Some Apple rumors just don’t go away, hanging around in perpetuity either because they reflect things that Apple is actually testing in its labs or because hope springs eternal. A HomePod-like device with a screen? A replacement for the dear, departed 27-inch iMac? Touchscreen MacBooks? The return of TouchID fingerprint scanning via a sensor located beneath a screen? Maybe these things are coming, but they ain’t here yet.
However, few rumors have had the longevity or staying power of “Apple is planning a low-cost MacBook,” versions of which have been circulating since at least the late-2000s netbook craze. And yet, despite seismic shifts in just about everything—three distinct processor instruction sets, two CEOs, innumerable design changes, and global trade upheaval—Apple’s cheapest modern laptops have started around $1,000 for more than two decades.
Last week, supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (whose Apple predictions aren’t always correct, but whose track record is better than your garden variety broken-clock prognosticators) kicked up another round of these rumors, claiming that Apple was preparing to manufacture a new low-cost MacBook based on the iPhone’s A18 Pro chip. Kuo claims it will come in multiple colors, similar to Apple’s lower-cost A16 iPad, and will use a 13-inch screen.
Apple could deliver a MacBook surprise within the next couple of years, and it sounds like terrific news for aspiring budget laptop shoppers. As per TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple is planning a new MacBook that will be powered by the same chipset as the iPhone 16 Pro.
According to Kuo, the laptop features an “approximately 13-inch display” and might enter mass production in the fourth quarter of 2025, or early next year. He further adds that the company aims to ship anywhere between 5–7 million units of this new machine, accounting for nearly a third of total laptop shipments in 2026.
Those are ambitious numbers and suggest Apple is rather bullish about the prospects of a “more affordable” MacBook with an A18 Pro chip inside, instead of the traditional M-series processor. Either way, the whole idea is pretty interesting for multiple reasons.
It just makes sense
Apple
The A18 Pro is a freakishly powerful processor, and it’s the only mobile silicon out there that can handle console-grade titles such as Death Stranding, Resident Evil, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage with ease on a phone. Paired with bigger heat management hardware and battery, I won’t be surprised to see it race against the Snapdragon X-powered Windows laptops.
But the real surprise here is the promise of a more affordable Apple laptop. Is it the long-awaited revival of the 12-inch MacBook? Probably. What I am more interested in seeing is the asking price. Over the past few years, Apple has kept the entry-level MacBook Air locked close to the $999 bracket.
Unless Apple wants a deliberate overlap, the new “affordable” MacBook should ideally start somewhere around $799, the same price bracket that is now a sweet spot for Microsoft’s Surface and other Windows-on-Arm laptops that draw power from Qualcomm’s entry-level Snapdragon X silicon.
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
An asking price of around $800 would make the rumored MacBook an unbeatable proposition, assuming Apple sticks with its high hardware and performance standards. Will Apple experiment with cheaper materials, such as polycarbonate, to lower the asking price? That’s plausible. We haven’t seen Apple go beyond a metal chassis for MacBooks in a while, so it would be interesting to see whether the company makes a pivot.
What truly matters here is the incredible longevity of Apple laptops. You can still pick up a used or refurbished M1 MacBook Air for around $500-600, and it will run the full macOS Tahoe experience with the Apple Intelligence bundle and no feature cuts.
And from my personal experience, it’s still astoundingly smooth and reliable. If Apple launches a cheaper MacBook around $800 — and factor in the usual student discount on top — there is little doubt that buyers would pick a Windows machine.
On the other hand, a five-year-old M1 MacBook doesn’t water down the macOS experience to date. Also, Apple has lost the “thin and light” laptop race to machines such as the Asus ZenBook A14, so maybe it’s time to reclaim that crown with a reimagined MacBook armed with an iPhone silicon?
A historical performance perspective
Apple
If the idea of a MacBook with an iPhone processor sounds ludicrous, look no further than the Windows machines, especially those with Qualcomm processors inside. More specifically, the Windows on Arm laptops and the new breed of Copilot+ machines.
The move doesn’t even surprise from Apple’s own perspective, especially when it comes to concerns about firepower. Apple put a laptop-tier M1 processor inside the iPad Pro years ago. In fact, when Apple announced the M1 silicon, its similarities with the A14 became a crucial talking point.
The microarchitecture was similar, built atop the 5nm process node, and the same kind of unified silicon-on-chip (SoC) approach with fused memory on the same module as the CPU, GPU, and the NPU. Apple borrowed the A14’s Firestorm and Icestorm cores, increased the core count, married it with a beefier GPU, and created the M1.
Ap
Back then, the A14 was already performing ahead of x86-based processors, and the M1 only made a bigger jump. In fact, when Apple started preparing for the transition away from Intel (x86 silicon), the Developer Transition Kit offered to developers came kitted with an A12Z processor that was fitted inside iPads back then.
In the years that have followed, Apple hasn’t changed the fundamental approach. The A18 Pro still sits at the top of the mobile food chain, and the M4 silicon packed inside Macs and iPads is no different. If Apple fits an A18 Pro silicon (even paired with its 8GB RAM situation), it would be able to handle the demands of macOS with ease.
Also, if you look at the Windows side, and especially the Copilot+ laptops with a Snapdragon processor inside, you will find some similarities. The Snapdragon X-series processors for laptops now share the Oryon cores with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip for Android phones and tablets.
Apple’s CPU cores outperform the competition across the mobile and laptop segments, and it won’t be surprising to see the A18 Pro-powered MacBook coming out with some impressive performance figures. The biggest dilemma is “if” and “when” Apple puts such a machine on the shelf.
It might seem a little weird to review a monitor that’s been on the market for over five years, but then again, it’s the Apple Pro Display XDR I’m talking about. Apple hasn’t been in a hurry to upgrade its monitors lately, with its only other monitor, the Studio Display, first going on sale in 2022. The primary reason I’m reviewing the Pro Display XDR is that it seems like a natural mate for Apple’s most recent Macs, and I often see new Mac buyers wondering if they should buy an Apple monitor to go with it.
