Apple’s Studio Display comes with a choice of options for the monitor stand, but there’s a substantial catch here – you can’t later change that stand.
Whichever of the three stand choices you pick when buying a Studio Display, that’s what you’ll have to live with – forever. There’s no going back if you change your work setting and maybe need a different option in the future.
If you don’t want to pay extra, the choices for the Studio Display’s stand are to have either a tilt-adjustable stand, or a VESA wall-mount. If you’re willing to fork out a chunk of additional cash, you can get an upgraded tilt and height adjustable stand for an extra $300 / £400 / AU$600.
However, as Apple makes clear if you click the ‘info’ icon when deciding which stand you want with the 27-inch monitor: “Each stand or mount adapter is built in. They are not interchangeable, so it’s important to consider your workspace needs at the time of purchase.” (Note that MacRumors first spotted this, by the way).
Analysis: Stands to reason… or not
This seems pretty short-sighted of Apple. It’s hardly inconceivable that a person might buy a monitor, then move home or office, and in the new setting find that a VESA mount is what they now need, rather than just the bog-standard stand, to pick one example. You’d think it wouldn’t be too big a deal to swap them out – while paying for the new one, of course – but this simply isn’t possible.
That’s very disappointing, and while we’re at it, charging a few hundred notes extra for the ability to be able to adjust the height of such an already expensive display seems like a pretty consumer-hostile move, too.
For anyone who is concerned about flexibility and the possibility of their stand needs being different in the future, the best route might just be to get a VESA mount. That could then be used with an arm, or a third-party stand – even if the latter doubtless won’t look nearly as slick as Apple’s integrated stand, at least you’ve got options this way. It seems to defy logic that you wouldn’t get options in this respect anyway, though.
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