Apple has released both developer and public beta versions of macOS 12.4 that include within them a beta version of the firmware for the Apple Studio Display. This is the first update to the Studio Display firmware since it shipped, and Apple says that it “has refinements to the Studio Display camera tuning, including improved noise reduction, contrast, and framing.”

Since my Studio Display arrived last week and I haven’t yet sent back Apple’s review unit, I’m in the enviable position of having two Studio Displays available for testing. So I updated my display, kept the stock firmware on the review unit, placed them as close as possible to one another to take similar shots, and compared the two.

But first, some observations about the process of updating the Studio Display. After updating to the macOS 12.4 beta and rebooting, the new Studio Display firmware becomes available as an update. Applying this update requires another reboot (and a stealth reboot at the end of that process).

Since the software that runs the display’s webcam is on the display itself, you should see those changes even on Macs not running the latest beta. (This makes sense—Apple would never want a display to suddenly become incompatible with older devices due to a firmware update.)…