And in fact, despite their age, both monitors remain two of the best monitors made today — and both are also very expensive. The Studio Display starts at $1,599 with a simple stand, and the Pro Display XDR is even pricier at $4,999 without a stand or VESA connector. Opt for the stand and you’ll spend an extra $999. Yet in a way, the Pro Display XDR, while far more expensive than most people will want to spend, could be considered the relative bargain of the two when compared to its most direct competitors. And independent of price, the Pro Display XDR is a truly spectacular monitor for anyone who might need its awesome image quality.
Specs
Apple Pro Display XDR
Screen size
32 inches
Panel type
FAFD IPS
Resolution
6K (6016 x 3384)
Peak brightness
1,600 nits
HDR
HDR10, Dolby Vision, HLG
Contrast ratio
1,000,000:1
Response time
Not defined
Color gamut
1.073 billion colors (true 10-bit)
Refresh rate
60Hz
Curve
No
Speakers
None
Ports
1 x upstream USB-C with Thunderbolt 3
3 x downstream USB-C
Adjustments
30 degrees tilt
120mm height
Dimensions (HxWxD)
28.3 inches (width) x 16.2 inches (height) x 1.1 inches (depth)
By itself, the Pro Display XDR costs $4,999 with the standard glass. That’s a lot. Opting for the nano-textured glass brings the price to $5,999. But you can’t stop there. If you want to use a VESA standard mount, you can choose the VESA adapter for $199. If not, then you’ll need the Pro Stand that costs a rather insane-sounding $999. That makes the most expensive Pro Dispay XDR cost $6,988. Wow.
The thing is, Apple aimed the Pro Display XDR at reference-level monitors that can cost as much as $20,000 or more. In that respect, even the most expensive configuration is a relative bargain. Since its introduction in 2019, though, several other monitors have been released that challenge the Pro Display XDR in one or more metrics. At the same time, no less costly monitor can match the Pro Display XDR across the board. So whether it’s egregiously expensive or relatively affordable is something I’ll touch on in the competition section below.
Design
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
You might be tempted to think that a monitor released over five years ago will look dated, and you’d be wrong. The Pro Display XDR is a stunning monitor in every respect, showing off Apple’s meticulous attention to detail that makes its hardware so consistently excellent. If Apple releases a new model anytime soon, I doubt that it will look very different. In fact, I hope it doesn’t.
First, it looks like an Apple product. With the Pro Display XDR sitting next to (or rather, over) a Mac Studio, for example, you see two distinct products that are obviously made for each other. That’s pretty amazing, considering that the Mac Studio was first released almost three years after the monitor. The design has Apple’s usual minimalism that somehow exudes elegance, likely due to the use of aluminum throughout with not a speck of plastic combined with Apple’s usual design cohesiveness. That along makes it stand out from most other monitors. The Pro Display XDR just looks more like its design matters than the typical monitor.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Look around the back and you see the same sort of “cheese grater” effect made up of a lattice pattern machined into the aluminum. That helps dissipate heat and avoids the need for a fan, and monitors with these specifications can get hot. The construction functions to keep the monitor perfectly silent, which matches nicely with the almost perfectly-silent Mac Studio. The patter is also similar to the exterior design of the Mac Pro, meaning it matches up well with that Apple desktop as well.
Second, the design is incredibly functional. My review unit came with the Pro Stand, and yes, that’s a ridiculously expensive product. But, it’s also incredibly well-made and works better than most stands you can buy today. It’s all-metal, like the Pro Display XDR itself, and it connects to the monitor using a unique mechanism where strong magnets suck the connector into place before everything mechanically snaps together. That makes the connection feel really cool and modern in addition to being drop-dead simple. The VESA adapter connects the same way. And then the stand is incredibly smooth, raising and lowering the monitor by up to 120mm total, tilting in a 30-degree arc, and rotating between landscape and portrait with one finger while holding the monitor firmly in place.
I’ll note that Apple built in a rotation mechanism that requires the monitor to be at its highest point before rotating — thus avoiding the potential to knock an edge against something, which I’ve run into the on some other monitors. It’s a nice feature. Of course, it makes for a very tall display that I couldn’t even easily fit fully in a frame.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Yes, $999 is a lot to spend on a stand. But this isn’t your typical stand. Is that incredible design enough to justify spending almost $7,000? Almost certainly not. But, as we’ll see, that’s not really what you’re paying for. It’s just a nice perk.
I’ll also note that once again, I’m as impressed as always with Apple’s packaging. That might seem like a trivial thing, but unpacking monitors is almost always a painful process. Most often, various parts are scattered around a Byzantine construction that requires pulling things apart and complicates putting the monitor itself together. That’s just not the case with the Pro Display XDR — just like it’s not the case with any of Apple’s products. The box is easy to open, everything is neatly organized, the monitor is easy to take out, and as mentioned above, the method of attaching the display to the monitor is downright satisfying. And I know that boxing the monitor back up will be drop-dead simple. It’s just another thing that makes you feel like you got your money’s worth.
Connectivity and features
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
In terms of connectivity, the Pro Display XDR isn’t nearly as functional as some other monitors. It’s not meant to serve as a central hub to connect all of your various computing parts. It’s not like the Dell UltraSharp 32 4K USB-C Hub monitor, which has a very long name with “hub” literally included because, in fact, that’s what it is. It includes a host of various connections along with a built-in keyboard-video-monitor (KVM) switch, and it allows you to connect multiple PCs and various peripherals without needing an external dock or hub.
That’s just not the Pro Display XDR. Instead, it has just four USB-C ports, one upstream Thunderbolt 3 for connecting to a PC and three downstream USB-C ports for connecting various peripherals. That’s as close to a “hub” as you’ll get with this monitor. The upstream Thunderbolt 3 provides up to 96 watts of power, which is enough to keep a MacBook Pro running well enough (as long as it’s not pushing an M4 Max chipset too hard). And per Apple’s usual design aesthetic, the ports are flush with the back of the monitor and in a simple line. Personally, I prefer the setup, because the mini-wiring closets on some monitors are located on the bottom and are a pain to access.
