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Apple Discontinues Thunderbolt Display

Cineplex said:
One more nail in the Professional coffin. :(
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What a bunch of nonsense. There is not a product in Apple´s lineup that is not suited for many professional uses. You are just regurgitating the same stuff that many people here have been saying for years, without actually providing any meaningful backup.

How is the discontinuation of a display evidence of the abandonment of professional users?
 
blacktape242 said:
it started with making todays "social issues" a priority and ended with lack of innovation. And Ive been using apple since the 80's.
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It seems Tim is a logistics guy and not the creative thinker/innovator Apple needs ( somewhere - doesn't have to be the CEO ). If Apple's next quarter doesn't meet sales goals there might be shareholders asking Tim to focus his time on Apple's business and not evangelizing social issues.
 
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How do I say goodbye to what we had?
The good times that made us laugh
Outweigh the bad.

I thought we'd get to see forever
But forever's gone away
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

I don't know where this road
Is going to lead
All I know is where we've been
And what we've been through.

If we get to see a new thunderbolt display
I hope it's worth all the wait
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.

And I'll take with me the memories
To be my sunshine after the rain
It's so hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
 
Chupa Chupa said:
I'm not a TC fan, and I do agree he is much more interested in $ period than making cool products that make $, but I wouldn't go that far. It's still a long day before I find either Windows or android appealing.

That said I do wonder if it's time for Apple to spin off the Mac division like it spun off ARM or Claris (Filemaker). Mac seems to be the redheaded stepchild these days and Apple seems unsure what to do with it.
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Yes! spinning off the Mac division would be awesome. :D
 
xSinghx said:
When the latest Mac Pro is 3yrs old and now this - yes they are not building computers I want to use anymore.
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Every computer shipping today with a Xeon processor (in the class used in the Mac Pro) currently is two-years old [aka Haswell-based] when it comes to the CPU.
 
Elkins said:
There are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users,” said an Apple spokesperson."

Yeah, like Windows. I've been a Mac guy since 1994 but I'm typing this on a Dell Inspiron 15 that I bought for $350 at Staples. I was going to buy a refurb MacBook of some flavor but the superior MacOS would have cost me at least $500 more to use on a machine with much less power, RAM and storage.

I will pay the Mac tax----but not that much. Sorry to say it, but Apple is a phone/tablet company these days.
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Apple is the new Sony.
 
Why is everyone so negative about this? The thunderbolt display is old and the minidisplayport/thunderbolt connector is about to become legacy. Apple will refresh the Mac-pro, macbook pro, air, mini with USB-C models and likely release a usb-c display. The TB display was great in its day, but it is definitely time to discontinue it.
 
peterdevries said:
How is the discontinuation of a display evidence of the abandonment of professional users?
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True, it isn't evidence but it's potentially a portent of things to come because Mac Pros( and minis ) use monitors. Assuming Apple doesn't bring an updated TB monitor to market, that decision could easily be driven by the sales volume ( presumably lower compared to iPhone, iPad etc. ) of headless Macs like the Mac Pro. i.e. Apple exec says: "We're not selling enough headless Macs to justify designing/selling a new monitor and we can't make any money on them anyway".

Therefore, a decision to discontinue and not create a new monitor could have easily been influenced ( if not completely driven by ) by Mac Pro/Mini sales. If they think headless Mac sales don't justify investment in a new monitor, it's likely they feel similarly about investment in a new Mac Pro/Mini.

So, if the Mac Pro is discontinued, is that abandonment of professional users? Many would say yes.
 
Can't say I'm even remotely surprised at this point.


peterdevries said:
How is the discontinuation of a display evidence of the abandonment of professional users?
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I would wager a guess that it's everything else they have done, coupled with this, that's led to that conclusion.
 
We purchase and deploy new Thunderbolt displays *every single day* to our installed user base.

It works well for MacBook Air / Pro laptops with everything built in... charger, ethernet, display, thunderbolt, USB keyboards with extended keypad.

And most important to design sensitive office spaces.... they ALL MATCH.

$1000 each is drops in the grand scheme of things here.

Lot of hate on the price, but it was very acceptable to many many people.
 
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You people seem to think the Mac Mini and Mac Pro are somehow connected to this monitor, which couldn't be anywhere near the case.

Most users of both of those computers are buying other brand, cheaper monitors with better functionality.
 
Some of the haters should try getting the latest Dell XPS laptops connected to a display Dell's Thunderbolt Dock!!!

The Thunderbolt Display, was greatly in need of refresh, but everything on it worked brilliantly and it was a great product for a lot of users.

