

The stand on the Pro Display XDR is certainly a conversation starter - and I have to admit that I was initially charmed by its smooth gliding mechanism. However, as I used it more, I began to realize that it's not as sophisticated as some other stands on the market. For example, it can't be swiveled or aligned perfectly with your existing desk setup.

The $1,000 stand is certainly worth considering for those who want a premium experience - but I'm not convinced it's worth the extra cost. The Pro Display XDR itself glides smoothly when rotated, but it's not quite as seamless as some other high-end monitors on the market.

In short, while the Pro Display XDR's stand is certainly a nice touch, I wouldn't say it's worth the premium price tag. Users will have to weigh their options carefully - and consider whether the added value of this stand is worth the extra cost.

Verdict

Overall, the Pro Display XDR is an exceptional monitor that's sure to make a big impact in the creative industry. Its stunning 6K resolution, precise color control, and quiet operation make it an ideal choice for professionals who demand the best. But with its hefty price tag and limited compatibility, it may not be the right choice for everyone.

One thing is certain - this monitor is a game-changer. It sets a new standard for display quality and accuracy, and I'm excited to see how it will change the way we work and create in the years to come.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enyes the Apple Pro display XDR is $5,000 at least it's time to get over that already because for professionals who would be using it that's actually not a bad deal for what you're getting and frankly professionals are used to paying a lot of money for their gear I've been waiting months and months and months for the Apple Pro display XDR to fall into my waiting hands and it finally did a few days ago and what happened my colleagues started trotting through the labs to look at it one group came in and just wanted to pet it because it's so pretty they didn't care if I turned it on the next group looked at it and said that's awfully thick I didn't realize it was that thick and the last person just one person came in popped himself in my chair and said let's see some HDR footage and that in a nutshell is the genius of Apple's marketing because the buzz this monitor has generated far outstrips of the market that is actually designed for and who are these people well they are Mac based video editors working on very bright and bi bright I mean over a thousand nits high dynamic range footage editing and who can't afford the type of monitor that you need to really provide reference for high dynamic range shooting it's also for photographers working in the p3 color space on a Mac who want the grayscale tones that you can really see well on this monitor it's also for illustrators working on very detailed drawings who need the high resolution of the 6k monitor and I should say that any video that you see on the actual screen is non representative of what it actually looks like because by the time this video is compressed all bets are off as I said I've only had it for a few days and I've just begun my actual testing and I'm still trying to work out some of the kinks and yes there are some frustration kinks and drawbacks but some things jumped out at me the minute I set it up the first were the cables I love the cables they're so nicely constructed they're better than gaming accessory cables and then it's quiet really that's because the Attar back that's so eye-catching is also a big heat sink it's designed to dissipate the heat from the backlight which as you might expect can get really hot the only fans in there are to blow across the circuit board which generates a little heat but not the most and also I have worked with thousand monitors and they generate a lot of heat out of the front this one very cool as is the air that gets blown out the back and then there's the color actually the blacks just by eyeballing the blacks are some of the nicest ones that I have seen on a desktop monitor they're really dark and that includes OLED which actually gets zero black but this has a tonal range in the shadows which is something I miss on a lid and then there's skin tones until you have pops and portraits up on the pro display you don't realize how imprecise the monitors that you may have been counting on art and that includes the IMAX screen we have the $5,000 bass version of the monitor it doesn't include the thousand dollar upgrade with the Nano texture glass that glass is designed to significantly decrease the reflectivity among other things it's really not that bad in practice only when you're staring at a solid black screen which you probably aren't and it gets pretty finger printing and I am a monitor toucher and some people have noticed you will see some haloing of bright highlights on super dark backgrounds that's a fact of life with LED based HDR the many LEDs are how they managed to get it so bright yes that's not something that's is common on over lid it's all about trade-offs driving the high 6k resolution and the 10 bit bit depth requires a lot more bandwidth than display 1.4 can handle that's the version of DisplayPort that drives monitors when you use Thunderbolt 3 so Mac OS does a little bit of Voodoo that increases the bandwidth to drive monitors from Thunderbolt 3 that's why it's not compatible with some older Mac's because they use older Thunderbolt controllers and that includes the iMac Pro so to use it with that you have to get the Blackmagic Design external GPU but that's nothing new pushing the envelope on monitor specifications has always required a little alchemy on the part of operating systems that's while they wait for system chipsets to catch up with them the monitor is controlled strictly by the operating system there are no hard work and I miss them even something as simple as a power button because yes I occasionally like to turn them off I also miss having inputs aside from the one Thunderbolt 3 that's because I like to hook it up to multiple machines and switch among them that you can't do plus two important features are still on the operating system roadmap and those are custom calibrations and user reference modes because frankly we don't know much about the characteristics of the monitor and how much the color and the LED backlight are gonna drift over time do you need to pre calibrated in six months do you need to recalibrate it in a year do you need to ever recalibrate it that's something that Apple