Important: Restart Your Studio Display

Posting this to safe other studio display users a lot of time and hassle. YOU HAVE TO RESTART your studio display on occasion, especially if you run into issues with the3 camera, microphone or speakers. The studio display runs its own internal version of IOS that operates the camera, speakers and microphone. Much like ANY other device that runs its own operating system, you can't run it indefinitely without ever restarting it. You will eventually run into issues and your device does funny stuff. I got my studio display on march 18th and yesterday the camera started acting up, then the microphone etc. After hours with Apple support and trying all kind of things to isolate the issue, it occurred to me that we did EVERYTHING except restart/reboot the display itself. because it has no power button and no software control to restart it, the only way to do it is to unplug it from the power source, wait at least 1 full minute and plug it back in. Of course it immediately solved all the issues. So if your display - or for that matter any of your other devices - starts acting up. Restart it that way to see if the issue resolves. Apple: please implement a firmware update that allows for rebooting the display via system preferences rather than having to crawl ion the floor find the plug, unplug it, wait, plug it back in.

Posted on Apr 5, 2022 10:33 AM

Top-ranking reply

mpetrides

Level 1

13 points

Posted on Apr 24, 2022 12:20 PM

I had exactly the same problem--choppy audio when playing audio from my M1 Pro MBP to the Studio Display. The same audio sounded fine playing on the MBP's speakers, however.

Rebooting the MBP, swapping ports on the MBP didn't help. The source of the audio being played (YouTube via web, music from Apple Music, Apple Music downloaded to the MBP and played locally) didn't matter.

So I tried playing a YouTube video (from the YT app) on my 2018 iPad Pro to the Studio Display--still choppy sound, confirming the Studio Display as the root of the problem.

I wasn't sure how to reboot the Studio Display, so I found this support page. Rebooting the Studio Display by unplugging it from power for a minute or two solved the problem! Yippeee. Thanks.

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68 replies

Rabbit51

Level 1

20 points

Jul 28, 2022 6:32 AM in response to yoboyt

I'm thinking of getting a wifi-controlled plug and when necessary using a voice command to turn the display off and on again. Seems a little ridiculous but might work.

Rabbit51

Level 1

20 points

Aug 3, 2022 4:16 AM in response to mpetrides

I have my wifi plug in a battery backup/surge protector. I can turn it off/on with my iPhone or a voice command. Haven't need it yet.

tomac14

Level 1

138 points

Apr 13, 2022 10:57 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

My new Studio Display worked great for the first couple of weeks.

Then for no apparent reason, it had problem with with choppy audio.

Apple did not know why.

I took your advice and unplugged my display from its power source.

Waited for about 15 seconds and then plugged it back into its power source.

Problem SOLVED.

Apple if you're listening, please fix this.

Give us an easy way to restart the A13 Bionic chip inside the Studio Display.

Thanks,

Tom

****

Apr 27, 2022 6:34 PM in response to Holger Laufenberg

Thank you so much! Something so obvious but the last thing I thought of. I tried a different thunderbolt cable, a different Macbook, I even looked into reinstalling the software. Nothing worked.

I contacted Apple Support and they couldn't solve the issue so asked me to bring it into the store. Luckily I found this and tried it and it fixed the issues!

May 16, 2022 1:34 PM in response to Cypermotion

FWIW macOS Monterey 12.4 is now available (Monday, May 16) and includes a firmware update for the Studio Display that shows up as available once you've completed installation of 12.4 on the attached Mac. Hopefully, that fixes your issue. If not, then I guess it's time to contact AppleCare.

May 21, 2022 12:22 PM in response to Holger Laufenberg

Yep - same issue as others - monitor speakers were chopping around like crazy - so glad I tread this post as I'd been on the blower - so had to crawl under the desk turn off for 1 minute - and vwhalaa!! - back to normal - APPLE PLEASE FIX - this is going to happen again right

Crematum

Level 1

38 points

Jul 18, 2022 9:49 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

I found that when I used the ports on the back of the display (other than one to connect it to my MBP), that is when I had the most problems with audio or the monitor misbehaving. With nothing else plugged into the display, it is a lot more reliable and I have to reboot it significantly less often.

chrisjk

Level 1

20 points

Apr 29, 2022 12:34 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

Many thanks for this tip. My audio was terrible through the display speakers and I was about to resign myself to sending the display back to Apple (difficult when it's the only one I have), when I remembered the thing has its own processor so I went in search of advice on rebooting it and found your advice. It worked perfectly and the audio is now OK.

Incidentally, I unplugged it whilst keeping the Mac Studio running and nothing seems to have suffered as a result.

Jul 18, 2022 6:53 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

Holger Laufenberg wrote:

... it would be wise for Apple to allow us to do it properly via a software reboot/restart ...

Absolutely agree.

I cringe anytime I'm forced to perform a "crash-stop restart" of ANY device.

Recommend that you feed this back to Apple via their purpose-built mechanism if you've not done so already:

Feedback - Displays - Apple

Rabbit51

Level 1

20 points

Jul 25, 2022 11:26 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

This SOLVED my speaker problem. EXCELLENT advise and suggestion! I had set up a repair and can now cancel. Apple needs to make sure everyone understands that the Display need to be occasionally rebooted. It had worked fine for three months so I had completely forgotten about the separate display chip processor.

Jul 26, 2022 2:28 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

I completely lost my microphone since Sunday. No FaceTime, Google Chat, or WhatsApp calls. I spent 2.5 hours with Tier 1 and Tier 2 Apple advisors without any solution. Then I saw this blog and followed your advice. Hallelujah! It worked.

Aug 5, 2022 8:55 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

Many thanksfor the tip. I just followed your recommendations and it worked perfectly. THAT SAID, IT IS DISAPPOINTING TO GET THIS KIND OF PROBLEM WITH SUCH AN EXPENSIVE DISPLAY.... some kind of control of the studio display settings needs to be created in the MAC settings to manage the display features and updates properly. Many thanks.

[Edited by Moderator]

Jun 14, 2022 7:52 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

My problem was a microphone that would no longer work properly on Zoom.

Rebooting the display fixed that.

Agree we need a software restart feature if these issues continue.

Jul 18, 2022 6:40 AM in response to Holger Laufenberg

I had same problem today no sound with youtube or with MSTeam.

Solved now, thanks so much for posting this great/easy solution.

SMRS

Level 1

25 points

Aug 3, 2022 4:23 AM in response to mpetrides

Mac Rumors posted an article about this issue yesterday, sounds like Apple is aware of it and the power cycling fix. Hopefully it’s made it’s way to the support team!

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Important: Restart Your Studio Display