Apple’s Studio Display costs a slightly less ridiculous $1,299 at Amazon

Apple’s 27-inch Studio Display provides amazing 5K picture quality and great pixel scaling for macOS computers, but it’s notorious in a few ways: its webcam isn’t best in class, its 60Hz refresh rate cap is a bummer, it comes with a tilt-only stand by default (the VESA mount is an added cost), and its usual $1,599 price is steep. However, it’s more sensibly priced right now at Amazon, costing $1,299.99. Costco is offering a similar deal, too (via Slickdeals). Head over to Apple’s refurbished online store if you want to peep discounts on other variations of the Studio Display.

It’s good timing on this discount since January 26th marks the release day for Apple’s updated Mac Mini and MacBook Pro models with the M2 and M2 Pro chips.

In our review, Verge editor-in-chief Nilay Patel praised its built-in microphone and the quality of its speakers but panned other features that are core to the Studio Display’s value proposition. The webcam probably isn’t as good as you want it to be despite having been updated post-launch. Also, its display — as sharp as it is — lacks features we expect in monitors at this price, like HDR, local dimming, and variable refresh rate. It’s a good monitor, just know what you’re getting into. You may also want to read up on why we’re particularly excited about upcoming monitors from Dell and Samsung that might eat Apple’s lunch. Read our review.

I’d love to follow this deal up with something drastically more affordable, but the pickings today are geared toward people who have a thick wad of cash to burn. TCL’s 65-inch 6-Series 4K QLED TV with Google TV streaming software built in is on clearance at Best Buy for $699.99. This low price isn’t exactly new, but it’s possible that time could be running out to get this TV before it’s replaced by TCL’s 2023 offerings that we heard about at CES 2023.

For the price, it’s an incredible deal since the panel has Mini LED backlighting, supplying each scene with significantly brighter and more accurate lighting thanks to its 360 local dimming zones. It has other impressive specs, like HDMI 2.1 ports for gaming at 4K at 120Hz refresh rate in games that support it and provides variable refresh rate (VRR) to reduce screen tearing when console or PC performance takes a hit.

The elusive $249.99 deal on the ninth-gen 10.9-inch iPad hasn’t returned, but Walmart and Best Buy have this model selling for just $20 more — still a good deal! In case you weren’t aware, this 2021 model is no longer the latest version, following the late 2022 launch of the $449 10th-gen iPad that has a refreshed (iPad Air-like) design and USB-C charging. However, that doesn’t mean this older version is drastically worse across the board. In fact, you’re getting the same amount of storage and only slightly slower performance (the newer version has an A14 Bionic versus this one’s A13 Bionic), plus this discounted version has a 3.5mm jack to make it easy to plug in headphones.

Some more deals before I sign off