Hands-On With Apple's $4999 Pro Display XDR and $999 Stand

[08380728]

Yeah for the rest of us, just a 30.5" 4k display would be nice at $1,000 ish or so with No GLASS mirror front.

This is what p !issing me off and preventing me buying anything Apple these days.

MBP, I not bought new since 2010, cos since then all now have Mirrors on the LCD. They even had the audacity to charge us $100 more for the antiglare the year they put the glass on the new one. Talk about assholic behaviour, the glass would cost way more and that was default so we had to pay more for one without glass....talk about profit agenda driven.

iMac same issues glass panel.

Mac Mini, no user installable Storage or RAM.

Mac Pro, so far off this planet price wise, aimed purely at Hollywood Video pro's, it's not in reach for the rest of us who just wanted an upgraded cMac Pro at same price point as the 2012 series tower.

 

[49erRedGold]

Yeah for the rest of us, just a 30.5" 4k display would be nice at $1,000 ish or so with No GLASS mirror front.

This is what p !issing me off and preventing me buying anything Apple these days.

MBP, I not bought new since 2010, cos since then all now have Mirrors on the LCD. They even had the audacity to charge us $100 more to the antiglare the year they put the glass on the new one, talk about assholic behaviour, the glass would cost way more and that was default and we had to pay more for one without glass....talk about profit agenda driven

iMac same issues glass panel.

Mac Mini, no user installable Storage or RAM.

Mac Pro, so far off this planet price wise, aimed purely at Hollywood Video pro's, it's not in reach for the rest of us who just wanted an upgraded cMacPro Pro at same price point as the 2012 series tower.

Well Apple is no longer for you. Chill.

 

[08380728]

Well Apple is no longer for you. Chill.

No, Apple is NO LONGER for users...post PC remember....what's that saying, anti Mac user all attention and direction on iPad and iPhone consumers.

Since Avie Tevinian left Apple their Mac OS X releases turned sour, buggy unreliable quality control out the window. Since Tim, F YOU Apple User, i'm here for share holders!

 

[49erRedGold]

No, Apple is NO LONGER for users...post PC remember....what's that saying, anti Mac user all attention and direction on iPad and iPhone consumers.

Since Avie Tevinian left Apple their Mac OS X releases turned sour, buggy unreliable quality control out the window. Since Tim, F YOU Apple User, i'm here for share holders!

Speak only for yourself. You don't speak for the rest of us. You're frustration over a tech company is way over the top. Seriously chill.

 

[potatis]

Couldn't they have included the VESA mount pre-selected and make the stand a $800 upgrade...

 

[08380728]

and why should I chill and accept their POS share holder profit driven strategy? Why should we and the environment compromise for the sake of their profit agenda?

So what, my soldered storage goes bad or the soldered ram, Apple response is throw it out and buy new, that is not consumer or environmentally conscious, this is user and environmental hostage taking for profit motivations only, nothing else. Previous my RAM goes bad i replace it the foot print is lower, now throw a logic board away and that impact is much higher.

 

[49erRedGold]

and why should I chill and accept their POS share holder profit driven strategy? Why should we and the environment compromise for the sake of their profit agenda?

So what, my soldered storage goes bad or the soldered ram, Apple response is throw it out and buy new, that is not consumer or environmentally conscious, this is user and environmental hostage taking for profit motivations only, nothing else. Previous my RAM goes bad i replace it the foot print is lower, now throw a logic board away and that impact is much higher.

Firstly, I never said you should accept anything from Apple. In fact I said Apple is no longer for you. You need to chill because it's impossible to have a civil thread when you post nothing but angry responses and nobody is arguing with you. You're done with Apple, fine. But all these F-U Apple and POS words are not constructive to the discussion. Sell your remaining Apple gear and find a better life in the Windows/Android world. Simple as that, or did you just want to continue shouting over and over about Apple and do nothing about it?
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Couldn't they have included the VESA mount pre-selected and make the stand a $800 upgrade...

