MP 7,1 New VESA Mount Adapter Pricing

[WrightBrain]

Random stupid question regarding Apple.
Much has been said about the $999 monitor stand. Now, being a Devil's advocate you can say it is that expensive because of all of the intricate engineering and R&D. But what's up with the $199 VESA mount adapter? Isn't that just a machined metal plate with some plastic and no moving parts? How do they justify that price?

 

[t8er8]

Random stupid question regarding Apple.
Much has been said about the $999 monitor stand. Now, being a Devil's advocate you can say it is that expensive because of all of the intricate engineering and R&D. But what's up with the $199 VESA mount adapter? Isn't that just a machined metal plate with some plastic and no moving parts? How do they justify that price?

I tried to think of a reason but I couldn’t. Maybe that they use recycled aluminum and their whole eco friendly push?

 

[startergo]

"While Apple announced onstage that the nifty magnetically attached Pro Stand — which allows the screen to tilt, angle, and even rotate from landscape to portrait modes — would be sold separately for an extra $999, the company didn’t mention that it (along with the $199 VESA mount adapter, which will require you to buy another third-party stand) are the only stand options for the Pro Display XDR. "
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...stand-expensive-dongle-not-included-wwdc-2019

 

[deconstruct60]

... monitor stand. .... you can say it is that expensive because of all of the intricate engineering and R&D ... But what's up with the $199 VESA mount adapter? Isn't that just a machined metal plate with some plastic and no moving parts? How do they justify that price?

It is not a simple metal plate.

"... With a similar design to the magnetic connector on the Pro Stand, it can be placed and secured quickly and easily using the included Apple-designed tool. ..."

https://www.apple.com/pro-display-xdr/specs/

All the 'intricate engineering and R&D" that went into the Stand's attachment costs is right here also. A little more since the four "arms" coming out of the center all have to be precisely milled to fit into four different vent holes on the back and appear to also have some magnets.

Over the last approximately 1-1.5 year there have been some rants bouncing around the Youtube and forums about how Apple used "cheap screws" that strip easily on the VESA mount for the iMac Pro. Well ... this version appears to be basically screw less. So no "cheap screws" that came with $79 iMac Pro VESA Kit . Couple the "no screws" and the weight of the panel enclosure is about the same and it won't be more affordable than the "cheap screw" version if it is engineering to be very secure ( don't want $6K panel falling down because mount was 'weak'. )

Over time someone will probably reverse engineering the Apple tool and the basics of the design. It is far more than simply stamping out a metal plate and pre drilling some screw holes in it. There doesn't appear to be any screw holes in the monitor case for semi-standard mount holes to align with.

So it becomes a question of spending about 3% more for a $6K display to Apple or betting that "Woo's product chop shop" clone actually works in this highly specialized monitor ( and different from all of their stamped out solutions. ) In most places the sales tax is going to be higher than 3% and users will get far more immediate, direct utility out of the mount than the sales tax.

If the mount proves to be flakey then that would be a point of contention. If it is a bit over engineered that most of the rest of the specs of the monitor then that probably won't happen.

 

[thornslack]

Wasn’t the vesa mount for their old displays $30? These greedy mfs lol

 

[deconstruct60]

"While Apple announced onstage that the nifty magnetically attached Pro Stand — ( along with the $199 VESA mount adapter, which will require you to buy another third-party stand) are the only stand options for the Pro Display XDR. "
https://www.theverge.com/circuitbre...stand-expensive-dongle-not-included-wwdc-2019

1. The magnets are not the primarily enables of the adjustment flexibility.

2. For the market this is primarily targeted to few are being "require you to buy" ... since a high percentage would already have one. This monitor isn't "making" them bought it, they already did ( for the previous reference monitor). Most of the target market is not coming off of previously buying a 27" Thunderbolt docking station display. Or a 30" Apple monitor eons ago.

The reason the stand is optional by default is that most of the market already has a stand/mount and don't want to have to toss yet another one. I think Apple's stand is more directed toward expanding the deployment areas where reference monitors haven't normally gone in the past. That grows the total "addressable" market but it isn't the core of what they are aiming at.

Now a argument could be as to why Apple didn't fold the VESA mount into the monitor price. ( if most don't want the stand they will pragmatically need the mount.). I suspect there is some "Green"/'Save the Planet" answer for that. (and a hope to sell a substantive number of those stands.)
[doublepost=1560800190][/doublepost]

Wasn’t the vesa mount for their old displays $30? These greedy mfs lol

It really not the same as the one for regular iMacs and Thunderbolt display

https://www.apple.com/uk-business/s...imac-andled-cinemaor-applethunderbolt-display

And on an iMac those are a bit dubious since sit pretty close on top of the air flow exit vent. Blocking airflow coming out of an iMac is just not a good idea. But besides that it is a substantively different attachment technology. This is all very similar to the stand being compared to mounts were tension screws are used to adjust the height or tilt as a "most affordable" solution.

