Apple Working on External Display With Built-In A13 Chip

[Internet Enzyme]

Apple is developing an external display that includes an A13 chip with Neural Engine, according to a new rumor from 9to5Mac. The A13 chip with Neural Engine would presumably serve as an eGPU, though details are light at this time.

There were rumors back in 2016 that suggested Apple was working on a new version of the Thunderbolt display that included a graphics card, but no such display ever materialized. In fact, no Apple-branded display came out ahead of the Pro Display XDR that was introduced in 2019, and the Pro Display XDR is just a display with no GPU included.

9to5Mac believes that the display with A13 chip would be a replacement for the Pro Display XDR, and it's possible that the release version of such a display would use an even more powerful chip than the A13 that was first introduced with the iPhone 11.

Apple is also rumored to be working on a more affordable external monitor that would be sold alongside the Pro Display XDR, but this more affordable monitor is apparently separate from the version with a built-in A-series chip.

Article Link: Apple Working on External Display With Built-In A13 Chip

What an absolutely crazy rumor. Very cool, but very expensive sounding.

 

[justperry]

Will there be a gold version priced at $9,999.99?

Hermes version...$19.999.99

 

[BradWI]

Nah, just give us a “dumb” version for $1K less…

 

[BB8]

Including an ARM chip for extra GPU performance doesn't make a lot of sense. They might be including it for things like Face ID or webcam processing though.

 

[chucker23n1]

Sounds interesting, but Apple seems institutionally unwilling to make mid-range-priced displays. Which, fair enough, but there’s little to choose from for Mac users due to non-Retina font rendering no longer being good.

 

[boak]

Probably to do some pre-processing/post-processing before transmitting to/receiving from the machine?

 

[foobarbaz]

Including an ARM chip for extra GPU performance doesn't make a lot of sense. They might be including it for things like Face ID or webcam processing though.

Exactly. Pretty much everything you'd plug in already has more GPU performance than an A13, never mind the next generation of devices …

Crossing my fingers for Face ID.

But I guess it could also be doubling as a standalone apple TV or smart display when nothing is plugged in. Could be appealing depending on the size …

 

[andrewxgx]

is it gonna be called "iMac" ?

 

[Konigi]

This render lacks white bezels and big chin™.

 

[tcphoto1]

I'd be interested in hearing how many of the $6K-$7K displays Apple has sold compared to the $1K Thunderbolt. Perhaps a large percentage of their customers might purchase an Apple display priced around $1K.

 

[funman895]

Perhaps it would be similar to Samsung's smart monitors and have a full Apple TV built-in

 

[ChronoChicken]

? Praying for no chin

 

[MikhailT]

I doubt it has to do with eGPU support, it has to do with scaling pref / bandwidth more likely. Think G-sync module, it is not required as it can be part of the HDMI 2.1 spec like VRR but g-sync module is still much smoother than freesync/VRR but most folks may not notice the difference.

I hope this display will include the Promotion tech. 6K at 120Hz or higher would be awesome.

Note that iMac 5k had to have a custom timing controller to support 5k. I suspect they're just using A13 to save money and resources.

 

[alexe]

For the love of god Apple, just release a display already that's less expensive than the Pro Display XDR! It is ridiculous that for the past 5 years, they've sold desktop computers but no displays for them (except a freaking 5000$ display, and even that only since 2019).

 

[Powerguru]

More affordable in Apple terms is anything more than $1000. I am not keeping my hopes high.

 

[johnmarki]

I've been holding onto my dual Thunderbolt Displays for years. Just waiting, and waiting, and waiting.......and waiting... I honestly expected them to drop these when the M1 iMac came out, but here we are. 🙏 Please Q4 21' 🙏

 

[Xavier]

Hopefully priced at the consumer level. I would assume this would be, but who knows with Apple.

 

[BB1970]

Finally! We need an Apple branded monitor to pair with the Mac mini (I prefer the separate units)

 

[iToph]

Someone thought about cloudcomputing? That’s what this thing will be about.

 

[blazerunner]

We need an affordable Apple display!!!

If you want affordable, you're buying from the wrong company.

 

[eno12]

This could be pretty nice. If they use 32 or 64 M1 GPU cores that would put it at ~ 10-20 TFlop which would be very nice for gaming. They could probably then run the actual app out on the monitor to keep performance up.

 

[AxiomaticRubric]

Pro Display XDR with A14 SoC and Neural Engine. Only $7,999.9999999999

 

[theluggage]

Having a CPU/GPU built into the external display could help Macs deliver high-resolution graphics without using all the resources of the computer's internal chip.

A13 makes no sense for that. If it’s going to be an eGPU in the usual sense, you’d expect something faster than the Macs and iPad Pro’s that are likely to be connected (which will probably be sporting M1X/M2/whatever by the time this ships).

Or, it could be so it has the security features needed for Face ID or even Touch ID via an external keyboard...

Or maybe it’s so you can Airplay directly to it from a Mac or iDevice. (Which could kinda be filed under “eGPU” but maybe not in the way people might first think).

Could this finally be the fabled Apple TV? (as in the TV set, rather than the set top box, or the App, or the streaming video service... gonna need a new name) - now that the days of actually needing a TV tuner are fast approaching.

Or perhaps it’s just gonna have really lush on-screen menus...

(Now, if Apple want to sell me a TV they should make a proper *dumb* TV with a screen, a bunch of inputs to connect my various players and set top boxes, and no more “smart” features than are needed to select inputs and pass the sound to my choice of amp/av receiver/sound bar... It would be unique...)

 

[Serban55]

With 7nm SoC Apple can pull this off...but, lets face it...an 5nm M1 would be mind blowing from performance and helping that could provide for the mac that is connected

 

[macsplusmacs]

Or, it could be so it has the security features needed for Face ID or even Touch ID via an external keyboard...

makes sense.