New Thunderbolt Display With Integrated GPU Still in the Works

[ajfahey]

A monitor with an integrated GPU is a great idea. Even better would be an integrated GPU that can be easily upgraded later as GPU technology continues to evolve at the current pace. I'm not interested though in a monitor that needs to be unglued to maintain or upgrade technology that evolves and becomes obsolete faster than the display technology it drives.

 

[Arcus]

Not a bad idea especially if a laptop is your main rig.

 

[MacGizmo]

Why would it be $1500? You can pick up a 27" iMac, with all you mentioned plus the actual computer inside, for $1700. Now, what would be cool is if there were an option for three sizes (21, 24, 27) and maybe different GPUs in each. But I wouldn't hold my breath on that.

That's my point. The existing display is $1,000. Add in 5k and an integrated GPU and I'm sure it's going to push $1,500 or more. That's insane when, as you say, you can get an entire iMac for about the same price.
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Yeah, I dont know why Apple bother releasing anything at all. Too expensive. /s

I've rarely considered anything Apple releases as too expensive. But their displays have always been the exception.
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Clearly you're not a gamer, or someone who needs fast render times to deliver on a tight deadline production project. In other words, the average Mac user.

Where did you get the idea that the average Mac user is a gamer or 3D/Video render pro? Those are niche markets for Apple. Joe Average consumer is their market, and has been since the early 2000s.

 

[Apple Knowledge Navigator]

I don't get it. Why pay for a 5K screen and GPU when a 5K iMac is available? Sure, you'd have to stump up a bit of extra cash, but it's a entire computer.

 

[MacGizmo]

Apple never released a display over $1000.

LOL. That's hilarious. They've had a few that cost more than that, including the $3,300 30" Cinema Display. In fact, I believe they had a smaller display that was nearly $4,000.

 

[Markiie]

why buy a 27 inch 5k display for 1500-2000 when you can get a 34" 4k Ultra wide for 900-1000? Makes no sense to me?

 

[timshundo]

I don't get it. Why pay for a 5K screen and GPU when a 5K iMac is available? Sure, you'd have to stump up a bit of extra cash, but it's a entire computer.

The appeal of monitors for laptop users is that you can get serious work done at home/in the office when hooked up to the monitor and then disconnect and take the laptop elsewhere when you dont need the screen real estate and being at your desk gets stuffy.

iMacs are not portable.

 

[pat500000]

I doubt it. They just announce discontinuation of tb display.
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Maybe Apple isn't dead... maybe

Or maybe it's just a rumor..maybe

 

[timshundo]

why buy a 27 inch 5k display for 1500-2000 when you can get a 34" 4k Ultra wide for 900-1000? Makes no sense to me?

People need the screen real estate. Different people have different needs depending on their work.

 

[cult hero]

I'm hoping this is a joke. A built-in GPU is dumb and overpriced, especially when machines will be able to support this next year.

Now, if there is a GPU-in-a-box as an extra option, a la the Razer Core, that would rule. I'm really hoping something like this is announced when the new hardware is released. That would absolutely rule.

 

[darkknight14]

Something doesn't add up here, I thought the Apple Spokesperson said 'there are plenty of third party options available to customers'? This IMO would put an end to rumours about a new display.

I do hope Apple will release a new display in the near future, but I think we could be waiting until 2017 or beyond :/

 

[btrach144]

I doubt it. They just announce discontinuation of tb display.
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Or maybe it's just a rumor..maybe

Hence the maybe part. If the rumor doesn't come true, then they are dead. If the rumor comes true and they actually pay attention to the Mac, then maybe they are alive... maybe

 

[andyyau]

So the integrated GPU will show 3X emoji faster then? And is this amazing?

 

[pat500000]

Hence the maybe part. If the rumor doesn't come true, then they are dead. If the rumor comes true and they actually pay attention to the Mac, then maybe they are alive... maybe

Or they are just toying with us...maybe.

 

[Peace]

If.. And I say IF. Any of this is true we could be in for one huge hardware event soon.

 

[baryon]

A 5K Retina display with a killer GPU would be great. That would virtually make the iMac or the Mac Pro unnecessary for even the most demanding professional work, so people who have notebooks would be able to do very serious work.

Would it mean that you could use any Thunderbolt Mac and make it have a decent GPU? Or would this only work on Thunderbolt 3 or something silly like that, preventing older Macs from benefiting?

 

[jpietrzak8]

Now, if there is a GPU-in-a-box as an extra option, a la the Razer Core, that would rule. I'm really hoping something like this is announced when the new hardware is released. That would absolutely rule.

Well, if Apple was actually interested in allowing people to connect a GPU of their choice to their computer via an external adapter, why wouldn't they go the extra distance and just add an expansion slot or two to their Macs?

