If you've been on the hunt for a monitor made by Apple that's still available new (the last Apple Cinema Display model was sold in 2011, and the newer Thunderbolt Display was discontinued a few years back), then the Pro Display XDR should be your first choice. (Well, in fairness: It's the only one you have.)
Shown off for the first time late last year, the Pro Display XDR is a reference-quality 32-inch monitor that Apple claims, in theory, could replace reference panels nearly 10 times the cost used in major movie studios and production houses. In less rarified environs, it can also serve as a high-end, color-accurate monitor for semi-pro and amateur creative types alike.
How is this possible? On specs alone, the XDR matches, or exceeds, those of reference displays like the $39,000 Sony BVM-HX310. The monitor panel portion itself starts at $4,999, and the stand (a separately sold option) costs a mighty $1,000. Apple was roundly ribbed at the 2019 introduction of the panel for the cost of the stand, and it's hard to deny that such an extravagant accessory is a divisive play on Apple's part. But the monitor works with a standard VESA mount, too—so long as you buy Apple's $199 VESA-mount adapter first.
The HDR 1600 Pro Display XDR is now on sale for $4,999 for the panel alone. (Apple is also offering a $5,999 version of the panel with a non-reflective matte surface.) But we'd recommend waiting to pick one up for yourself until Apple works out some kinks out on the software side of the back end: namely, the lack of calibration options. While the Pro Display XDR does have several presets available for common creative-work templates (such as photography, digital cinema, and HDR), there's no way, currently, to actually calibrate the display yourself, or create your own profiles. (This is also the reason our full review has yet to go live; we need access to some of these settings to test the monitor fully.)
We'll have a deep-dive review evaluating whether or not the Pro Display XDR is actually as good as Apple says it is, or if competing models like the Asus ProArt PA32UCX offer a better deal in professional reference displays. In the meantime, my colleague Tom Brant takes you through the essential points around the Pro Display XDR in the video below.