Apple is rumored to be planning to launch an all-new external monitor early this year, featuring at least three high-end features and capabilities that could surpass the company's two current external displays.
The new monitor, which is rumored to arrive in early 2023, is expected to sit somewhere between the $1,599 Studio Display and the $4,999 Pro Display XDR – but more exact information about the device's positioning and price point is as yet unknown. While little is known about the design of the display, it seems likely that it will look similar to the Studio Display and the Pro Display XDR.
Display analyst Ross Young recently narrowed down his expected time frame for the launch of Apple's new high-end external monitor to the first quarter of 2023, which falls from January to March.
Mini-LED Technology
Apple's upcoming monitor will apparently be the first to feature a 27-inch mini-LED panel, according to Ross Young. Mini-LED technology would offer substantially better contrast and deeper blacks than the Studio Display and potentially even the Pro Display XDR, both of which have LCD displays.
Apple's first mini-LED display was 2021's 12.9-inch iPad Pro, before it expanded the technology to the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro models later that year. Offering a mini-LED display of this size could be extremely useful to creative professionals who work with HDR content and need high contrast, and provide a consistent experience when paired with these other mini-LED machines.
ProMotion Support
Adopting another feature that already exists on the iPad Pro and MacBook Pro, Apple's upcoming external display is rumored to support ProMotion, allowing for a variable refresh rate up to 120Hz.
Like mini-LED, this feature would provide a consistent experience when using the display with a 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro, but it could also offer advantages for other specific activities such as gaming. Neither the Pro Display XDR nor the Studio Display have this capability as yet, which would put Apple's new monitor ahead technologically.
Apple Silicon Chip
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has suggested that Apple's upcoming external monitors will be powered by Apple silicon chips.
The Studio Display was the first Apple monitor to feature a custom silicon chip, the A13 Bionic, which was introduced in the iPhone 11 lineup and is now used in the ninth-generation iPad. The chip enables the monitor to run a version of iOS, receive software updates, and offer features like Center Stage that are processed on-device. It is not known exactly what chip the new monitor will feature, but the A13 Bionic seems like the most likely option since it is already being used in the Studio Display, and better performance and efficiency is not noticeably advantageous for this class of device.
The Pro Display XDR does not contain an Apple silicon chip, meaning that the new monitor should theoretically be more advanced than both of Apple's current displays with a unique set of features.
