Malcolm Owen
Apple's Pro Display XDR could be joined by a second display aimed at Mac users, a report claims, giving consumers a more value-conscious option than the $4,999 pro-level screen.
At the moment, consumers wanting an external display for their Mac either have to pay a premium for the Pro Display XDR or go with a different brand of screen. In a report about Apple's future screen plans, it is forecast that an alternative option could be made available by Apple itself.
Writing in his latest Bloomberg "Power On" newsletter, Mark Gurman says he "strongly believes" Apple is working on a new "external monitor for its latest Macs."
In qualifying his response, Gurman offers that a lower-cost monitor would be "a hot seller for those looking to add a larger screen to their new MacBook Pro without spending the equivalent of a luxury car down payment on the Pro Display XDR."
The cost of producing the Pro Display XDR has "likely come down" since its launch, and with some tweaks and a small drop in brightness, Gurman reckons Apple could offer a similar-quality and slightly smaller monitor at around half the price.
Gurman's comments follow shortly after a rumor that LG was working on a trio of displays based on the current Pro Display XDR and iMac sizes, screens that could end up being branded with the Apple name. The leak pointed to the screens having sizes of 24, 27, and 32 inches, with the latter potentially supporting mini LED backlighting and a 120Hz refresh rate.
The suggestion of a cheaper Apple display is also not a new one. One Bloomberg report from January claimed one such external monitor was on the way, and that it would have a lower price than the Pro Display XDR.
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40 Comments
Half the price is still to high. Sometimes I think that there is no point in making the best products if people can’t afford them.
Just strip the Mac out of the M1 iMac, half the price and ship that. They’d sell boatloads of them!
The best display is the XDR and it’s not meant for people in general, it’s meant for professionals. Just because it’s not sold in volumes doesn’t mean higher end (low volume) products shouldn’t be made. The average monitor today is 2k one going for ~$500. Apple offering a “lower cost” smaller XDR at $2500 doesn’t fit that average, not even on the high end. The high end consumer monitor is a monster 49 inch curved one by Samsung and it “only” goes for $2000.
Of course Apple can make high end monitors like they do but for the rest of us they should also be able to go back to make great monitors with more reasonable prices. A 27” monitor that is more expensive then say a Mac mini simply is hard to understand. Don’t get me wrong, I love Apple but sometimes they do things that is hard to understand.