Here’s what the updated Apple Studio Display webcam looks like

An apple $1,599 to view in studio It arrived last month with great promises about its webcam, which features a 12MP sensor, f2.4 wide lens, and the same A13 chip that powers everything as found in the iPhone 11. Unfortunately, it shipped with buggy software that made all Something looks bad. Apple told us it “did not behave as expected” and promised us a software update.

who – which Update now here, somewhat. You must update your Mac to the public beta of macOS Monterey 12.4, which comes with an additional studio monitor update. (Once you update Studio Display, the improvements are available when connected to any other Mac.)

I updated my review unit last night, and basically, the changes are what Apple said we’ll see: noise reduction is improved, contrast is better, and the bezel is a bit wider. Here along with:

It wouldn’t amaze anyone, but it’s definitely not a broken look like it used to be. There is less detail in me, less background noise, and the colors are definitely more accurate. (It looks like I saw the sun already last year.) Apple’s decision to put a wide-angle lens on this camera to support the Center Stage seems to be working against image quality here — no matter what, it’s bringing that sensor down, giving the entire system less data to work with.

The update is still in beta, so we’ll see if Apple changes anything else when macOS 12.4 actually ships, which should be relatively soon. When that happens, we’ll take a closer look and update the review appropriately.