Another person speaking as an average consumer. The very customer-type that Apple did not design the Pro Display XDR for.

 

[08380728]

or change the F ing policy and satisfy your user base or in your case, just roll over an accept any old BS they hand you on a plate.

It's not good enough, it's not acceptable and no i don't accept "ok not for me" and leave.

No way, I been using Macs for 30 years, stand up and fight for what is right!!

 

[PickUrPoison]

Don't be so patronising.

The Mini IS out of reach because of Apple's chronically off this planet price gouging for their soldered storage and RAM.

There is no other reason, other than unscrupulous price monopolisation and rogue profiteering, considering their market buying capacity, it's almso t down right or should be deemed criminal charging what they do. All of us, as end users, at retail level can buy single quantity at more than half the price Apple demands.

Example, upgrade the CPU to one 100Mhz higher than base, Apple is charging the total cost amount for the entire new CPU. At retail, the upgraded CPU in 1 QTY is only $50, so in reality, Apple buying in OEM Tray amounts the upgrade cost is much less, say $20. Charging the Apple customer and extra $50 is reasonable, but not deducting the cost of the base, and adding the cost of the entire new CPU to the base should be illegal.

Same with the storage, and RAM, user can buy retail single quantity with not market power or preferential deal and still can buy double the capacity for less cost than Apple charge us.

This is what is making the Mac's unreachable, often you either gect sucked into paying or just go no way and don't buy a Mac at all.

Oh please, spare me the evils of capitalism speechifying.

Apple’s a huge company with huge overhead. They’ve got 500+ stores, 140,000 employees, billions per month in operating expenses, including $1.5 billion per month in R&D.

All those costs get passed on to consumers. Apple isn’t making outrageous profits; the low P/E ratio conferred by Wall Street is ample evidence of that.

Yes, Apple equipment is expensive. It’s high-priced. But prices are high because costs are high. And high priced is much , much different from overpriced, isn’t it?
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or change the F ing policy and satisfy your user base or in your case, just roll over an accept any old BS they hand you on a plate.

It's not good enough, it's not acceptable and no i don't accept "ok not for me" and leave.

No way, I been using Macs for 30 years, stand up and fight for what is right!!

The user base is satisfied. Customer satisfaction is through the roof. But Apple can’t please everyone, can they?

 

[49erRedGold]

or change the F ing policy and satisfy your user base or in your case, just roll over an accept any old BS they hand you on a plate.

It's not good enough, it's not acceptable and no i don't accept "ok not for me" and leave.

No way, I been using Macs for 30 years, stand up and fight for what is right!!

Good luck to you. This isn't some political stance and not everybody hates Apple, and once again you don't speak for the rest of us. I'm wondering why you keep ignoring when I invite you to move on from Apple? Seems as though you just want to rant for the sake of ranting. This will be my last post towards you. I can assure you the forum will plug their ears if you continue with the F-bombs and angry posts and the moderators may end up removing your posts. You're way off topic. The thread is simply about Macrumors talking about their first experiences with the Pro Display XDR. The discussion is not about Apple screwing people over.

 

[ggibson913]

I see an opportunity for a third party manufacturer to design a stand for like $250 that would also be made of premium materials which could connect to the monitor.

Then again these machines aren't really designed for the average consumer.

 

[WaxedJacket]

I rarely care about Apple and their price point, I'd just like some justification on the pricing of the stand. Parts, R&D? It just sounds like they pulled it out of thin air and said "yeah, they'll buy it for that much."
I mean good on them for pulling it off.

 

[Coyote2006]

worse than selling an ugly $1000 stand is the fact that they didn't release also a $2000-2500 5K version of the monitor (which would probably run with all other actual Mac models) and a basic MacPro for $3500-4000.

 

[citysnaps]

6K would be e real advantage in my workflow, but I'd need the non-glossy version and it's still unclear if this monitor run smoothly for example with a MBP 16" (without eGPU). Maybe someone could test that?