Another significant hardware difference between the Pro Display XDR and the Studio Display (not to mention some other monitors) is that the Studio Display has an excellent six-speaker audio system that’s the best I’ve seen on a monitor. When I’m using it, I’m able to put away my external speakers and use the built-in audio exclusively — it’s that good, something I have yet to see on another monitor. The Pro Display XDR, on the other hand, has no speakers whatsoever. It’s exclusively an image-only solution, which fits its primary focus but is something to keep in mind.
In terms of controls, the Pro Display XDR is exactly like the Studio Display. There are no external controls at all, and no on-screen display (OSD) like you’ll find on most monitors. There’s not even a power button. Everything is controlled via software running on the connected PC. And, that matters a lot, because there’s no standalone utility, either. Clearly, Apple monitors are made for macOS machines, where you get a full set of software control within the standard macOS Settings. This is a monitor that is simply not a great choice for Windows users, because you lose virtually all functionality in Windows. You can’t even change the brightness.
In macOS settings, you’ll find several options you can configure. As usual, there’s Apple’s True Tone, which changes the white point to match ambient lighting, and automatic brightness that also enhances the content black level. The Pro Display XDR has dual ambient light sensors, one on the front and one on the back, to ensure a precise match between the display and ambient light conditions. Most important, perhaps, are the various presets. These change the monitor’s characteristics to fit specific reference workflows. The presets range from the default that utilizes the full brightness for displaying HDR content do presets for various types of video work and for photographers.
Image quality – sharpness
The Pro Display XDR is built around a 32-inch 16:9 panel running at a very high 6K (6016 x 3384) resolution for 218 PPI. It uses IPS LCD technology, with a full-array local dimming (FALD) backlight with 576 blue LEDs compared to the usual IPS side lighting. That means it’s not quite the same as a mini-LED display that has thousands of mini-LEDs for very fine local dimming zones, but Apple utilizes several proprietary components to minimize blooming while providing extremely high sustained and peak brightness for high dynamic range (HDR) content. While there’s more blooming than modern min-LED (and OLED) displays, it’s still manageable in all but very dark environments. And the point of the XDR (Extreme Dynamic Range) moniker is that the Pro Display XDR provides incredibly bright and accurate display of HDR images and video.
I’ll start by discussing the 6K resolution, because that matters a lot when matching up to macOS PCs. Simply put, Apple has long done a great job of producing excellent text as well as sharp images, thanks to its strict approach to HiDPI (High Dots Per Inch) support. macOS is very precise with its scaling, where it wants to produce content with integer-based scaling (e.g., 2x) and not non-integer scaling (e.g., 1.5x). It assumes a base resolution for each device, and then scales the resolution to match the native resolution. On the Pro Display XDR, that means it assumes a base resolution of 3008 x 1692 which it then scales at 2x to make use of the full 6K resolution. By avoiding non-integer scaling, Retina sharpness is maintained no matter what scaling you choose to make the UI larger or smaller (all the way up to the full 6K where everything becomes very tiny).
In order to get the full effect, you need both Retina-level sharpness and a usable resolution that allows for integer scaling. At 32 inches, the Pro Display XDR’s 6K resolution falls in the Retina sweet spot at 218 PPI, and the 3008 x 1692 base resolution is quite usable. If the display was 4K (3840 x 2160), which is just 137 PPI, then the base resolution would be 1920 x 1080 and it wouldn’t be Retina quality. It would also make the workspace feel more cramped on such a large display. But, scaling it up to something more usable like 2560 x 1440 would require 1.5x scaling, which would result in blurriness.
So, the Pro Display XDR’s 6K resolution is very much on purpose. The same is true with the Studio Display’s 5K resolution at a screen size of 27 inches. It’s why that monitor also works better with macOS machines than 4K 27-inch monitors, which would suffer from the same compromises.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Image quality – fidelity
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Apple has taken care to produce a monitor that will display content as accurately as possible, and at the widest possible angles. The custom timing controller, synchronized pixel switch and LED modulation, and a superior polarizer combine to maximize color accuracy and minimize reflectivity. I reviewed the nano-texture glass that manages to almost eliminate reflections without hampering contrast or reducing color dynamics. If you check out the Apple Pro Display XDR white paper, you can dig into the details of the screen’s design. You’ll find that a tremendous amount of work was put into each of the six “layers” that make up the display, with various techniques used to ensure optimal uniformity throughout. The result is a monitor that produces a reliable image that can be used for the most exacting reference work.
That all might sound a bit like a marketing blurb, but the point is, while the Pro Display XDR is almost five years old, it remains a monitor that’s laser-focused on image fidelity — something professional creators demand. To a non-creator like myself, I found the display incredibly bright, dynamic, and with very high contrast that’s not quite at the level of mini-LED or OLED’s inky blacks but is still excellent. It’s better for watching HDR content than any other monitor I own, including a 32-inch 4K OLED monitor that’s currently sitting on my desk that’s not nearly as bright. Of course, I’m not this monitor’s target user, and I couldn’t spend that much money only for watching HDR TV shows and movies. But I would sure wish I could.
However, if I was a professional creator who works with HDR content, then I would very much appreciate the superior HDR performance. And that’s where the Pro Display XDR shines the most (no pun intended). When you mate the sustained 1,000-nit HDR brightness with the peak of 1,600 nits, along with all the attention to image fidelity, you get a monitor that professionals can use to do their best work. I’ll mention the cheese grater venting on the back, because running HDR content at such high brightness generates a lot of heat — and these vents keep things cool without need a fan.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
When I used my Datacolor SpyderPro colorimeter for objective testing, I got very good results that don’t necessarily blow other monitors out of the water. One reason is because the Pro Display XDR’s primary advantage, as discussed at length immediately above, is about providing consistent quality across the entire display that closely matches the source as possible. A simple colorimeter test doesn’t necessarily reflect everything that makes the Pro Display XDR so great.
