Apple's Studio Display contains 64GB of onboard storage, but only 2GB are actually used by the display, a developer has discovered.
As highlighted by developer "Khaos Tian" on Twitter, the Studio Display only uses 2GB of its 64GB of internal NAND storage. Some free space is likely needed for firmware updates, but the 62GB of unused space is seemingly otherwise useless at the current time. Apple has not confirmed the quantity of the Studio Display's internal storage in its technical specifications.
Image via @KhaosTThe discovery may be unsurprising given that the Studio Display contains an A13 Bionic chip. The A13 Bionic was introduced with the iPhone 11 lineup in 2019, before being offered in the second-generation iPhone SE and the ninth-generation iPad. None of these devices have ever been available in any storage configurations below 64GB, which may suggest that smaller quantities of NAND storage are incompatible with the A13's storage controller.
Economies of scale may also be responsible, with production costs for pairing the A13 with a smaller amount of storage potentially costing more than the same 64GB system currently used in the iPhone 11 that is still on sale and the ninth-generation iPad.
The finding means that, overall, the Studio Display contains the exact same 2.65GHz A13 Bionic chip, 12MP Ultra Wide front-facing camera setup with Center Stage, and 64GB base configuration of storage as the ninth-generation iPad. It is also now clear that the Studio Display has better specifications than the second-generation Apple TV 4K, which sports an A12 Bionic chip and a base storage configuration of just 32GB.
Last week, it emerged that the Studio Display runs the full version of iOS 15.4, with the exact same build used by the iPhone and iPad, meaning that updates to the display's functionality will come as part of iOS updates.
Top Rated Comments
This thing seems stupidly over-engineered and then intentionally crippled. Or maybe this isn’t engineering. Maybe it’s laziness/convenience and price gouging, because they have all these over-featured parts to use instead of something focused, less complicated, and less expensive.