It's my understanding the stock display is non-glossy. The $1K surface treatment option takes that to a higher level; to help in environments where ambient lighting is problematic.
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Interesting how the MacPro and the display are being compared to 80s and 90s hardware a lot here to rationalize the price.

It's not rationalizing the price. It's about perspective. Price is rationalized by comparing Apple's new display with similar displays costing much more.

 

[theluggage]

There are two options available: VESA mount and stand. Both cannot be used at the same time.

...that is the real problem here, and it's completely Apple's creation.

Apple have made a "pro" monitor - which a lot of target customers are going to want to put on arms or multi-display mounts - but have chosen to leave off the industry-standard 4 threaded holes comprising a VESA mount - something that is built in to all but the cheapest third party displays. They wouldn't even have looked out-of-place in Apple's new "steampunk" design language. Instead, Apple have chosen to offer a choice between a $200 magnetic VESA adapter and a proprietary $1000 stand for what looks like a mixture of form-over-function and a hidden-extras wheeze.

Now, I am not in the market for a $5000 display - maybe at some point a True Scotsman who currently needs a $20,000 reference display (bet that came with VESA mounting holes) will tell us that they've successfully replaced it with an XDR and satisfy our curiosity. However, I might well be in the market for a new iMac at some stage, and that's going to be designed by the same Apple that built this display - and quite possibly take design cues from it (although I'm sure it will be a 'lite' version of the design). The iMac's built-in stand is already one of its weak points - and, stupidly, you have to order a whole different SKU if you want a VESA mount - or, with the iMac Pro, add an expensive and reputedly shonky metal bracket. So it is not encouraging that Apple still seem dead set against just adding a VESA mount and solving the problem.

Apple’s a huge company with huge overhead. They’ve got 500+ stores, 140,000 employees, billions per month in operating expenses, including $1.5 billion per month in R&D.

...if you're going to defend capitalism, defend capitalism not just the stock market - if Apple is spending so much on infrastructure that its products are no longer competitive then it deserves to fail and will fail in time. Wall Street is a fair-weather friend that rarely looks beyond the current quarter, and which can make as much money from a collapsing Apple as a booming Apple (...although the same might not be true of your pension fund).

Anyway, how do you think all of those cheap PCs and components get to market? Everybody in the supply chain - from the retailers and wholesalers to the designers and developers of the hardware - still have to be paid. The sort of integration that Apple has is supposed to save costs by cutting out middlemen and adding economies of scale.

 

[MauiPa]

If an Apple Watch with a steel case can cost $300 more than an identical Apple Watch with an aluminium case, then what would be the price for upgrading the iStand in the same way?

It is stainless steel, so you want to upgrade to platinum? The monitor is pretty heavy, so the stand has to be as well to not topple over. Real question will be if a third party stand becomes available, what will be the materials and pricing point?
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...that is the real problem here, and it's completely Apple's creation.

Apple have made a "pro" monitor - which a lot of target customers are going to want to put on arms or multi-display mounts - but have chosen to leave off the industry-standard 4 threaded holes comprising a VESA mount - something that is built in to all but the cheapest third party displays. They wouldn't even have looked out-of-place in Apple's new "steampunk" design language. Instead, Apple have chosen to offer a choice between a $200 magnetic VESA adapter and a proprietary $1000 stand for what looks like a mixture of form-over-function and a hidden-extras wheeze.

Now, I am not in the market for a $5000 display - maybe at some point a True Scotsman who currently needs a $20,000 reference display (bet that came with VESA mounting holes) will tell us that they've successfully replaced it with an XDR and satisfy our curiosity. However, I might well be in the market for a new iMac at some stage, and that's going to be designed by the same Apple that built this display - and quite possibly take design cues from it (although I'm sure it will be a 'lite' version of the design). The iMac's built-in stand is already one of its weak points - and, stupidly, you have to order a whole different SKU if you want a VESA mount - or, with the iMac Pro, add an expensive and reputedly shonky metal bracket. So it is not encouraging that Apple still seem dead set against just adding a VESA mount and solving the problem.