Starting with brightness, colorimeters test SDR video by default, because HDR content is by definition more sporadic and inconsistent and thus harder to measure. So, the 520 nits shown here using the default preset of “P3-1600 nits” reflects almost exactly the 500 nits that Apple specifies for SDR video. That’s similar to the mini-LED display on the MacBook Pro 16, which is only slightly brighter in SDR at 585 nits. This preset is the one that’s intended for general content including HDR, so HDR content will sustain at 1,000 nits and peak at 1,600 nits. The “P3-500 nits” is for when you will only be working with SDR content, and then the other presets, of which these are just a subset, are intended to precisely match various reference models for specific kind of work. So, the brightness is set at a particular point and can’t be changed.
The Pro Display XDR’s contrast ratio is very good, well above the 1,000:1 to 1,500:1 ratio you’ll find with most IPS displays, but it falls short of mini-LED and OLED. That’s to be expected, and I suspect that whatever replaces the Pro Display XDR in Apple’s lineup will be one of those technologies (if not something even more advanced like micro-LED).
Color gamut support is excellent for both sRGB and DCI-P3, the latter of which will matter most to video producers. The AdobeRGB coverage is very good, but OLED is much better. It’s good enough for professional creators, especially when you consider the devotion to image fidelity and consistency. The colors are also very accurate in most presets, with only the “Digital Cinema (P3-DCI)” coming in above the 1.0 or less that’s considered indistinguishable to the human eye. And Gamma is pretty much perfect in each preset.
Brightness
(nits)
Contrast
Gamut
(sRGB/AdobeRGB/DCI-P3)
Accuracy
(DeltaE)
Gamma
P3-1600 nits (default)
520
4,700:1
100% / 88% / 100%
0.78
2.2
P3-500 nits
511
4,640:1
100% / 88% / 100%
0.77
2.2
HDR video – P3
101
4,600:1
100% / 89% / 100%
0.78
2.3
Digital Cinema (P3-DCI)
47
2,170:1
100% / 88% / 100%
1.49
2.2
Photography
165
3,700:1
100% / 88% / 100%
0.79
2.2
Competition
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
When the Pro Display XDR was introduced, its high price was very easy to justify against the $20,000+ reference monitors that were its only competition. At that point, mainstream mini-LED and OLED monitors weren’t common, and few monitors were introduced with such high resolutions. Today, things have changed a bit. You can get a variety of 27- and 32-inch monitors with some combination of high resolution, high brightness, deep contrast, and wide colors, including with a small variety of 5K and 6K monitors that optimally match macOS HiDPI support. The challenge is finding a monitor that offers the full package.
The Dell UltraSharp U3224KB comes closest right now. It’s a 31.5-inch 6K Black IPS display with 221 PPI of sharpness, so it hits the Retina sweet spot. It has superior contrast over standard IPS, although not nearly that of the Pro Display XDR, mini-LED, or OLED panels. And it has 10-bit color that’s likely to be quite accurate. It also includes features that the Pro Display XDR lacks, like decent built-in speakers and a 4K webcam, with a more reasonable price of around $3,000. I will be reviewing that monitor soon, and so will be able to provide a head-to-head comparison. But the one thing the Dell monitor does not have is the Pro Display XDR’s extremely bright HDR support, making it less attractive for creators who work with HDR content.
There are several 5K 27-inch monitors available that will provide the right combination of size and resolution, but those are only IPS and so not great for HDR. The Asus ProArt PA32UCG is a 4K 32-inch mini-LED display that matches the Pro Display XDR’s brightness, but it’s not going to match up as well with macOS HiDPI support. Both Asus and LG have announced upcoming 6K 32-inch displays, with the LG UltraFine 6K also looking like an IPS Black model. All of these monitors will fall in the range of $1,000 to $3,000, making them much more affordable.
The bottom line is that depending on your needs, you have (or will soon) more options in a 6K 32-inch display than were available when the Pro Display XDR was introduced. Many of them will be a lot more accessible to typical Apple users. None of them, though, will provide the same combination of resolution, image quality, and HDR support that the Pro Display XDR provides — at its very high price.
Still the best monitor for Macs, although few will buy it
I’m in love with the Pro Display XDR. It’s the highest-quality monitor I’ve ever used, with a mouth-watering design that’s as easy to use as it is flexible. It has gorgeous image quality, including incredibly sharp text (really important for me as a writer) in a very large display size, and it’s the best HDR monitor I’ve ever used.
Of course, it’s also more expensive than I would ever spend with my own money. As much as I love it, I simply don’t have $7,000 to spend. So, like most Mac users, I wouldn’t buy it. But if you’re a professional whose livelihood depends on your producing color-accurate work, including lots of HDR content, then that money will be well spent. And, surprisingly, it represents something of a bargain, while also integrating tightly into the macOS ecosystem.
On Windows and macOS, you may encounter an error while moving large files between drives. Windows may show you an error ‘The File (xyz) is too large for the destination file system’.
MacOS will show you ‘The item can’t be copied because it is too large for the volume’s format’.
Have you ever wondered why the error appears?
Why does the error appear?
If you have just encountered the error, the problem is with the FAT32 file system the drive is formatted with.
FAT32 is known for its good compatibility with Windows, Linux, and macOS. However, its only drawback is that it only supports 4GB of a single file size. It also supports up to 32GB partitions.
If your USB Flash drive or external drive uses the FAT32 file system, you can’t copy a file into it larger than 4GB.
Due to the limitations of the FAT32 file system, which can’t store a single file larger than 4GB, you get the error message. The error message will appear on Windows and macOS while copying files larger than 4 GB.
How to Fix the Error on Mac & Windows?
Fixing this error is not complicated; you just have to format the drive to a different file system, such as NTFS or exFAT.
NTFS: NTFS is the default file system for all internal drives in the Windows operating system. Unlike FAT32, it has no limitations and can move files regardless of size.
exFAT: This one is an advanced version of the FAT32 file system. Since it’s more advanced, it’s not compatible with older hardware. This file system is a usual choice for external hard drives and is compatible with macOS.
Fix the Item Can Not Be Copied Because It Is Too Large Error on Mac
Users on MacOS have a few extra file systems to format their drive, like MacOS Extended, APFS, and exFAT.
