Apple Studio Display runs iOS 15.4, which will allow it to fix webcam issues

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited March 2022
More sources are saying that Apple's Studio Display webcam quality issues are a software bug, which is fixable in software since the display apparently runs a full version of iOS 15.4.




As noted in certain of the first Studio Display reviews, the monitor's webcam has proven to be poor. It was reported then that Apple had officially claimed this was a software issue, and that an update would be coming at some point.

Now reviewer John Gruber, who was initially skeptical of Apple's claims, says there's reason to believe the company can fix the problems.

"Maybe I should hold my breath [after all]," writes Gruber. "Multiple little birdies familiar with the Studio Display, each birdie independent of the others, tell me that the image quality problems really are a software problem."

Gruber noted that the display is running iOS 15.4 apparently in its entirety. The software installed on the monitor by Apple has the same build number as the shipped iOS 15.4, and identifies itself accordingly.

"[And] a future software update might not merely somewhat improve image quality," he continues, "but raise it to a level commensurate with the iPad models equipped with the same camera (the new Air and last year's Pros)."

Even aside from the specific webcam criticism, the Studio Display is proving to be one of the most divisive products Apple has made.

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,305member
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 


    ITGUYINSDgilly33watto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 26
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    Can’t wait till someone jailbreaks the Studio Display and installs malware on it.  o:)
    xbitblastdoordarkvader
  • Reply 3 of 26
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,931member
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 


    yup, that's why you can't have nice things!

    Agree with your first statement -  this is a pretty basic thing for them to miss before a new product is released.

    lkrupp said:
    Can’t wait till someone jailbreaks the Studio Display and installs malware on it.  oߘবt;/div>
    Or jailbreaks it and turns it into a 27" 5K iPad!
    edited March 2022 MacsWithPenguinswatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 26
    nicholfdnicholfd Posts: 824member
    MplsP said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 


    yup, that's why you can't have nice things!

    Agree with your first statement -  this is a pretty basic thing for them to miss before a new product is released.

    lkrupp said:
    Can’t wait till someone jailbreaks the Studio Display and installs malware on it.  oߘবt;/div>
    Or jailbreaks it and turns it into a 27" 5K iPad!
    The display runs iOS.  iPads run iPadOS - two different OS's.  Details matter.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 5 of 26
    rob53rob53 Posts: 3,253member
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 

    Running at 1440 on a large monitor is like going back to a CRT TV and watching a VHS movie from the 70’s.
    StrangeDaysmacplusplusMplsPcorradokidMacsWithPenguinsstompywatto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 26
    chadbagchadbag Posts: 2,000member
    Someone forgot to update the OS name string.   I am sure it should have been “DisplayOS”…. An all new and original OS developed over many years by Apple specifically to harness the power of the next generation of Displays. 

    MplsPMacsWithPenguinswatto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 26
    lkrupplkrupp Posts: 10,557member
    MplsP said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 


    yup, that's why you can't have nice things!

    Agree with your first statement -  this is a pretty basic thing for them to miss before a new product is released.

    lkrupp said:
    Can’t wait till someone jailbreaks the Studio Display and installs malware on it.  oߘবt;/div>
    Or jailbreaks it and turns it into a 27" 5K iPad!
    Who says Apple missed it? Could it be they knew about it but because of marketing pressure they released it with the “we’ll fix it later” mentality?
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 8 of 26
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,886member
    AI: can you update your link to John Gruber's site Daring Fireball so it goes to the article and not just the root? Each article has a permanent link on it. You have three paragraphs about this one, and It's:

    https://daringfireball.net/linked/2022/03/17/three-updates-regarding-studio-display
    edited March 2022 watto_cobra
  • Reply 9 of 26
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,886member
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 10 of 26
    nicholfdnicholfd Posts: 824member
    StrangeDays said:
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    Why are there "too many vulnerabilities"?  It's current iOS.  It has no apps or external network connectivity.  Why build a "special" version, when they can just use the "regular version?
    williamlondonwatto_cobra
  • Reply 11 of 26
    MplsPMplsP Posts: 3,931member
    lkrupp said:
    MplsP said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 


    yup, that's why you can't have nice things!

    Agree with your first statement -  this is a pretty basic thing for them to miss before a new product is released.

    lkrupp said:
    Can’t wait till someone jailbreaks the Studio Display and installs malware on it.  oߘবt;/div>
    Or jailbreaks it and turns it into a 27" 5K iPad!
    Who says Apple missed it? Could it be they knew about it but because of marketing pressure they released it with the “we’ll fix it later” mentality?
    Well, then it would just be Apple rushing an incomplete product to market with known bugs. That’s even worse

  • Reply 12 of 26
    crowleycrowley Posts: 10,453member
    nicholfd said:
    StrangeDays said:
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    Why are there "too many vulnerabilities"?  It's current iOS.  It has no apps or external network connectivity.  Why build a "special" version, when they can just use the "regular version?
    No apps or network connectivity = a stripped down version.

