Apple Says It's Out of the Standalone Display Business

[TechRemarker]

My question I've asked everyone and no answer is, about the resolution of the camera built into the new Apple/LG monitor. It isnt listed anywhere, so no idea if its 4K, 1080p or god forbid still 720.

 

[chrono1081]

This sub amazes me. When Apple released the cinema displays it was "They're not pro! My x brand is better!" Now rumor states they're getting out of displays and it's "Apple isn't pro because it doesn't have it's own display!" *Facepalm*

 

[swester]

Don't see how that is clear since they just released new pro laptops less than 24 hours ago. They never said they would release updated desktops for yesterday those are expected early next year when we will see new iMacs and potentially new Mac Pros

Right, "pro" laptops. Is that because they have the word Pro on them and cost more than any reasonable personal consumer should be spending?

 

[addictive]

give it a couple of years and then Apple will return to the monitor business

“JUST WHEN I THOUGHT I WAS OUT, THEY PULL ME BACK IN.”

 

[Ries]

Seems Apples out of the desktop computer business too considering Mac Pro and Mac Mini stagnation, SAD.

Tim Cook 1 year ago: We are dropping our desktop models!
Guy runs into Tim Cooks office a few days ago: Omg, did you see that ad for the Microsoft Surface Studio?

Tim Cook: **** me!

 

[Asarien]

Not enough money in the standalone display business to be interesting for them.

Apple had two choices:
1. High margin + low volume = minor revenue
2. Low margin + high volume = minor revenue

Let the LGs of the world do battle in the race-to-the-bottom.

Steve Jobs wasn't motivated by profit margins.

I honestly don't see what he saw in Tim. Tim was a number cruncher with no creative foresight, and he's the exact same way as CEO.

Apple's Pro hardware and software weren't necessarily huge profit weilders for Apple, but they were important because it were the Creative Pros who motivated and pushed others into the Mac ecosystem. Remember the I'm a PC, I'm a Mac ads? The whole point of switching to a Mac was for creativity.

Now that Apple has other people making pointless 99¢ apps, which in turn make them billions, they think to hell with the Creatives who kept Apple alive through the '90s and '00s.

 

[0958400]

And not just that!
That are "out" of the pro desktop business.
And the users are "out" of the Apple business.

 

[HiRez]

So are they out of the Mac Mini and Mac Pro businesses, as well? Or are the out of the iMac business and are they just going to concentrate on the computer?

If they refuse to update these machines for 3+ years, does it matter whether they officially announce it or not? These products are virtually dead if not actually yet.

The iMac will be around a while though, I think.

 

[magicschoolbus]

Apple is now Sony.

 

[0092762]

So how are you supposed to use the touch bar when your macbook pro is hooked up to this? Where is the standalone touchbar keyboard?

 

[Cosmosent]

For those of you who may have missed this in an earlier / different MR thread:

1.) The new MacBook Pros support 10-bit wide color.

2.) The new LG stand-alone monitors also support 10-bit wide color.

3.) 10-bit color = 1.07B possible colors (vs 16.8M possible colors with 8-bit color).

4.) Display P3 provides ~26% greater color coverage than sRGB !

 

[Rychiar]

at this rate they should stop making hardware and start selling off OS X to people who can make decent hardware

 

[ThisBougieLife]

Doesn't surprise me. Apple wants the iMac to be their only desktop; Mac Mini and Mac Pro will probably be officially discontinued when the iMac is updated next year.

 

[5590982]

 

[puma1552]

Does it though? Dell's 5K is a year old and costs $1100 and requires dual display ports to run it, so is an extra $200 for a device with a single cable and native Mac support really "Apple Tax"?

Honestly I haven't really kept up with monitor pricing - I just know when the 24" and later 27" ACDs came out, this place was up in arms over the roughly $1000 price tag, since they could buy a computer for the price of the monitor alone. Looks like that is still the case with the price of the LG, so it still seems like an Apple tax. $1300 is a lot of money for a monitor either way. I think part of it is just that competitors used to not have anything at Apple's price points, and now they do as they have much stronger offerings than in 2008-2010.

 

[Larry-K]

Makes sense, they're almost out of the computer business.

 

[rvinny]

I was hoping for some updated Airport hardware yesterday. I am thinking they are out of that business as well.

Crummy time to be an Apple fan. I think I will start de-coupling and start using cross platform apps just in case.

 

[sdf]

Anyone using a Mac to earn their living will disagree with you there. So thats pretty much all record producers and engineers and according to last week, a large chunk of IBM!

I am so very excited by the possibilities opened up by the Touch Bar in every large app I use.

 

[NY Guitarist]

I'm sorry to say but that thing is fugly.

I think Apple is very slowly, and very carefully, getting out of the computer business and into the consumer gadget business.

 

[gavroche]

The iMac isn't a laptop.

Not sure what you are saying here. The article is about stand alone displays, not the iMac. So when he asked if it had implications to desktops as well... why do you say an iMac is not a laptop?

 

[PatriotInvasion]

I've literally waited years for a Retina Apple Thunderbolt Display. Seeing those hunks of black plastic with an LG logo promoted by Apple to connect to their fancy new MacBook Pro was essentially heartbreaking.

My guess is that they are getting out of the niche hardware business - external monitors, headless desktop computers that were created to serve consumers in a different era (Mac mini, Mac Pro), and perhaps networking with the Time Capsule and AirPort Extreme. That would provide a core product lineup as follows:

Watch, iPhone, iPad, MacBook, iMac......mobile, tablet/convertible, portable desktop, powerful desktop - all devices with a screen and a CPU. If you really want a large Apple branded display on your desk, get an iMac and buy a MacBook for portability. That's their answer, and they've made it easier than ever to do that with iCloud Drive and macOS Sierra's Desktop & Documents syncing.

 

[HiRez]

Craig Federighi should be Apple's next CEO, and soon.

 

[and 1989 others]

Is anybody else screaming internally 'WHAT THE HELL ARE APPLE DOING?!' They used to be a great company, and in just over 24 hours they have all but ruined everything they have stood for since the second Jobs era (2000-2011). Cook, you have failed.

 

[MacsRgr8]

So what if they are? Get over it. I really don't understand. They made a Mac Pro and now they aren't continuing with it. It's not rocket science. Seriously, get a Windows PC if you're really bothered by it.

Problem with this is that this paves the way for the standard IT manufacturer's crap:
Be a software house, or a hardware house, but not all hot one: i.e. become Dell, HP, Acer, Asus, etc.

Apple had started out strong (till mid-80's)and again after 1998 being a "one house for all" (all-hardware, OS, software) what people like >> identify with a brand...
but it seems this strategy calls for strong leadership and vision.
And we are stuck wth Tim.

 

[5590982]

Can I just get a feel of how many people at this point actually believe that Apple considers the PC and anything to do with the PC anything other than a massive inconvenience of which it's trying to rid itself?