Damning Pro Display XDR review says that it can't compete with reference monitors

There haven't been all that many reviews of Apple's Pro Display XDR. We've seen the odd one, but not many. Now we have another to add to the mix, and it's the one person I've been hoping would get around to Pro Display XDR – display calibrator and reviewer Vincent Teoh.

Teoh has a great YouTube channel where he reviews displays and TVs, with technical analysis married with more subjective reporting. So when he turned his attention to Pro Display XDR I knew things could get interesting. And that's exactly what happened when Teoh compared the display with Sony's $43,000 monitor.

At first, you might think that's unfair. Pro Display XDR might be costly at $4,999, but it's a fraction of the cost of Sony's own reference monitor. But this is the same monitor Apple called out at WWDC when it first announced Pro Display XDR. And it made a big song and dance about the new screen being "the world's best pro display". So, is it?

Well, not according to this review.

Teoh takes us through the display's specifications and even shows us exactly where the 576 local dimming zones are. He uses professional grading equipment to see just how the display's color, contrast, and brightness performs, too. There are highlights, if you pardon the pun. But there aren't enough of them to suggest that this is a real alternative for professional color graders.

But what if you're a YouTuber who wants a display that will let them create HDR content on a relatively small budget? That's a different story.