MacOS Extended is the default file system, but it has compatibility issues. If you want to run the drive on any other operating system like Windows, you will have to reformat it with a compatible file system.
Next comes the Apple File System (APFS), which is more reliable, faster, and packs more features, but there are more compatibility issues here.
The best option is exFAT, especially if you want to work with your drive on Mac and Windows. This file system works with Mac and Windows; even old hardware can detect it.
1. Insert your USB flash drive into your Mac and run the Disk Utility from the Applications/Utilities.
2. Select your USB flash drive connected to your Mac in Disk Utility.
3. Switch to the Erase tab. This will open a new prompt.
4. Set your USB flash drive/external drive name, and select GUID Partition Map in the Scheme.
5. On the Format drop-down, select exFAT and click the Erase button.
Fix The File is too Large for the destination file system on Windows
You will get a different error message on Windows. The error message on Windows 10/11 will read ‘The File (xyz) is too large for the destination file system’.
This error indicates the same problem, which can be fixed by changing the file system. Here’s what you need to do.
1. Connect your USB Flash or External drives to your Windows PC.
2. Press the Windows Key + R button on your keyboard. This will open the RUN dialog box.
3. Enter diskmgmt.msc and press the Enter button on the RUN dialog box.
4. Right-click on the connected drive you want to format and select Format.
5. On the Format prompt, enter the volume label. On the File System, select either NTFS or exFAT.
6. Once done, check the Perform a Quick Format checkbox and click OK.
Format the Drive through File Explorer on Windows
On Windows 10/11, you have another way to change the file system used on a drive. Here’s how to format a drive through File Explorer on Windows.
1. Press the Windows Key + E button to open the File Explorer.
2. Right-click on the drive showing you the error, and select Format.
3. Select NTFS or exFAT as the file system on the Format prompt.
4. On the Format options, check the Quick Format checkbox and click on Start.
These are a few simple methods to fix ‘Fix File Is Too Large for the Volume’s Format’ on MacOS. We have also shared the steps to fix the error on Windows. If you’re facing any problems formatting the drive to a different file system, let us know in the comments.
I’ve reviewed well over 300 laptops, a handful of displays, and a smattering of accessories. Naturally, I’ve gained an appreciation for great hardware design and construction, and I can pretty immediately get a sense of where a device stacks up. While several companies make great hardware, one stands apart. I’m talking about Apple, and I’m writing this after having reviewed the new Mac Studio, the MacBook Air 13 (M4), the MacBook Air 15 (M4), and the Apple Studio Display.
At the end of 2023, I wrote extensively about why I made the decision to switch to Mac after decades of Windows loyalty. I made that decision based in part on the outstanding power-performance ratio that Apple Silicon brings to laptops, — along with a growing frustration with Windows. Apple’s software isn’t nearly perfect, especially considering the company’s flawed rollout of Apple Intelligence. But since I’ve made the switch — which included migrating from an Android smartphone to an iPhone and incorporating an Apple Watch — I’ve been extremely happy. And reviewing so many Apple products at once just reinforced an impression that’s been growing on me for a while: nobody makes hardware that’s nearly as great.
It starts with the unboxing
It might seem just a little crazy, but I’m serious. To fully appreciate the sheer meticulous nature of Apple’s design, you have to start with the unboxing.
Since I started buying a bunch of Apple products a couple of years ago, and with receiving quite a selection of packages with my recent spate of reviews, I couldn’t help but notice not only how nicely Apple packages its products, but also how consistently. Every single Apple package I’ve opened, from the Apple Card credit card I signed up for to the Apple Studio Display, had exactly the same zip-pull tabs and overall easy-open design. And I mean that literally — getting to the Apple Card was basically the same as every other product. Who does that?
You have to enjoy a great deal of institutional control for every single department to use exactly the same packaging. Finance, mobile, laptops, desktops, monitors, accessories — opening one product is exactly like opening another. That means that even before you pull a product out of the box, you’re already conditioned to expect the same experience. And the experience immediately reinforces the idea that you made a great decision. I can confidently say that no other manufacturer comes close — their packaging can be sheer frustration, and it can vary widely from one product to another.
Consider the Studio Display. Often, unpacking and setting up a large display can be a real pain. Most often, you have to burrow through a Byzantine contraption to pull out the accessories and the stand, then carefully pry up the panel and set it somewhere to put everything together. You have a bunch of styrofoam to sort through and parts to unpack, and you have to be careful not to damage the glass as you wrestle it around. With the Studio Display, you unzip, lay the box down, swing open the sides, and the monitor is easily accessible and already assembled. Pick it up and set it on your desk, in one smooth motion. And then packing it back up is just as easy — something that’s sheer frustration with every other monitor I’ve reviewed.
Now, imagine that you’re also unboxing a Mac Studio. That box is designed exactly the same way, only smaller. Unzip it, swing open the sides, and easily lift it out. In all Apple products, the power cables are nicely arranged with the same kind of holder. It looks and feels great.
In my recent review process, I unboxed two Mac Studios, a Studio Display, a Magic Keyboard, a Magic Trackpad, and a Magic Mouse, all in quick succession. I came away impressed by the almost obsessive attention to detail and how it felt a little like Christmas morning — mission accomplished, I’m sure. And when I need to box everything back up at some point, it will be just as easy. For anyone purchasing an Apple product, the unboxing process pulls them in via its simplicity and lack of hassle — there’s nothing to get in the way of enjoying the product.
The attention to detail continues inside
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
The point isn’t just that Apple creates a great unboxing experience, which is certainly true. Moreso, it’s that this kind of persistent consistency extends across its entire product line. Consider the Mac Studio and Studio Display pictured above. They closely match in their aesthetic, and it looks great. They’re both constructed of the same solid aluminum and the colors hint that they’re made for each other. And that makes sense, because someone purchasing a Mac Studio might very well want an excellent monitor that maintains the same minimalist aesthetic.
