When the Apple Studio Display launched in March 2022 alongside the Mac Studio, we got our hands dirty with a review unit. Despite some complaints, we considered it one of the best monitors you can buy for your Mac.

Many other people who have spent time with the Apple Studio Display had similar things to say about the 27-inch 5K display, but one of the most common complaints we heard was about poor image quality. provided by the 12MP ultra-wide camera built into the display. .

I personally tested the camera on display and couldn’t find much to complain about, perhaps because I expected performance to match or exceed the in-display cameras I usually use. on laptops and tablets, including Apple’s own iPads.

Indeed, the Studio Display’s camera actually appears to be the same front-facing camera built into the iPad Air (2022) that Apple released around the same time as the monitor. I think if you go in knowing that, you won’t be as disappointed with the quality of the Studio Display’s camera. In fact, when our intrepid head of testing Matthew Murray kindly posed for selfie tracking tests comparing the Studio Display camera to the iPad Air (2022) camera in various lighting conditions, we saw very little difference between the image quality from our side-by-side comparisons.

It’s disappointing that Apple’s new $1,599 display can’t capture better images than a tablet that costs almost a third of the price. However, Apple was quick to respond to widespread complaints about the Studio Display’s camera quality by promising improvements in a future firmware update. And that update has finally arrived, at least for those running the latest macOS Monterey beta.

If, like us, you’re brave enough to run the public beta of macOS Monterey 12.4 or later, you should be able to download a firmware update for the Studio Display. Once everything is updated, you should see a minor but noticeable difference in the quality of images captured by the camera. Specifically, we noticed slight improvements in image quality, especially in well-lit environments, as well as slight frame shrinkage.

To show you what’s changed, we once again asked hero Matthew Murray to take some quick selfies in different lighting conditions (and in two different apps) before and after applying the update. . Here’s a look at how the camera works in direct sunlight, before and after the update.

As you can see by clicking the arrows on the image above to switch between shots, there are some small improvements in the clarity of detail captured by the Apple Studio Display sensor. There are more precise and defined lines on the face, and to my eyes it looks like the color reproduction is also more accurate, as you can see more varied and realistic hues.

Matthew also noticed a slight frame shrinkage after applying the firmware update to the Apple Studio Display. You can see it in these photos – notice how the frame is now more closely cropped to the subject, even though Matthew used the exact same positioning in the before and after shots.

Now let’s see how the image quality of photos taken without natural light is affected, if any. Here are some before/after photos of Matthew taking the same selfies in Google Meet and Photo Booth with the lights off and the blinds closed.

Without the aid of bright natural light, the upgrade in camera quality is even harder to discern. Do you see a significant improvement in these photos? Personally, I think our Subject looks a bit better after the update, with slightly sharper features and more realistic color reproduction.

Note, for example, that you can clearly see the hues of screen light reflected on her face after applying the update, whereas in the previous photo her face appears paler and more washed out.

Apple Studio Display Firmware Update Verdict

So what do you think? I think it’s remarkable how little this update seems to have affected the camera performance of the Apple Studio Display. While it certainly seems to be sharper and more accurate now than it was at launch, it’s such a minor improvement that I doubt many people will notice.

However, remember that this is a beta firmware update, so Apple could probably make it more effective by the time it’s finalized as a proper Monterey update. And of course, with much of the Apple Studio Display’s camera performance relying on help from the image processing powers of the onboard A13 Bionic chip, the company can probably do even more to improve image quality with updates on the go.

But as it stands, this update doesn’t do much to significantly improve the performance of the Studio Display camera.