 

[mavericks7913]

Random stupid question regarding Apple.
Much has been said about the $999 monitor stand. Now, being a Devil's advocate you can say it is that expensive because of all of the intricate engineering and R&D. But what's up with the $199 VESA mount adapter? Isn't that just a machined metal plate with some plastic and no moving parts? How do they justify that price?

It's made out of magnet and it's really expansive.

 

[Beerstalker]

I've had an issue with this as well.

I can see where the fancy stand does probably cost a decent amount of money to make, and they are considering it "art" so the price on it is like it is (though I still think it could be cheaper).

What I don't understand is why there is a need for the VESA adapter at all, let alone a $200 one. Just put steel nutserts in the monitor itself like pretty much every other TV and monitor sold in the last 10 years. With all those fancy holes in the back for airflow they could have easily hidden them by adjusting the spacing as necessary.

 

[deconstruct60]

....
What I don't understand is why there is a need for the VESA adapter at all, let alone a $200 one. Just put steel nutserts in the monitor itself like pretty much every other TV and monitor sold in the last 10 years. With all those fancy holes in the back for airflow they could have easily hidden them by adjusting the spacing as necessary.

Because Apple doesn't start with the VESA connection and then "wrap" the rest of the monitor/system around that.
The stand has a non VESA, custom connection to the monitor enclosures so you need an adapter. Once Apple is in the zone of "no screwdriver to add/remove" stand then on a different track.

You can't "hide" the holes with the other vent holes. The mount point for something this heavy is going to be in the solid (hole-less) part of the monitor. The whole point of those front/back milled holes is to let in more air than have metal present. ( those holes are not the structure rigidity locus point of that enclosure. Those are not good candidates for primary weight bearing loads. So across approximately middle 1/3 of the back of the XDR monitor they don't use them at all. )

Once drilled into the solid portion of the back they'll be far more obvious unless Apple made the stand use the exact same points ( and 'hide' them either by using them or making the stand's mount point bigger (and covering them. ) )

 

[Beerstalker]

Because Apple doesn't start with the VESA connection and then "wrap" the rest of the monitor/system around that.
The stand has a non VESA, custom connection to the monitor enclosures so you need an adapter. Once Apple is in the zone of "no screwdriver to add/remove" stand then on a different track.

You can't "hide" the holes with the other vent holes. The mount point for something this heavy is going to be in the solid (hole-less) part of the monitor. The whole point of those front/back milled holes is to let in more air than have metal present. ( those holes are not the structure rigidity locus point of that enclosure. Those are not good candidates for primary weight bearing loads. So across approximately middle 1/3 of the back of the XDR monitor they don't use them at all. )

Once drilled into the solid portion of the back they'll be far more obvious unless Apple made the stand use the exact same points ( and 'hide' them either by using them or making the stand's mount point bigger (and covering them. ) )

I'm a mechanical engineer with 20 years experience, I work on stuff like this every day. It could have easily been done if it had been in the plan from the start. The hole pattern would have just started with one of the standard VESA patterns and gone from there. You would still have the same solid portion across the back as there is now, it would just be slightly taller or shorter depending on the VESA pattern used, and the holes may grow or shrink a little bit.. Without proper dimensions I can't figure it out exactly.

The back would look pretty much exactly like it does now, there would just be 4 holes that would look all black instead of having the countersink and then three black ovals in it. It would probably be less noticeable than the holes around the edges that are missing one or two of the oval cutouts for airflow.

With the weight of this monitor, and the thickness of that back plate, the rigidity of this would be a non-issue.

EDIT/ Looking at the specs closer it looks like the adapter is using the 100x100 VESA standard. So if they used that same spacing the rows would move slightly closer to the magnetic mount and the solid horizontal portion would get slightly narrower. This would probably make it so the top and bottom rows of vents would be able to have all three oval cutouts in them and look less awkward.

 

[Slash-2CPU]

What are the odds someone's going to make a cheaper VESA adapter?

Or a stand that's very similar to Apple''s but $300?

 

[frou]

What are the odds someone's going to make a cheaper VESA adapter?

Or a stand that's very similar to Apple''s but $300?

Maybe the monitor has DRM and it jumps off of any unauthorized mount you try to place it on

 

[WrightBrain]

Maybe the monitor has DRM and it jumps off of any unauthorized mount you try to place it on

I'm thinking they might go for a subscription based model on the stand and VESA mount adapter, but you can pay it annually so the cost would be less expensive.