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These haven't made sense for years, not when you can get a higher resolution display for half the cost. I liked the idea of all the connectors being built in, but at the end of the day, a second wall charger and a USB hub are a lot cheaper options.
 
No big loss. They should no be in the free standing display business to begin with being a systems house.
 
Their official statement really leads me to believe they're just going to straight up not make a standalone display anymore, though.

That is what it sounds like to me too. Usually Apple says they can't comment on future products. Here they aren't commenting but they are saying "hey go find a monitor somewhere else." If refresh was coming later this year they'd just EOL the TB display and leave it at that. Sad day.
 
A 4K/5K monitor could be exciting. Part of me thinks all desktops will be discontinued in favor of the iMac, but I'm not sure. Perhaps the new Retina standalone display will be unveiled at the upcoming 11-device "hardware event" in the fall that's totally not a thing of fantasy :D
 
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They can't sell these for $900+ without looking ridiculous. Yet, they can't bring themselves to lower it to $450 where it belongs, so they rather us just buy 3rd party until they can finally release a 5K display - God knows when that'll be.

Great, Apple will release Skylake for MBP as Intel is rolling out Kaby Lake.
http://wccftech.com/intel-kaby-lake-q3-2016-cannonlake-2017/
 
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That is what it sounds like to me too. Usually Apple says they can't comment on future products. Here they aren't commenting but they are saying "hey go find a monitor somewhere else." If refresh was coming later this year they'd just EOL the TB display and leave it at that. Sad day.
Yeah, I mean I guess if you think about it, the entire market for Macs is tiny by modern Apple standards, and the number of high end displays they must sell is probably microscopic when Mac Mini users aren't going to buy a thousand dollar display for their casual machine, and Mac Pro users already have a great display / already have an Apple monitor with the same 27" 2560x1440 panel that's been on sale for 7 years now across model ranges.

Creating an Apple-exclusive 5K display with built in proprietary GPU solution would have such a small market... Though I'd buy the hell out of the whole warehouse if it were to exist. Wish Apple would use their massive coffers to create and maintain beautiful hardware for media creators and developers regardless of it being as profitable as the iPhone. We're the lifeblood of the media and apps consumed on mobile devices, TVs, and beyond.
 
How, exactly, was it sad?
Sad that people didn't care enough and know so little as to buy a 5 year old display, at that cost, that needed an adapter to work with current macs (and I don't mean an so adapter for the video input). I am not a display expert but I would imaging you could buy a similar display for 200$ I know you can buy a decent 4K for about $450 or a really nice one for under $999
 
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In Australia,
A$1,600 - Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch) [1440p]
A$569 - BenQ GW2765HT 27in 2K IPS Monitor [1440p]
A$1,139 - LG 34UC87C 34in Curved UltraWide IPS Monitor [10-bit 3440 x 1440]
A$320 - OWC 12 Port Thunderbolt 2 Dock


The Thunderbolt Display likely has higher build quality, but I could buy 2x BenQ (+ Dock) or a 34" LG (+ Dock) and have $150 to spare. It's hard to justify a $700 Apple Tax with little incentive (it's not like I need to buy an Apple Display to use macOS).
 
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