Apple hasn’t made a high-quality affordable external display since 2016 when they retired the latest iteration of the Thunderbolt display. The company has a long history of delivering the best possible mass market monitors for laptops and desktops, dating back to the late 90s or the early days of Studio Display. Apple has made a lot of weird decisions over the past decade and it certainly falls into that category. Now that the company has started restarting the Mac and serving the needs of rushed customers, it’s time for them to step up and create the display we really need.
Apple’s most recent external display is the Pro Display XDR, but it isn’t for most of us and it certainly isn’t a mass-produced product. There’s no obvious option for regular Mac customers or even power users who don’t need an advanced Hollywood studio benchmark display. And LG’s ultra-thin displays that Apple likes to promote feel cheap and plastic, it’s a travesty that they’re acceptable to Apple.
Rumors of a new display
Rumors have started to circulate about a new, more affordable Apple display that could arrive this year. As late as this morning, Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman announced that the company is indeed planning to release a display in 2022 at half the price of the Pro Display XDR. But the Pro Display XDR costs anywhere from $ 6,000 to $ 7,000, which leaves this display speculated to still be around $ 3,500. This product is not what most of us are looking for. It’s not even released yet and most of the customers in the market for an Apple display have been overpriced.
I’m worried Apple is overthinking its external display strategy. Not all Apple customers make multi-million dollar movies or edit professional photos. I know we’ve all been talking about it for years, but the answer to this problem is staring us in the eye.
Strip the iMac
Apple launched the new 24-inch iMac in April 2021 and it has proven to be a huge success for the company. He relaunched an aging product line that was in desperate need of attention. It contains a beautiful 24-inch Retina 4.5K display that offers spectacular color reproduction and viewing angles. It also comes in a beautiful, ultra-thin packaging. It is neither too big nor too small. This is arguably the perfect size.
Apple would have to take the same screen as the 24-inch iMac, remove the computer and chin, and ship it as a screen. The slim bezels make this a great candidate for gluing two together. There would be very little space between them for your cursor to pass through them. Like the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, they might offer a screen that’s both silver and space gray. The silver model could have the same light gray bezel as the iMac, while the space gray could adopt a matching black bezel. You can choose the right color according to your workspace or even according to your machine.
Affordable price
The iMac starts at just $ 1,299. This basic model comes with a magic keyboard ($ 99) and a magic mouse ($ 79). Right off the bat, you can withdraw $ 180 from the prize. Apple displays do not need to come with other accessories. Then delete the actual computer. I can’t really say how much the computer inside the iMac would cost, but it’s likely the screen itself is a more expensive component than anything on the motherboard. Apple could probably charge less, but to maintain a healthy margin, they could sell their screen for just $ 999. In fact, it was the price of the last mainstream screen that was withdrawn in 2016.
That price is the sweet spot and that means more people could have an Apple-designed display on their desktops. There are so many individuals and organizations out there with Thunderbolt displays on their backs, it’s not a product category the company should ignore. If Apple made a $ 999 display like this, they would start popping up everywhere.
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