Anyone who has wondered why the new Studio Display is equipped with an A13 chip and thus has as much computing power as an iPhone 11 can find out in a recent interview at TechCrunch .
Tom Boger, Apple’s VP of Mac & iPad Product Marketing, is quoted as saying when discussing the Studio Display:
And we know that there are still users out there who are using Intel-based Macs, and so putting A13 in there processes the audio for Spatial Audio and makes the magic of Center Stage happen.
The A13 chip is therefore only necessary for users of Intel Macs. That seems logical as the Spatial Audio function for iDevices is available from the iPhone 7 onwards (A10 chip) and all Macs with Apple Silicon M1. Since the Ax and Mx chips are closely related, this function is of course automatically included in such devices. So Apple expects that the Studio Display will be purchased by many users who own older Macs that still work with Intel chips or by customers who still buy Intel Macs.
Intel Macs seem be a main focus
These include the two-year-old MacBook Air and Pro, the 2018 Mac mini (which is also still on sale), and the 2019 Mac Pro (also still on sale). Apple is usually known for taking a hard stride when it comes to technological advances, cutting old habits and simply moving forward in favour of a new standard.
With the Studio Display, however, one seems to assume that it will be connected to a large number of Intel Macs, which appear outdated in direct comparison with the M1 models. Nevertheless, the sales figures for the Intel Mac mini and Mac Pro must be so high that it seemed necessary to give the Studio Display an A13 chip, which (in our opinion) is not needed by the majority of buyers at all, since the display is connected to a M1 Mac anyway. An interesting decision.
But maybe it’s also Apple’s contribution to sustainability by using a 2019 A13 chip in a new display that makes the device compatible with Macs that are more than two years old for two functions. However, we would have been happier if this function had simply been removed for Intel users and a webcam installed instead, which would have outshined everything with its quality. Apple may have promised a software update, but it seems like the focus was on supporting Intel Macs. What do you say to that?