Both feel the same, as well. They’re not light devices, exactly, but they’re not egregiously heavy, either. But they’re dense, and to me, that density equates with solidity, which equates with quality. That’s an attribute that I’ve attributed to Apple MacBooks in my reviews. No, they’re not the lightest laptops you can buy, but they’re thin and solidly constructed and so in handling them you you — once again — feel like you got your money’s worth.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
The example that comes most immediately to mind is the MacBook Air 13 that I’ve been using as my primary portable machine (when I’m not actively reviewing another laptop). I have some other thin-and-light laptops I can use, but none are so insanely thin and none feel so incredibly solid. Those laptops are lighter, yet somehow, the MacBook Air feels better balanced and easier to carry around, not only with the lid closed but also — and here, it’s obvious how closely Apple’s paying attention to how people use their laptops — with the lid open. Are Apple laptops necessarily more robust or longer lasting? Maybe not, I don’t really know. But my impression is that they are, and for Apple, that’s what matters the most when it comes time for someone to buy a laptop — or to buy the next one.
There are many individual details I could talk about, like how the Mac Studio remains amazingly silent no matter how hard you push it, while the MacBook Air somehow doesn’t turn into a toaster although it runs without a fan. There’s the lid that opens smoothly with one hand and –here’s Apple paying attention again — closes even more smoothly. There’s the cohesiveness in design between the various MacBook sizes and models, down even to the simple port cutouts, and the keyboards and touchpads are identical no matter which one you use. Even the notch is the same, even if many people just don’t like it very much.
The point is, all of these details, large and small, contribute to an overall experience that you might not even consciously notice. But, taken together, they’re what makes using an Apple product just different somehow. When you handle so many of them at once, it becomes immediately apparent.
What does all that mean for you?
I know I sound a lot like an Apple fan here, and that’s not at all my intention. After all, if I’m simply a fan of one company or another, then my reviews can’t be trusted. And as I mentioned in the introduction, Apple’s software has been a bit problematic lately. Apple Intelligence is a mess, macOS is stable as always but not always intuitive, and iPadOS is ridiculous in its inability to genuinely multitask with a fast M4 chipset and 16GB of RAM. So while Windows has been a hot mess for me lately, Apple hasn’t exactly knocked its software out of the park, either.
Rather, my point is that Apple’s relentless attention to detail in its hardware makes a meaningful difference in how I perceive its products — starting from when I first open the box. I would be lying if I said that didn’t impact my reviews, and really, it should. After all, people are looking for my recommendations as to which laptop they should buy, and there’s more to using a laptop than its speeds and feeds. Of course, Apple’s latest MacBooks excel in their performance and efficiency, as well. If the MacBook Air 13 (M4) wasn’t really fast and really long-lasting, I wouldn’t have given it a perfect score no matter how much I like its design.
Apple doesn’t do any of it for free, of course. Its products are more expensive — in some cases, a lot more expensive. The point of this entire piece is that at least in terms of its hardware, Apple has a knack for making you feel like you get what you pay for.
If you’re using a Mac, such as the new MacBook Air, you might have to be careful. A phishing attack that previously plagued Windows users has now made its way to macOS, and it’s easy to fall for it.
This was spotted by 9to5Mac. Researchers from LayerX have been tracking a well-known phishing attack that caused a lot of grief to those who were tricked by it. Previously, the main target of these hackers was Windows, but Microsoft was able to largely eliminate it — up to 90% of all attacks on Windows PCs are said to have been fixed thanks to new updates to Edge, Chrome, and Firefox that block scareware.
As the hackers were out of luck on Windows, they appear to have turned to macOS. Macs are often said to be safe from hackers, which means some users may let their guard down and be easier to target.
On Windows, the phishing attack imitated Microsoft security alerts. The idea was that the hackers wanted to steal the users’ security credentials. In the case of Apple, their goal is to steal Apple IDs, and to do this, they make it seem like the PC is compromised.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
We’ve all seen similar pop-ups in the past, but this attack feels more legitimate because it also freezes the website that the victim is viewing. An unresponsive PC with a message saying that it’s been compromised is often enough for someone to give up their login credentials.
LayerX claims that macOS and Safari users are now the primary targets for this particular phishing campaign, and they claim that it’s a highly sophisticated attempt at a hack which may not stop here — it’s just the first attempt at adapting to the fixes rolled out on Windows.
Weird pop-ups that ask you to log in may look believable, but it’s important to stay vigilant. It’s worth warning friends and family members who are less plugged into the latest tech news. I know I’ll be warning my relatives who are using the Apple ecosystem. It’s unclear when, or if, Apple will be rolling out a security update to address this phishing attack.
9The Apple Studio Display is a few years old, but it remains as the most popular and affordable Apple monitor — and one of the best monitors overall — with a starting price of $1,599. The Apple Pro Display XDR is more capable for professionals, but it starts at a much more expensive $4,999 and is a lot more of a niche product.
Of course, $1,599 is very expensive for a 27-inch display. But right now, it’s among the best displays to mate with a Mac. It’s possible that Apple will be releasing an upgrade to the Studio Display, and you’ll likely want to know if you should choose that one or grab the current model at the inevitable discount.
Specs
Apple Studio Display
Screen size
27 inches
Panel type
IPS
Resolution
5K (5120 x 2880)
Peak brightness
600 nits
HDR
None
Contrast ratio
1,200:1
Response time
Not defined
Color gamut
1.097 billion colors
Refresh rate
60Hz
Curve
No
Speakers
Six-speaker system with force-cancelling woofers
Ports
1 x upstream USB-C with Thunderbolt 3
3 x downstream USB-C
Adjustments
30 degrees tilt
105mm height (optional)
Dimensions (HxWxD)
24.5 inches (width) x 18.8 inches (height) x 6.6 inches (depth)
There are a few configuration options with the Studio Display that affect its price. For $1,599, you get the standard glass and tilt-adjustable stand. Upgrading to the nano-texture glass add $300, while the tilt- and height-adjustable stand adds $400 and the VESA mount adapter substitutes for the standard stand at the same price. The most expensive configuration is therefore $2,299, which makes the Studio Display a very premium monitor indeed.