    iOS seems to be the catch all name for derivatives of the iPhone's iOS when a distinct OS moniker hasn't yet been decided on.  iPadOS was iOS, as was tvOS for a while.  They're obviously not the same as the iPhone's iOS, so Apple are being loose with their naming.  Doesn't mean all that much, it's a version of iOS with unnecessary bits pruned, that will probably be revised with better pruning and new elements added that better fit the display (likely some have already been added).  At some point it will probably become displayOS, or something similar, when Apple can be bothered.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 13 of 26
    blastdoorblastdoor Posts: 3,305member
    rob53 said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 

    Running at 1440 on a large monitor is like going back to a CRT TV and watching a VHS movie from the 70’s.
    What I meant by “scaled” might have been unclear. I meant it as used here:

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202471


    ITGUYINSDwatto_cobra
  • Reply 14 of 26
    ITGUYINSDITGUYINSD Posts: 516member
    blastdoor said:
    rob53 said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 

    Running at 1440 on a large monitor is like going back to a CRT TV and watching a VHS movie from the 70’s.
    What I meant by “scaled” might have been unclear. I meant it as used here:

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202471


    I agree with your original post.  No one can use a 4K or 5K screen at native resolution without scaling.  Everything is too small on the screen.  I'm using a beautiful Samsung 27" 4K screen with HDR10 and USB-C connection + 95W charging and USB3 hub that cost me $300.  It has speakers that are very loud, but probably not "audiophile" if that is what the Studio monitor has.  Scaled up to make things bigger but everything looks razor sharp.  Side by side my MBP16 M1 pro, the screens look identical.  $300 vs $1500.  I made my choice and am happy with it.
    edited March 2022 watto_cobra
  • Reply 15 of 26
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,886member
    nicholfd said:
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    Why are there "too many vulnerabilities"?  It's current iOS.  It has no apps or external network connectivity.  Why build a "special" version, when they can just use the "regular version?
    Every OS has exploit vectors, known & unknown. A monitor with an entire mobile-device OS running on it leaves exploit vectors that have no functional payoff due to it not being a mobile device. Thus I'd be very surprised if they just dropped iPhone's entire iOS onto onboard storage inside the display, rather than strip it down to something relevant to a display.

    You may not have heard but there are wild exploits where hackers have built their own virtual computers running inside of iMessage attachments via bizarre PDF parsing hacks. There's no reason to leave the avenue open to stuff like that when the display cannot send iMessages.

    https://daringfireball.net/linked/2021/12/21/project-zero-nso-zero-click-deep-dive

    https://www.hackread.com/nso-zero-click-imessage-exploit-hack-iphone-no-click/
    edited March 2022 darkvaderwatto_cobra
  • Reply 16 of 26
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,886member
    crowley said:
    nicholfd said:
    StrangeDays said:
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    Why are there "too many vulnerabilities"?  It's current iOS.  It has no apps or external network connectivity.  Why build a "special" version, when they can just use the "regular version?
    No apps or network connectivity = a stripped down version.

    iOS seems to be the catch all name for derivatives of the iPhone's iOS when a distinct OS moniker hasn't yet been decided on.  iPadOS was iOS, as was tvOS for a while.  They're obviously not the same as the iPhone's iOS, so Apple are being loose with their naming.  Doesn't mean all that much, it's a version of iOS with unnecessary bits pruned, that will probably be revised with better pruning and new elements added that better fit the display (likely some have already been added).  At some point it will probably become displayOS, or something similar, when Apple can be bothered.
    Agreed this is most likely, similar to how homePodOS is running 15.4 but is very likely not the same as iOS 15.4. 

    However, from the Gruber post, people are under the impression this is 100% the same iOS that is running on your iPhone, running inside the display. I doubt this, but that's what some folks believe.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 17 of 26
    nicholfdnicholfd Posts: 824member
    ITGUYINSD said:
    blastdoor said:
    rob53 said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 

    Running at 1440 on a large monitor is like going back to a CRT TV and watching a VHS movie from the 70’s.
    What I meant by “scaled” might have been unclear. I meant it as used here:

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202471


    I agree with your original post.  No one can use a 4K or 5K screen at native resolution without scaling.  Everything is too small on the screen.  I'm using a beautiful Samsung 27" 4K screen with HDR10 and USB-C connection + 95W charging and USB3 hub that cost me $300.  It has speakers that are very loud, but probably not "audiophile" if that is what the Studio monitor has.  Scaled up to make things bigger but everything looks razor sharp.  Side by side my MBP16 M1 pro, the screens look identical.  $300 vs $1500.  I made my choice and am happy with it.
    You are wrong.  

    It all depends on the screen size.  I'm perfectly happy with both a 55" Sony & 65" Samsung TV, at native resolution, sitting about 3'-4' away, used as monitors.  

