Frustrating after all these years Apple simply chose not to offer a stand alone 27" display that the 5k iMac has used at even about the same price. The base iMac 27 5K is currently $1599 and has been on sale as low as $1399 (recently Costco).
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple's New Standalone Monitor Could Be Around Half the Price of the Pro Display XDR
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
That is where we’re headed. Dell has a $4000 offering here. At some point Apple will cross this bridge.
The iPhone 13 Pro Max is over 450 ppi. Apple certainly has the ability to get there.
$2500 is not a consumer-oriented price point. Maybe prosumer, but certainly not consumer. Working in higher education, I have MacBook Pro users looking for external 4K or 5K displays, but most don't have an extra $2500 in the budget for this. They're not doing video or graphic work but want better specs than a $200-300 display, so they're looking for sub-$1000. There are people who will/can pay $2500, but this price point is just out of touch with what the actual consumer market is.
And this would be a ”consumer” product how? A consumer display is 500 bucks, a prosumer one is 1k. A $2500 display is still in the laughably astronomical strictly-pro realm. Call me you have something in the Thunderbolt 27” ballpark, i.e. like competitors’ products plus Apple tax. I’m willing to pay the price of an iMac 5k minus the price of a Mac Mini M1. Not a cent more.
Take a look at all the threads and there are a lot of them on here where it is entirely hit and miss in relation to getting reasonable output quality from a 3rd party monitor. And it's not the monitor that is the issue.
I can understand the discussion about pricing, but these rumors do not make any sense, at least for me.
First, the rumors mention nothing about the expected features of this new monitor. We do not know the size, the refresh rate, the brightness, the technology, or if it will sing and dance. We only know the price. Therefore, the discussion revolves around pricing only.
Second, this monitor is supposed to be attractive to consumers. Well, then the price is out of range here. People may say that $2500 is an exceptionally good price compared to $5000 for the XDR monitor (plus $1000 for the stand). But it is not.
Dell sells a 27-inch 4K display for $500 and a 32-inch model for $750. Samsung sells a 49-inch QLED 240Hz curved display for $1380. 4K IPS monitors from brands such as Samsung or LG can be found for less than $300. Those are consumer monitors, and they are pretty decent.
Apple's own 24-inch iMac sells for $1299, which is nearly half of $2500, and comes with a full computer inside. And the 24-inch display is really good, with P3 color, 500 nits brightness, and 4.5K resolution. This computer is consumer-oriented.
I have seen the Apple XDR Display in action. It is indeed a great monitor. However, as a consumer, I found it only marginally better than the display on the 24-inch iMac, and only bigger. I struggled to notice any difference between this very expensive model and a high-end $1000 model from any other manufacturer. You may say that this monitor is not for me: indeed, it is not, I am a consumer, not a photo or video professional. I can understand that professionals may require the features of the XDR Display. I do not care about all the "pro" features of the Pro XDR Display and would never think of paying $5000 for it. And many users, even many professionals, would not either. I would not pay $2500 either.
This monitor is supposed to replace the Tunderbolt Display, which cost $999 back then and was discontinued in 2016. I have no idea why someone would think that a $2500 monitor would replace a $1000 one, as these are very different price ranges.
I do not see a $2500 monitor as a "hot seller" as the rumor mentions. It is half the price of the Pro XDR Display. But when the Pro XDR Display was released, people (i.e., consumers) were absolutely shocked by the price of the monitor. I do not think they would be attracted to a monitor costing half of that. I simply cannot see hordes of consumers rushing to the Apple Store to buy one before stocks run out.
Of course, there will be consumers willing to pay this price. There always are. But those are a minority. It will not appeal to consumers in general, who can buy good monitors for 10% of this price. Apple's brand certainly has its value, but consumers are not stupid.
Now, it is possible that these rumors are true, and that Apple will release a $2500 monitor to go alongside the Pro XDR Display. But it will not be consumer-oriented and it will not be a hot seller, as the rumors mention. It would be completely different if this monitor is announced as a cheaper professional model expected to sell much more than the XDR Pro Display.
I’m happy with that free 24 inch Dell I got from work for free.
So a $2500 display is "consumer oriented" nowadays? In which parallel dimension ? ?
Nope nope nope. $500 and I'm in. $750 and maybe I'm still in. ~$1000 out, too expensive. There are good cheap monitors well below that price.
Apple's position seems to be "building a monitor/USB ethernet adapter/USBC dock/etc. is so simple that even these imbecile third parties can't possibly screw it up" except that these third parties have a reputation of creating sub-Apple quality products for decades now.
For crying out loud, we have LG with their ugly five-head monitor that Apple would never have produced, we have a bunch of docks covered in shiny black plastic that looks like crap from day one and don't work right because they're all from the same Chinese factory, everyone that needs ethernet uses the Belkin USB-C to Ethernet adapter that inexplicably needs to run at a hotter temperature than the sun, and so on. Apple, these companies just don't get it - they are incapable of building even the most basic of accessories. You can't trust them with picking up slack that you leave in your customer experience.