A drop-dead gorgeous design that looks and feels a lot like Apple
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
When I was taking pictures for my 2025 Mac Studio review, I used the Studio Display as one of the connected components. That wasn’t just because it’s another Apple product. It’s because it’s an unusually lovely monitor, with Apple’s typical design acumen and minimalist elegance fully on display (no pun intended). The two Apple products matched perfectly, with the same sliver-ish aluminum, the same lines, and the same gorgeous simplicity. It was, in short, very photogenic.
Right now, I have three other displays connected to the Mac Studio sitting on my desk, two Dell 27″ 4K monitors and one Lenovo 32″ 4K OLED. They’re fine, aesthetically, but they just don’t have the same panache. They don’t distract from my environment’s aesthetic, but they don’t add anything, either. The Studio Display does just that. It makes my setup look better, which no other monitor I’ve used or reviewed has done.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
And the Studio Display has the typical meticulous Apple construction. It’s all aluminum, to begin with, which as with many Apple products just makes it feel like it’s worth more. It’s a solid-looking and -feeling construction as well, with a density that plastic constructions can’t match. The other monitors I’ve reviewed, and the ones I used that I mention above, are all solid enough but they just don’t exude quality in the same fashion.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
My review unit had the simple tilt-adjustable stand, and the mechanism is smooth as silk. There’s also a tilt- and height-adjustable stand option that I’m sure is just as buttery smooth. The VESA mount adapter is also a configuration option. This choice must be made when you order the Studio Display, because as far as I know, it can’t be changed later. In this respect, the Studio Display feels a lot like MacBooks that have the smoothest hinges around.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
I’ll add another point. Unboxing displays is generally a pain. The packaging can be Byzantine, and putting things together requires carefully placing the panel somewhere and connecting the stand. Then, putting everything back together to ship back to the manufacturer is like trying to put together a puzzle, only one where if you don’t align things perfectly you risk damaging something expensive.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Apple’s packaging is unparalleled in its consistency and its ease of opening and, importantly, putting things back. You just pull the usual Apple tabs to open the box, and then when you set it down, the sides swing out to provide easy access to the Studio Display. And, it comes already put together, with plenty of space to lift it out of the box and simply place it on a desk. It’s a great experience, and I never felt like I ran the risk of breaking something.
Minimal ports, minimal features
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Some displays offer a host of features that can turn them into highly configurable and capable hubs to serve as a centerpiece of a home office like mine. The Studio Display is not such a product. Consider the Dell UltraSharp 32 4K USB-C Hub monitor, which literally has its capability included in its (rather long) name. That has a host of USB-C and other ports and a keyboard-video-monitor (KVM) switch built in. Many other monitors have similar features, and if you look around back, you’ll find a veritable wiring closet tucked away.
The Studio Display is quite different. It has just four USB-C ports, one upstream with Thunderbolt 3 for connecting to a PC and three downstream running at up to 10 Gbps for connecting other peripherals. That’s kind of a hub, I guess, but it’s not nearly as functional as some others. The upstream port can power up to a MacBook Pro 14, which is a good thing. And if you have several Apple devices, you can use Apple’s Continuity features to share displays, keyboards, and mice. But if you’re a Windows user, you’re out of luck.
And here’s what really makes the Studio Display less attractive to Windows PC users. Unlike the vast majority of monitors — maybe virtually all of them — the Studio Display has no on-screen display (OSD) for configuring settings. In fact, there aren’t that many settings to configure, and they’re all controlled using the macOS Settings app. There seem to be some hacks that will let you change various settings on a Windows PC, but I simply wouldn’t recommend buying a Studio Display to use with Windows. Some things will work with Windows via standard USB devices, like the speakers and the webcam, but controls are minimal.
On macOS, the settings are more meaningful but well behind many other monitors. You can change the resolution, adjust the gamut, and control the white point. Compared to other monitors, though, your control over the finer points of the Studio Display’s performance are quite limited. Really, that fits the Apple ethos, where plugging into a Mac gives you near-perfect performance out of the box but with lesser ability to fine tune things. There are a number of reference modes available to fit various purposes (photo editing, video editing, and web), but outside of selecting the mode you can’t really dig into the details.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
The good thing is that what features do exist are excellent. Take the audio, for example. These aren’t just a couple of speakers added in as an afterthought. It’s a six-speaker system, with force-cancelling woofers, supporting Dolby Atmos Spatial Audio powered by an A13 Bionic chip. And the audio is fantastic, much better than you get from any other monitor I’ve used or tested. I have a separate pair of Logitech speakers that are pretty decent, but I’m putting those in the closet for as long as I’m using the Studio Display. The audio is just that good, and I love saving some desk space.
The 12MB webcam is also great, with lovely video quality and great low-light performance. It supports Apple’s Center Stage feature that keeps you nicely framed as you move around. I’ll also be putting my standalone webcam away, because the Studio Displays’ version is so much better.
Ultimately, in a sense, the Studio Display is bare-bones in terms of features and functionality. But like so many Apple products, what’s there just works supremely well. The monitor follows Apple’s mantra of “it just works” perfectly, and if you have a Mac and all but the most demanding requirements, you’ll likely be quite happy.
Excellent image quality that’s best with a Mac
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
The Studio Display is built around a 27-inch IPS panel running at 5K (5120 x 2880) resolution and supporting Apple’s True Tone technology that adjusts the display for the ambient lighting. It supports 1 billion colors, P3 wide color, and promises up to 600 nits of brightness, which is a lot for an external display. Apple doesn’t list a contrast ratio in its materials, but digging around looks like it’s rated at 1,200:1. Importantly, the 5K resolution perfectly matches Apple’s HiDPI implementation, providing the sharpest possible image and the best text quality — something that other resolutions cannot do.