thinks you don't have to do but who knows oh and as a PSA the only way to run it with Windows is under boot camp I have tried plugging it in it to a Windows 10 laptop and it was not pretty but I'm still working on that and then there's the stand the thousand-dollars stand that everybody's talking about and yes it glides when you rotate the display but if you want something that feels good gliding by a fidget spinner is it worth it I don't really think so you can't swivel it and you can't align it perfectly with the iMac and you can't lock it level it always is a little off line so to sum up my feelings thus far the monitor is overkill for a lot of people under kill for a group of people and just right for a relatively small group of peopleyes the Apple Pro display XDR is $5,000 at least it's time to get over that already because for professionals who would be using it that's actually not a bad deal for what you're getting and frankly professionals are used to paying a lot of money for their gear I've been waiting months and months and months for the Apple Pro display XDR to fall into my waiting hands and it finally did a few days ago and what happened my colleagues started trotting through the labs to look at it one group came in and just wanted to pet it because it's so pretty they didn't care if I turned it on the next group looked at it and said that's awfully thick I didn't realize it was that thick and the last person just one person came in popped himself in my chair and said let's see some HDR footage and that in a nutshell is the genius of Apple's marketing because the buzz this monitor has generated far outstrips of the market that is actually designed for and who are these people well they are Mac based video editors working on very bright and bi bright I mean over a thousand nits high dynamic range footage editing and who can't afford the type of monitor that you need to really provide reference for high dynamic range shooting it's also for photographers working in the p3 color space on a Mac who want the grayscale tones that you can really see well on this monitor it's also for illustrators working on very detailed drawings who need the high resolution of the 6k monitor and I should say that any video that you see on the actual screen is non representative of what it actually looks like because by the time this video is compressed all bets are off as I said I've only had it for a few days and I've just begun my actual testing and I'm still trying to work out some of the kinks and yes there are some frustration kinks and drawbacks but some things jumped out at me the minute I set it up the first were the cables I love the cables they're so nicely constructed they're better than gaming accessory cables and then it's quiet really that's because the Attar back that's so eye-catching is also a big heat sink it's designed to dissipate the heat from the backlight which as you might expect can get really hot the only fans in there are to blow across the circuit board which generates a little heat but not the most and also I have worked with thousand monitors and they generate a lot of heat out of the front this one very cool as is the air that gets blown out the back and then there's the color actually the blacks just by eyeballing the blacks are some of the nicest ones that I have seen on a desktop monitor they're really dark and that includes OLED which actually gets zero black but this has a tonal range in the shadows which is something I miss on a lid and then there's skin tones until you have pops and portraits up on the pro display you don't realize how imprecise the monitors that you may have been counting on art and that includes the IMAX screen we have the $5,000 bass version of the monitor it doesn't include the thousand dollar upgrade with the Nano texture glass that glass is designed to significantly decrease the reflectivity among other things it's really not that bad in practice only when you're staring at a solid black screen which you probably aren't and it gets pretty finger printing and I am a monitor toucher and some people have noticed you will see some haloing of bright highlights on super dark backgrounds that's a fact of life with LED based HDR the many LEDs are how they managed to get it so bright yes that's not something that's is common on over lid it's all about trade-offs driving the high 6k resolution and the 10 bit bit depth requires a lot more bandwidth than display 1.4 can handle that's the version of DisplayPort that drives monitors when you use Thunderbolt 3 so Mac OS does a little bit of Voodoo that increases the bandwidth to drive monitors from Thunderbolt 3 that's why it's not compatible with some older Mac's because they use older Thunderbolt controllers and that includes the iMac Pro so to use it with that you have to get the Blackmagic Design external GPU but that's nothing new pushing the envelope on monitor specifications has always required a little alchemy on the part of operating systems that's while they wait for system chipsets to catch up with them the monitor is controlled strictly by the operating system there are no hard work and I miss them even something as simple as a power button because yes I occasionally like to turn them off I also miss having inputs aside from the one Thunderbolt 3 that's because I like to hook it up to multiple machines and switch among them that you can't do plus two important features are still on the operating system roadmap and those are custom calibrations and user reference modes because frankly we don't know much about the characteristics of the monitor and how much the color and the LED backlight are gonna drift over time do you need to pre calibrated in six months do you need to recalibrate it in a year do you need to ever recalibrate it that's something that Apple thinks you don't have to do but who knows oh and as a PSA the only way to run it with Windows is under boot camp I have tried plugging it in it to a Windows 10 laptop and it was not pretty but I'm still working on that and then there's the stand the thousand-dollars stand that everybody's talking about and yes it glides when you rotate the display but if you want something that feels good gliding by a fidget spinner is it worth it I don't really think so you can't swivel it and you can't align it perfectly with the iMac and you can't lock it level it always is a little off line so to sum up my feelings thus far the monitor is overkill for a lot of people under kill for a group of people and just right for a relatively small group of people\n"