Customers want an iMac without the computer inside of it. Couldn't be simpler. No - they have to release a $5k base price monitor. Customers obviously object and say they want a monitor that's cheaper than an entire computer (is that reasonable!?) and not 3x the price of one. Apple is now working on a monitor that's equally as unaffordable for the average user? What the hell is their problem with this - stick an iMac panel in a nice aluminum body and it can't possibly be 50% more expensive than an entry 27" iMac from ~3 years ago? What is this insanity?
For crying out loud, we have LG with their ugly five-head monitor that Apple would never have produced, we have a bunch of docks covered in shiny black plastic that looks like crap from day one and don't work right because they're all from the same Chinese factory, everyone that needs ethernet uses the Belkin USB-C to Ethernet adapter that inexplicably needs to run at a hotter temperature than the sun, and so on. Apple, these companies just don't get it - they are incapable of building even the most basic of accessories. You can't trust them with picking up slack that you leave in your customer experience.
Customers want an iMac without the computer inside of it. Couldn't be simpler. No - they have to release a $5k base price monitor. Customers obviously object and say they want a monitor that's cheaper than an entire computer (is that reasonable!?) and not 3x the price of one. Apple is now working on a monitor that's equally as unaffordable for the average user? What the hell is their problem with this - stick an iMac panel in a nice aluminum body and it can't possibly be 50% more expensive than an entry 27" iMac from ~3 years ago? What is this insanity?
The only thing that makes sense to me here is Apple is planning a new iMac Pro for $5,000. This $2,500 display might be the same as whatever is in that.
I guess we will see if Apple has any intention of releasing a standalone non-XDR retina display....but this probably isn't it.
I guess we will see if Apple has any intention of releasing a standalone non-XDR retina display....but this probably isn't it.
If Apple is producing this monitor as a low-end display solution, and the cost is the same price as a new MacBook Pro, they are missing the mark. Especially since most people would be served very well by a sub $1000 4K monitor, that said, Apple has never made monitors for the average user, and I think the rumors reflect that will still be the case. Especially since I keep seeing the phrase “lower-priced.” That is to say, lower-priced compared to Apple's $6000 Pro Display XDR (price with the stand, of course).
Instead, I’d put $2500 toward a second MacBook Pro or a new TV than even consider this expensive of a monitor. To each their own. For a certain Apple tech enthusiast/podcaster and everyone else who would benefit from a Pro Display XDR but can’t stomach the price (and for a good reason), I hope Apple has this in the works.
Instead, I’d put $2500 toward a second MacBook Pro or a new TV than even consider this expensive of a monitor. To each their own. For a certain Apple tech enthusiast/podcaster and everyone else who would benefit from a Pro Display XDR but can’t stomach the price (and for a good reason), I hope Apple has this in the works.
Last edited:
Couldn’t it be that this “consumer model” is actually a more affordable version of the XDR for the customers that needs the power from the new M1 Pro/Max MacBooks, and that Apple also will release an even cheaper model for the customer base that “only needs an external monitor”? Like XDR Light is high spec 27-32” and one that’s 24-27”?
There you go MacRumors: the perfect time for a monitor roundup. Which monitors are best for Apple users in terms of looks, connections and performance. I’m in the market for a new monitor, but not at £2500!
LOL, a $2,500 monitor is not “consumer oriented”. Give me a break.
$2.5k for a 27" monitor is way too much for the average consumer...
Apple-branded consumer monitors should be priced less than whatever iMac that these new displays should share panels with...
I have two 31.5" 2560x1440 IPS monitors from Acer, I paid 500 bucks for the pair a few years ago; they now retail for about 200 bucks each...
Are they "Apple pretty"...? No, but they are not hideous by any means...
I just hope they pair well with a new M1 Max-powered Mac mini, that the text is properly viewable...?
Apple-branded consumer monitors should be priced less than whatever iMac that these new displays should share panels with...
I have two 31.5" 2560x1440 IPS monitors from Acer, I paid 500 bucks for the pair a few years ago; they now retail for about 200 bucks each...
Are they "Apple pretty"...? No, but they are not hideous by any means...
I just hope they pair well with a new M1 Max-powered Mac mini, that the text is properly viewable...?
Last edited:
And they will do the usual roundup that doesn't mention anywhere that macOS works well with around 100ppi@1x or around 200ppi@2x and that you have to use crappy non-integer scaling for many modern displays whose ppi are too far in the middle of that range, like the popular 32" UHD ones.
At $2500 it's an instant buy for me. My Thunderbolt display has been a trooper for almost a decade but it's way past time for an upgrade and I just can't tolerate cheap plastic junk on my desk. If some of you guys want cheap stuff go buy cheap stuff. This is a Mac forum, (and no I don't mean LowEndMac)... Complaining that the display isn't going to be $500-1000 sounds crazy to me when even the ugly-ass LG Ultrafine is $1300 and is a dinosaur product at this point. Why don't you guys change gears and go peddle $200 Walmart laptops in the MacBook Pro forum?
I usually spend much more time looking at what the monitor is displaying rather than the monitor itself, so who cares what it looks like?
an iphone is $1000, a mac is starting from $1000....$2500 is the right price for what it can be...average consumer dont look(or shouldnt) at Apple devices...content creators and so on, yes
4K would be like 21" which isn't too interesting if you value screen real-estate and already have a 16" MBP. There would be more possibilities if Apple finally made macOS resolution independent.