Apple could have two Studio Displays in the pipeline, but there's mystery behind the second

Here's a big monitor mystery – Apple is reportedly working on a second generation Studio Display with a Mini-LED backlight for release in late 2025 or early 2026.

However, there's also a claim that the company is working on not one but two new screens, and the second is a mystery.

This comes via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, who says that the second-gen Studio Display – a successor to the model Apple launched in 2022 – has the internal codename J427. But there is a second monitor codename too, J527. And it's not clear what that monitor may be.

Gurman's sources don't know or cannot reveal any more details. Although it seems that there are two possibilities – either Apple is working on two distinct Studio Displays, or the firm is working on a replacement to the flagship Pro Display XDR.

Which displays will Apple be updating in 2025 and 2026?

The Pro Display has been around since 2019, and rumours of a replacement have been circulating since 2021.

It's not a consumer product though, it's aimed at image and video professionals who need reference-grade displays for content creation and whose budget can stretch to £4,599 / $4,999 / AU$8,499 for the standard model, or £5,499 / $5,899 / AU$9,999 for the nano-texture glass version.

That sounds like a lot – it's three times the price of the Studio Display – but it's a fraction of what movie studios and digital effects houses pay for high-end reference monitors.

The Pro Display XDR isn't Mini-LED, but it comes close thanks to its hundreds of local dimming zones. It's been rumoured that the second generation will come with a quantum dot display and a powerful Apple Silicon chip to deliver features such as Siri voice control and spatial audio as well as faster response times.

However, as Gurman has previously reported, the Pro Display XDR is a high-end niche product and as such it is "less of a priority for Apple".

There may be a more mundane reason for the second codename. Apple may have two distinct models of second-generation Studio Displays in development and hasn't decided which one to go ahead with yet.