I think allowing an external GPU (at least, a non-Apple external GPU) would pretty much go against the fundamental Apple concept that their devices are designed as black boxes, closed to any and all hardware modifications by the user.

 

[MarsViolet]

LOL. That's hilarious. They've had a few that cost more than that, including the $3,300 30" Cinema Display. In fact, I believe they had a smaller display that was nearly $4,000.

Right. The original Cinema Display was $4,000.

The problem with Apple's new breed of apologist is that they were only born four years ago and have no actual knowledge or experience to draw from.

 

[alexgowers]

I'm predicting now it'll have a GPU to get you 4k 60fps but no games. Will work with any mac or win machine with thunderbolt 3/USB type C including maybe future iphones/ipads with USB C (lighting retirement?). Not like razor core but similar idea to boost screen performance. Will have a few ports and stuff and will charge through to devices like current macbook.

As a side note I would love to see apple support games via a razor core or other GPU in a box. Plug a USB C into the monitor and boom you got 4k gaming via that. Wouldn't totally be against the apple grain either.

 

[PatriotInvasion]

I would imagine cost and perhaps lack of a standard (as a vendor would want their monitor to work with multiple GPU models and vendors and connectors and operating systems to maximize the market).

All Apple needs to worry about is does it work with macOS and AMD over TB/USB-C using their version of OpenGL (and maybe Metal?).

Interesting. And I did read AMD is cooking up GPU's for 2016 that support DisplayPort 1.3 so perhaps an eGPU in the display does the legwork.

http://wccftech.com/amd-talks-freesync-in-2016-displayport-1-3-hdmi-2-0a/

Still, how would a MacBook connect to such a display? My guess would be a built-in Thunderbolt 3/USB-C cable for new Macs and some sort of Thunderbolt 1/2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter dongle for older Macs. I can't see Apple supporting any legacy connections on the new display. Only USB-C and perhaps another Thunderbolt 3/USB-C port or two for daisy chaining and Thunderbolt 3 peripherals.

 

[Ferazel]

Not really sure I understand this sentiment. It's a display, not a desktop. If the internals are built to drive a 5K monitor, and only that, than that's all the GPU needs to do. I don't understand why this would become obsolete unless the software doesn't support it. For instance, we can plug in an 800x600 VGA display into any modern computer, same as a 5K display. They both work as intended.

The difference is that a GPU does more than drive a display for web/OS content. It is used for video rendering, 3D content creation, and games. If idea behind this is to create a docking station approach for mobile users to dock to a more powerful eGPU and use that when plugged in. The benefit is going to be directly tied to that GPU tech embedded in the monitor. Then in order to get better performance you would need to buy a new monitor when the monitor isn't the limiting factor it is the GPU.

This idea is both wasteful and stupid unless we can swap out the GPU.

 

[GhostRaider]

So all those persons who claimed they are done with Apple and are moving to a Hackintosh or Windows. Thoughts please?

Apple can kiss my butt in terms of their desktop Macs. I'm fine with their MacBook Pros though. Anyways, I've switched to a Hackintosh years ago and never looked back. Once NVIDIA releases drivers for the NVIDIA GTX 1080 on macOS, it will blow anything Apple makes. Quite sad to see Apple not caring.

 

[thekev]

This is either a complete load of crap or a drastic break from Apple's previous patterns. Apple has consistently kept old products around until a replacement is ready. Every time they cancelled something without an accompanying announcement, it simply went away (eg Xserve, 17" macbook pro). When they updated the imac's design, I thought the thunderbolt display would follow within 6 months. It never received a screen treatment update, which suggested that it wasn't a terribly important product.

I think this one is gone for good. The rumor describes something that would share most of the internals of an imac.

 

[darkpaw]

I bought a Late-2013 Mac Pro in early 2014, as soon as I could get one because I needed the speed for 3D rendering. I wanted a TBD, but it seemed like it should've been updated by 2014, so I waited. Then I waited some more, and 2015 passed us by. It's now 2016, they're EOL'ing a five year old product, and effectively pushing me to 3rd party displays.

As much as I wish Apple would release a 4K or 5K display that works on their fastest Mac, has speakers you can control with the volume keys, and has a wire to charge up a MB/MBP, I just bought an Asus PA328Q 32-Inch 4k IPS 3840 x 2160 display.

Apple are doing a lot of things lately to push their loyal customers away, and it's actually working.

 

[nutmac]

This is Apple's opportunity at building an actual AppleTV. A beautiful designed 5K display has only to include an AppleTV chip built in and people could use them as a TV.

If Apple makes such a display I frankly don't want Apple TV to be built in.

Instead, I would want it to be a proximity aware wireless display that would respond to any nearby device, whether it be Apple TV set top box, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac.