When the $1,599 Studio Display launched in March this year, besides the overpriced accessories, the poor webcam quality was one of the biggest gripes among reviewers and users. Apple had promised to fix the issue and claims it has now been resolved with a firmware update for the Studio Display.

Alongside the third beta build of iOS 15.5 released today, the iPhone maker also released the latest macOS 12.4 beta. Apple spokesperson Jennie Orphanopoulos told The Verge that “an update to the Studio Display firmware is now available with today’s beta release of macOS Monterey 12.4. This beta update has refinements to the Studio Display camera tuning, including improved noise reduction, contrast, and framing.”

Although the update is being shipped alongside the new macOS beta, the camera quality is being fixed by an iOS 15.5 beta update since the Studio Display runs iOS. It is a 478MB update — pretty significant for a display’s firmware. The Developers have immediate access to the latest beta build of macOS Monterey and all other users will be able to install it through the public beta program later today.

Based on the image samples shared by users, it is evident that the image output has improved significantly. However, Apple should have ensured it worked flawlessly from the get-go.

new Studio Display camera firmware (top right) seems to be less aggressive at cropping than old firmware (top left) and much less than iPad Center Stage (bottom) pic.twitter.com/lk3NaIduHE

— Jason Snell (@jsnell) April 26, 2022

If you are already a beta tester and want to bid farewell to the pathetic camera quality immediately, you can install the latest beta by following these simple steps:

Step 1: Open the System Preferences menu on your Mac and select Software Update.

Step 2: The latest Apple Studio Display Firmware Update 15.5 should be displayed alongside the macOS 12.4 beta 3 update.

Step 3: Select Install Now to start the update process.

If you aren’t a beta user, we suggest you wait until a stable channel update is released because beta builds usually have their fair share of bugs and issues that need to be ironed out.

Apple equipped the Studio Display with a potent camera, at least on paper. It is a 12MP sensor mated to an f/2.4 lens backed by the A13 chip’s processing power. However, all the reviews of the Studio Display highlighted that the webcam quality was unforgivably poor given its $1,599 sticker price.

Do you think Apple should have avoided this issue and possibly delayed the Studio Display instead of shipping the product to customers and issuing a patch? Tell us in the comments section.