I used my colorimeter to test the display, and the result vary widely based on which preset is enabled. With the default, this is a very good display. It’s very bright at 584 nits, almost matching the specifications and being much brighter than any other external IPS display I’ve tested. The MSI Modern MD271UL display I reviewed came in at 376 nits, above our 300-nit standard but not nearly as bright as the Studio Display. Colors were similar, with Apple’s panel coming in at 100% sRGB, 88% AdobeRGB, and 99% DCI-P3, compared to the MSI at 100%, 89%, and 97% respectively. And the Studio Display’s color accuracy was very good at a DeltaE of 1.48, compared to the MSI’s 1.84. Contrast was just short of our 1,000:1 threshold at 910:1, but blacks still looked excellent without even a tinge of gray.
When you select a preset, brightness is locked in at a lower level and colors are optimized for the task. The Photography preset, for example, drops brightness to 157 nits and color accuracy improves to 1.24 (1.0 or less is indistinguishable to the human eye). Contrast remains close to the same at 900:1. The Digital Cinema (DCI-P3) present also drops brightness and contrast falls off to 810:1 and color accuracy bumps up to a DeltaE of 2.07.
I didn’t test every preset, but you get the drift. Selecting a preset locks the monitor into a distinct quality level that Apple clearly thinks is best. I didn’t bother calibrating the display, because I doubt that things would have gotten any better if I had.
As it is, display quality is excellent. Brightness, colors, and contrast are all excellent, you have True Tone if you want it, and you’ll get the sharpest image when mated with a Mac. And it’s all drop-dead easy to optimize for your task. I reviewed the standard glass model, but there’s also a nano-textured glass option that scatters light to further minimize glare. I’ve tried it with the latest MacBook Pro 16, and I wouldn’t mind using that model.
One important note is that the Studio Display doesn’t support high dynamic range (HDR) video. That will matter for gamers and media consumers, although I found both to be very good experiences with the Studio Display. If HDR is important to you, then you’re out of luck with this one.
The best display for most Mac users, at a price
As a writer, I love the Studio Display for its unmatched text sharpness. My other displays are fine, but there can be some fuzziness that the Studio Display avoids. I’m not a photographer or video editor, though, so colors don’t matter as much. And I have an OLED display for when they do, and for the inky blacks and awesome HDR performant that only OLED provides.
Is it the right monitor for you? Well, that depends on how much you value that perfect match of resolutions, the color quality and brightness, and the ease of use (contrasted with minimal configuration options). Is it worth a starting price of $1,599? I think it is, but you can get very good monitors for considerably less. My recommendation and rating here, therefore, is highly dependent on price sensitivity — as is likely the case with many of Apple’s products.
Our review of the M4 MacBook Air has just dropped, and it’s fair to say it’s one of the best laptops money can buy. For the first time ever, we gave it full marks and a five-star score, with our reviewer dubbing it “as close to perfect” as any laptop they’d seen. There’s no question that it raises the bar for thin and light laptops.
You name it, the MacBook Air has it: impressive performance that belies its lightweight design, build quality that will stand the test of time, a quiet and fanless operation that ensures you can work in peace, a comfortable keyboard and expansive trackpad, and so much more.
Yet there’s one thing that is conspicuous by its absence from Apple’s latest laptop: an outstanding artificial intelligence (AI) system.
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
Sure, the MacBook Air doesn’t lack AI entirely: there’s Apple Intelligence, after all. But this is widely viewed as a poor choice among AI platforms and a long way behind its rivals. It’s not exactly what anyone would describe as ‘first class.’
To me, that makes the M4 MacBook Air feel like an interesting antidote to the current AI frenzy. Right now, every laptop maker is trying to promote AI as a reason to buy their devices, Apple included. Read Apple’s MacBook Air press release and you’ll see the company tout Apple Intelligence’s “incredible capabilities … that make Mac even more helpful and powerful.”
Yet you just have to spend a few minutes with Apple Intelligence to know that alternatives like OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Microsoft’s Copilot are far more capable and powerful. Apple was caught flat-footed by the AI explosion, and it still hasn’t caught up. But does that matter? The MacBook Air suggests it does not.
Defying the AI bubble
Apple
As our review shows, the MacBook Air has obliterated the competition despite its AI system, not because of it. If anything, it proves that the best laptops in the world don’t need AI to create incredible experiences for their users.
In my opinion, that comes down to Apple absolutely nailing the basics. The M4 MacBook Air offers performance, longevity and build quality, all for a fair price. Its M4 chip is not only a step up over the previous M3, but it extends Apple’s lead across the entire industry. You won’t find a better trackpad or speakers on a laptop in this class, while the design exudes the kind of quality that’s almost unknown in a device this slim.
That is what makes a great laptop, not artificial intelligence.
I don’t think a revelation like this is going to slow down the proliferation of AI-enabled laptops any time soon. AI is an industry that is currently experiencing a massive boom (some might say a bubble) and there is money to be made. Company leaders clearly don’t feel like they can afford to miss out.
But as the MacBook Air aptly demonstrates, AI is clearly not necessary to make a superb laptop. If anything, that’s the lesson we should take from Apple’s M4 MacBook Air.
Do you need AI?
Mark Coppock / Digital Trends
If you’re a user looking to get a new laptop, the example of the M4 MacBook Air emphasizes that you should continue prioritizing those machines that get the core principles right. Instead of flashy AI, you’ll get the best experience from a laptop that solves the kinds of problems you actually face in your everyday computing life.
When considering a laptop, you’ll need to ask a few questions. Does it meet your needs? Is it affordable? Will it last well into the future? For most people, those questions will be far more important than whether it can run Apple Intelligence or ChatGPT. Nine times out of ten, AI will only be a minor part of this equation, if it figures at all.
In other words, it’s my opinion that the M4 MacBook Air proves that you shouldn’t get swept up by the AI hype. Buy the laptop that meets your needs instead.
And perhaps it’s also a reminder to Apple: continue focusing on what users love and don’t let your vision be clouded by AI. The company is on the right track as it is. It shouldn’t sacrifice its ability to make great laptops on the altar of AI.
There’s no way that Apple will suddenly stop working on AI. But if it can ensure it doesn’t divert its efforts away from the features its users care about the most — those features that have made the M4 MacBook Air so superb — everyone will be better off.