...if you're going to defend capitalism, defend capitalism not just the stock market - if Apple is spending so much on infrastructure that its products are no longer competitive then it deserves to fail and will fail in time. Wall Street is a fair-weather friend that rarely looks beyond the current quarter, and which can make as much money from a collapsing Apple as a booming Apple (...although the same might not be true of your pension fund).

Anyway, how do you think all of those cheap PCs and components get to market? Everybody in the supply chain - from the retailers and wholesalers to the designers and developers of the hardware - still have to be paid. The sort of integration that Apple has is supposed to save costs by cutting out middlemen and adding economies of scale.

They come to market using cheap materials and cheap fabrication. Comparing Apples to dells, etc with similar build qualities you do not see a very large disparity in price. Of course compare apples to cheap crap, you do

 

[Digital Skunk]

1.) This monitor is a bit more exciting than the Mac Pro.

2.) Glad they didn't include the stand ONLY because a few places I've done work in have really top notch VESA mounts.

3.) I'm going to be sleeping on the couch for a few months after putting this thing on my desk.

 

[Coyote2006]

It's my understanding the stock display is non-glossy. The $1K surface treatment option takes that to a higher level; to help in environments where ambient lighting is problematic.
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That's right it's another $1000. I've just checked the iMacPro in the Apple store and I really see a problem with these glossy screens.

 

[69Mustang]

from a logistics and stock control this would mean stocking, 4 to 5 items 1) screen with stand, 2) screen with vega, 3) the stand (for those who bought vega and want to change) 4) the vega (for those who bought the stand and want to change), 5) the screen alone for replacements, this would inevitably lead to having to much or too little of one, I.e “sorry we can’t sell you a screen with vega but we have hundreds of screens with stands” there would be outrage, this approach is the same as watches and straps it’s much more efficient to stock and ship them separately.

None of what you wrote is remotely realistic. Apple need only stock the 3 items they stock now. The SKU numbers for the different configs wouldn't change the inventory. Besides this is a low volume item. There would be no outrage. Also not sure which watch you're referencing, but Apple watches ship with bands

 

[DesertNomad]

I remember those. Sony Trinitron displays and Nubus-based RasterOps display cards. Guessing the Sony weighed about 75 pounds. Bought a bunch for a project at work.

I had a Radius PrecisionView/21 driven by a SuperMac Thunder/24 NuBus card in a Mac IIfx. The card and monitor alone were in the $5K ballpark.

 

[HPB]

What if you had the money for two of these babies. Would you be able to control the brightness setting on both monitors because I can't with Catalina and 2 5K Apple LG monitors.

 

[Unregistered 4U]

Some people, especially tech fanatics, just can't get that not everything is about them.

This is an interesting point. Most tech fanatics are likely used to everything being made FOR them, because they were, for as long as they were alive, in the target demographic. Now that they aren’t, and products are targeted at OTHER people, it’s hard for them to shift their thinking and understand newer products.

 

[d0nK]

I worked for Apple dealers in the late 80s and early 90s. A 20" CRT used in desktop publishing applications routinely sold for $4,000 to $5,000. The NuBus graphics cards to drive those displays were a couple thousand as well. So in today's dollars, $6,000 for a 32" flat screen with the quality and resolution of this one is not that ridiculous.

Factor-in 30 to 40 years of electronics development time and the Apple profit margin and yeah, maybe the price is ridiculous.

 

[hrpuffnstuff]

I disagree... the people it's made for don't care and it just makes it a more exclusive item. Sort of like when people are shocked by the price of oil changes or tires in luxury cars.

A family friend just bought a Bentley Bentayaga and for kicks asked them the cost of an oil change, they were like $180.00. He just went ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[dwaltwhit]

Serious question: how many buyers would be mounting this display as opposed to opting for the stand? I used to sell tv's and the manufacturers at one point included an HDMI cable with the tv. They stopped when they realized a 3 ft cord would do no good when you mounted the tv, and a 6 or 10 foot was excessive for other buyers.

Back to my question: Are there enough buyers that would mount the display to make including a stand a waste?