After what seemed like forever, Apple on Tuesday finally updated its line of standalone displays. If you’ve been waiting for one, you’ll be able to preorder tomorrow for delivery next week. But before you drop a couple grand on one, there are important compatibility issues you need to know about—namely, your Mac or iPad may not work with the new displays.
First, Apple states that the Studio Display and the Studio Display XDR work only with Apple silicon-based Macs and iPads. Second, your Apple silicon Mac or iPad needs to be running macOS/iPadOS 26.3.1 or later. Here are the compatibility lists, as shown on Apple.com.
- 16-inch MacBook Pro (2021 and later)
- 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021 and later)
- 13-inch MacBook Pro (M1, 2020 and later)
- 15-inch MacBook Air (2023 and later)
- 13-inch MacBook Air (M1, 2020 and later)
- Mac Studio (2022 and later)
- Mac mini (2020 and later)
- Mac Pro (2023 and later)
- 24-inch iMac (2021 and later)
- iPad Pro (M4 and M5)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (3rd–6th generation)
- iPad Pro 11-inch (1st–4th generation)
- iPad Air (M2, M3, and M4)
- iPad Air (5th generation)
However, there are some further caveats to the Studio XDR compatibility. The entire M1-series Mac lineup, as well as Macs with a base M2 chip or M3 chip, are not capable of running ProMotion on the XDR display. These Macs will stay locked at 60Hz, which somewhat defeats the purpose of buying a $3,299 Studio Display XDR.
A similar limitation applies to the iPads. Only the M5 iPad Pro can run the Studio Display XDR at 120Hz. All other iPads will remain at 60Hz.
On the macOS Tahoe 26.3.1 requirement: The Studio Display and Studio Display XDR have deep integration with macOS, thus the version requirement.
On the lack of Intel compatibility: The displays require GPUs that can support the Display Stream Compression (DSC) and pixel rates required.
Macs that do not meet the requirements may “light” the displays and run with reduced capabilities.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor, Macworld
Roman is a Macworld Senior Editor with over 30 years of experience covering the tech industry, focusing on the Mac and other products in the Apple ecosystem. He is also the host of the Macworld Podcast. His career started at MacUser, where he received Apple certification as a repair technician (when Apple did that kind of thing). He's also worked for MacAddict, MacLife, and TechTV.