    Works fine for me.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 18 of 26
    nicholfdnicholfd Posts: 824member
    StrangeDays said:
    crowley said:
    nicholfd said:
    StrangeDays said:
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    Why are there "too many vulnerabilities"?  It's current iOS.  It has no apps or external network connectivity.  Why build a "special" version, when they can just use the "regular version?
    No apps or network connectivity = a stripped down version.

    iOS seems to be the catch all name for derivatives of the iPhone's iOS when a distinct OS moniker hasn't yet been decided on.  iPadOS was iOS, as was tvOS for a while.  They're obviously not the same as the iPhone's iOS, so Apple are being loose with their naming.  Doesn't mean all that much, it's a version of iOS with unnecessary bits pruned, that will probably be revised with better pruning and new elements added that better fit the display (likely some have already been added).  At some point it will probably become displayOS, or something similar, when Apple can be bothered.
    Agreed this is most likely, similar to how homePodOS is running 15.4 but is very likely not the same as iOS 15.4. 

    However, from the Gruber post, people are under the impression this is 100% the same iOS that is running on your iPhone, running inside the display. I doubt this, but that's what some folks believe.
    It has the exact same build number as iOS...  CVS systems typically change this, for ANY changes to the code base or build.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 19 of 26
    StrangeDaysStrangeDays Posts: 12,886member
    nicholfd said:
    crowley said:
    nicholfd said:
    Yeah despite Gruber's reporting of the build number, I would be very surprised if this display were running a full & complete iOS 15.4. Simply because it is incapable of using maybe 90% of it? Too many vulnerabilities to leave them all there, right? I would imagine it's a stripped down version.
    Why are there "too many vulnerabilities"?  It's current iOS.  It has no apps or external network connectivity.  Why build a "special" version, when they can just use the "regular version?
    No apps or network connectivity = a stripped down version.

    iOS seems to be the catch all name for derivatives of the iPhone's iOS when a distinct OS moniker hasn't yet been decided on.  iPadOS was iOS, as was tvOS for a while.  They're obviously not the same as the iPhone's iOS, so Apple are being loose with their naming.  Doesn't mean all that much, it's a version of iOS with unnecessary bits pruned, that will probably be revised with better pruning and new elements added that better fit the display (likely some have already been added).  At some point it will probably become displayOS, or something similar, when Apple can be bothered.
    Agreed this is most likely, similar to how homePodOS is running 15.4 but is very likely not the same as iOS 15.4. 

    However, from the Gruber post, people are under the impression this is 100% the same iOS that is running on your iPhone, running inside the display. I doubt this, but that's what some folks believe.
    It has the exact same build number as iOS...  CVS systems typically change this, for ANY changes to the code base or build.
    Right I get that, which is why Gruber & others believe it may be the same exact copy of an iPhone iOS dropped inside the monitor. 

    But considering zero-day exploits, of which there have been a bunch related to Messages alone, why would you include the entire iPhone OS in a device that cannot utilize many of those features? Doing so leaves the avenue for exploits, without any obvious benefit. It's a monitor -- it doesn't need 90% of iPhone's iOS.
    edited March 2022 watto_cobra
  • Reply 20 of 26
    ITGUYINSDITGUYINSD Posts: 516member
    nicholfd said:
    ITGUYINSD said:
    blastdoor said:
    rob53 said:
    blastdoor said:
    Setting aside this embarrassing bug, I think it's clear that this monitor is not for most people. It's very nice, but also fairly expensive. I have to admit that I have no need for 5k instead of 4k. At work, I plug my MacBook Pro into a Dell 4k which I run in scaled 1440 mode and that works great. 

    And yet... if it wasn't for the parasites (aka children) bleeding my bank account, I'd buy this thing in a heartbeat. Sometimes it's just nice to have things that are very nice. 

    Running at 1440 on a large monitor is like going back to a CRT TV and watching a VHS movie from the 70’s.
    What I meant by “scaled” might have been unclear. I meant it as used here:

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202471


    I agree with your original post.  No one can use a 4K or 5K screen at native resolution without scaling.  Everything is too small on the screen.  I'm using a beautiful Samsung 27" 4K screen with HDR10 and USB-C connection + 95W charging and USB3 hub that cost me $300.  It has speakers that are very loud, but probably not "audiophile" if that is what the Studio monitor has.  Scaled up to make things bigger but everything looks razor sharp.  Side by side my MBP16 M1 pro, the screens look identical.  $300 vs $1500.  I made my choice and am happy with it.
    You are wrong.  

    It all depends on the screen size.  I'm perfectly happy with both a 55" Sony & 65" Samsung TV, at native resolution, sitting about 3'-4' away, used as monitors.  

    Works fine for me.
    I meant no one with a 27" screen.  We're talking about the Studio Display.  I can see how a giant 55" screen might work on native resolution but on a 27" display @ 4K or 5K everything is tiny.
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