Apple Display Data and Speculation

[michael666]

I had plenty of time yesterday, so I compiled a short overview of the displays in all the current Apple computers. Based on this, you can do some speculation about future products.

(As this board does not allow me to post HTML tables, I include an HTML file. Ah! This board does not allow HTML attachments! Well, I'll rename it to .txt then. Sorry for the inconvenience!)

Some notes about the data:

• Computer prices are for the cheapest configuration, this means 1.6 GHz G5, 800 MHz eMac, and so on.
• The eMac is the only model with CRT display, all others are LCD displays.
• Normal aspect ratio is 4:3, wide is 16:10. Only the (outdated) 15" Powerbook and the (also outdated) 17" display have different aspect ratios (3:2 and 5:4, respectively).
  [*]Almost all displays have around 100 dpi. The 12" iBook/Powerbook have significantly more (106), as their display is very small, but they still offer a high resolution. The 14" iBook and the 15" iMac (and partly also the 17" display) have significantly less (91, 85, 96, respectively), as their resolution is low compared to the size of the display.
  [*]1 megapixels cost about $1400 - $1600 on an iMac or Powermac G4, and about $1800 - $2000 on a 12"/15" Powerbook, Powermac G5, or 14" iBook. Much cheaper is the eMac ($650), and the 12" iBook (about $1250). Much more expensive is the 17" Powerbook (about $2550).
  

And now, based on this, some speculation!

• The 14" iBook will be replaced by a 15" one, because: It has an odd screen size, and it has a sub-average dpi value (91).
• The 15" Powerbook will be replaced, because: It has a non-standard aspect ratio (3:2). It will be replaced with a <em>standard</em> wide 16:10 aspect ratio display (15.4"?).
• The 15" iMac will either disappear or be upgraded to the new 15" iBook/Powerbook display, so that all 15" models share the same display characteristics.
• The 17" display will be replaced by the 17" from the iMac/Powerbook, because: It has a non-standard aspect ratio (5:4) and a sub-average dpi value (96).
• So in the end, there will be: 12.1" iBook/Powerbook, 15(.4?)" iBook/Powerbook/iMac, 16" eMac (CRT), 17" iMac/Powerbook/Studio Display, 20" and 23" Cinema Displays.
• A rumored 30" display will be sharing the 16:10 aspect ratio and about 100 dpi and thus have a resolution of 2550x1550 (3.95 megapixels) and cost about $4630 (just extrapolated).

What do you think?

 

[Abstract]

WOW!! ........................sorry, I cannot compute all that information at this hour. I'll try again tomorrow. All that information, must.....compute........................

*BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!! BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH!!*

 

[e-coli]

Do you have a job?

 

[LimeLite]

I thought that the wide screen standard was 16:9, not 16:10.

 

[michael666]

Yeah, but the Apple "wide" displays all have exactly 16:10.

 

[Mr. Anderson]

Going with a standardized screen size for all machines that share the same screen config makes sense, but you're assuming that they're all being made by the same people.

I don't think that works there - but it would be nice

I'd also love to see the 30" LCD display......:drool:

D

 

[jxyama]

pretty nifty... though i wouldn't be surprised at all if the 30" display went for even more than what you extrapolated...

price and size aren't linearly related in that big of a lcd screen. perhaps apple will wait until lcd prices come down a bit before introducing a 30" display... who'd drop more than 4k? (oh, wait, maybe some of us here... )

 

[Abstract]

Hmmmm........it's interesting, but I don't think that the next stage of technology can always (or ever) be predicted by looking at the picture through mathematics. Sometimes technology just......jumps!! Take a look at the dual proc G5. Who woulda "thunk" it when the previous machine was a dual 1.42GHz machine? We even said the machines would probably be at 1.8GHz "at most".