Studio Display XDR Fails Full Calibration

I have two Studio Display XDRs connected to a Mac Studio M3 Ultra. When trying to use a Display Plus HL to calibrate the displays, I'm only able to calibrate one of them. My setup is a Thunderbolt 5 cable going direct into the first display and then a Thunderbolt 5 cable daisy-chained to the second display. The first display was able to calibrate just fine under a full calibration; however, when I tried to do the second display, it failed.

I tried multiple times with multiple different dual-monitor settings within the display settings application, but nothing helped.

I then disconnected the daisy chain and directly plugged the second display in via the Thunderbolt 5 cable, and it is still failing. It seems to go through the full calibration and get to the end but then just throw up an error message saying that it failed to calibrate. I must have tried a dozen times already with multiple configurations.

Any ideas? I do have the latest firmware that was pushed out recently as well as the latest Mac OS release.

Studio Display XDR

Posted on Apr 8, 2026 8:25 PM

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Stangs55 Author

Level 1

44 points

Posted on May 10, 2026 2:25 PM

Update on the original post.

After three calls back and forth with Apple Support who transferred me to (pretty sure) every single department they had. The conclusion they came up with was I have to take it into an Apple Store. They would not send me a replacement over the phone.

Took it to my local apple store and started over. The guy was very nice but I spent 2.5 hours there. He hooked it up...ran some tests...then said he had to reinstall to firmware. That proceeded to brick the monitor and he was unable to get it back. They then told me they had to install a new logic board and I'd be without it for 1-2 weeks. With a little kindness, they were nice enough just to return the monitor and let me order a new one.

The new monitor has arrived and it calibrates just fine.

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16 replies

Drift C

Level 1

20 points

May 8, 2026 8:48 AM in response to JRolAn-777

Any luck getting the MacBook Pro M1 Max to calibrate?

Studio Display XDR Fails Full Calibration