I replaced mine with a 34" LG Thunderbolt which I love, but it cost more than the TBD.
 
peterdevries said:
What a bunch of nonsense. There is not a product in Apple´s lineup that is not suited for many professional uses. You are just regurgitating the same stuff that many people here have been saying for years, without actually providing any meaningful backup.

How is the discontinuation of a display evidence of the abandonment of professional users?
Click to expand...

Your argument makes sense! Let's just attack someone without knowing who they are! if you asked you might know that ....I worked for Apple dealing with the Pro Market for about 4 years. I worked for many large companies building Mac Video/Film production suites, photo labs, and design studios for about 16 years. The biggest customer of Apple displays is commercial. It was true when I was there, it is true now (based on info from people I still know there). If you are delusional and think Apple is in the game of the professional markets I'll let you take a look at this page and this page, count the professional products and try to get the same count today (Hermes watch bands don't count).

Now you claim that they are not suited for pro uses.....where is your backup documentation??? Where is your proof. I'd say you have no idea what you are talking about....but that would be operating without the facts.
 
sfpete said:
We purchase and deploy new Thunderbolt displays *every single day* to our installed user base.

It works well for MacBook Air / Pro laptops with everything built in... charger, ethernet, display, thunderbolt, USB keyboards with extended keypad.

....

$1000 each is drops in the grand scheme of things here.

Lot of hate on the price, but it was very acceptable to many many people.
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This. A lot of people are whiffing away the convenience the TBD provides for connectivity, especially with multi-monitor setups and the fact that macOS doesn't currently support displayport daisy-chaining. I'd really hate to see Apple completely abandon Thunderbolt displays.
 
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/06/24/thunderbolt-display-integrated-gpu/
or
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16...isplay-with-integrated-graphics-card---report

replacement on the way?

"One hold-up for launching new hardware could be the type of port the rumored hardware will use. Apple is expected to launch a redesigned MacBook Pro later this year with smaller USB-C ports replacing the full-size legacy USB ports found on current models. If those USB-C ports were capable of transferring data at Thunderbolt 3 speeds, a new external monitor from Apple could theoretically take advantage of those capabilities"
 
manu chao said:
Every computer shipping today with a Xeon processor (in the class used in the Mac Pro) currently is two-years old [aka Haswell-based] when it comes to the CPU.
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I said the Mac Pro is 3yrs old not the processors. Don't waste your time correcting something that needs not be corrected.
 
xSinghx said:
I said the Mac Pro is 3yrs old not the processors. Don't waste your time correcting something that needs not be corrected.
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If we want to be precise here, we have to say the Mac Pro is 2.5 years old. And I hear many people calling the current 15" MBP to be using three-year-old technology (aka Haswell). Many people conflate the two things, so it is worth clarifying what exactly you meant.
 
Mr. Dee said:
Why are they going to spin off a crown jewel critical to creating even their own apps and apps on other crown jewels such as the iPad, iPhone and Apple TV?

I think this decision is just part of realizing Steve Jobs vision of the Mac as being a Truck. Not a lot of people will be using them in the future, there will be of course a lot of persons using them in the sense of, you have one for heavy grunt work. Its just that your every day go device will be your smartphone.

Not everyone uses Creative Apps or does development. The user base is miniscule in comparison to Apples mobile devices.
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The same reason, say, GE sold NBC, it's crown jewel broadcast company: the company's business model has changed and it no longer plays a significant part of its future. Also when a company spins off a company it doesn't necessarily completely divest itself of the company. It can be as simple as making the unit a subsidiary and handing over day-to-day management to that group. There are lots of possibilities when talking about spin-offs.

I think you point to the reason why Apple would want to spin it off though -- it doesn't want to be in the "truck" business anymore, but there are still lots of consumers that want a Mac Truck. The fact is Mac revenue is barely keeping pace with iTMS and related services. So spinning it to a group that would give it attention could prevent Mac from becoming the next iPod as a % of total revenue.
 
If Apple is really out of the standalone display business, here is the logic I can think of:

1.) Given the dearth of any 5K monitors, and the fact that it also comes with a powerful computer inside, the 5K iMac is an incredible deal for those wanting a big Retina desktop experience. Dell's standalone 5K display costs ~$1,500 with the 5K iMac...a quad-core computer...starting at $1,799.

2.) The advancement of iCloud Drive, specifically with macOS Sierra also syncing Documents and Desktop folders, makes owning and using multiple Macs very close to seamless, and in many cases, better than having a laptop+monitor setup.

3.) The Thunderbolt Display is really the only product Apple made without a CPU in it. iMac, MacBooks, iPads, iPhones, and even iPods are all computers in some way. Aside from small peripherals like headphones, keyboards, and a mouse/trackpad, Apple only makes computers.
 
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