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Samsung's iMac-Style 'Smart Monitor M8' With AirPlay Now Available to Pre-Order
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That someone would be Tim Cook… the same bean counter who sold us $600 wheels for the mac pro. This is what happens when you make more money than many S&P 500 companies… you become completely detached from reality.
It’s time for Apple execs to step down, with few exceptions like Srouji and Ternus. It’s in dire need of some bold, creative blood.
I am all Apple, everything they offer. And I’ve never hesitated. But, there is something so insulting about that additional $400 to raise and lower a $1600 monitor…it really stunned me. We laughed at the mad rush to pay $20 for an Apple logoed cleaning cloth and did it…but this? Stuff it, TimApple!
This will probably make for a great finance module question - how do you reconcile $700 wheels with a $400 iPhone SE, and I find the answer really boils down to simple economics.
I feel that is why the wheels are priced at the level they are. It’s an optional accessory, and a low-volume and niche one at that, and the price reflects this.
I will also point out that I wouldn’t construe this as price gouging either, in that this is not a highly-demanded good that has had its price increased to an obscene amount.
Maybe that’s why Apple is making more money than other companies. If Apple’s pricing strategy was really so detached from reality, then who are these people buying Apple products and making Apple the financial juggernaut it is today?
I want to be able to remove the power cord so I can easily move the display from room to room without messing with my cable management. I realize this probably won't be a common use case, but a magnetic plug like the iMac would have been so cool.
Now that I think about it, I also have a puppy who likes to chew on cords. So that's another reason.
Nonsense. The Mac Pro may account for less than 1% of Apple's Mac sales, but that's out of 20 million so they're still being mass produced by the tens of thousands. If we were talking about, say, custom Apple Silicon processors, which cost a fortune in development and tooling up costs, those numbers might be a problem - but a furniture castor is a furniture castor. You can get them for a couple of bucks - or you can get a set of nice-looking ones that wouldn't be out of place under a Mac for £20, made to plug in to a range of ~£200 filing cabinets in place of feet (just like the Mac Pro & probably selling in similar numbers).
If some quirk of the Mac Pro design means that the wheels have to be hand-made in tiny batches at vast expense when they're just wheels (and don't even have fancy features like brakes) and could easily be sourced as a standard part then that is just plain bad design (good design doesn't ignore practicalities such as cost). Likewise, "economies of scale" are no excuse for the Studio Display height-adjustable stand when most other high-end displays with far smaller potential markets than the Studio Display have them included.
However, I suspect that the mark-up on those wheels and stands is something like 1000%, and they rely on customers price sense being temporarily numbed by having just laid out $20,000 for a computer. Also, it's probably helpful when negotiating large commercial tenders: sweeten the deal by throwing in a bunch of "$1000" stands and "$400" wheels for free.
The problem is that Apple are going for a "Luxury Car" style pricing policy of raking in profit by adding on over-priced extras after the punter has decided to buy the car. Looks like it is doing OK (for Apple) in the short term - although its unclear whether that's because there's a market for the computer equivalent of a Bentley or just because users are so committed to the platform that it is cheaper for them to pay up than re-tool with a cheaper PC system. The problem in the latter situation is that it locks Apple into a pool of established users that is only going to shrink with time. Certainly in the pro area they're not even trying to win customers from "the other side" and while constant whinging about the Mac Pro wheels and display stands may seem petty, I know from talking to my (pro) PC-using friends that the publicity around those prices has really cemented their idea of Apple as source of laughably over-priced bling.
depends on what you compare to.
If you take "design furniture" (talking B&B Italia, Vitra, Knoll and other stuff) as the frame of reference, the Apple monitor stands and wheels are actually well priced. You pay excessive prices for these pieces and the built quality is often far below to what Apple delivers.
So just think, you bought some nice furniture and be happy, how cheap you got it.
There is a fundamental difference in your analogy. Furniture last forever. My house is all furnished Knoll, Cassina, Herman Miller - George Nelson, Bertoia, Eames, Mies van der Rohe, Poulsen.etc. all from Design with Reach. So I totally understand the premise.
I have no problem spending $1200 on an AJ50 Lamp or a $4k Eames Aluminum Group chair chairs because I can run them for 20 plus years. The monitor stand will only be for that one monitor in a snapshot in time.
In principle you are right - but e.g. in a household with 4 kids, many of these "classics" have a shorter lifespan than monitor feet (which are actually surprisingly long-lived for high-tech stuff).
That would be nice, but it's a proprietary power cord. They had to create one because the monitor is too thin to use a standard plug. The socket is also a high voltage AC plug. You can't use a magnetic connector with that unless you move the power supply to an external brick. I'm fairly sure Apple made the plug non-removable because it is unique and they didn't want people to lose them, seeing as they're not available for sale anywhere. You lose the cord, you have a brick for a monitor.
They both are proprietary, but I certainly agree that a magnetic connector would have required an eternal brick. I would have preferred that situation, but I understand that others may not.
I would break them of the habit of chewing on cords, a long time ago I had puppy who chewed on a power cord while I was out and I came home to a dead puppy, still brings tears to my eyes 40 years later.
They just hijacked the 27" M1 we were expecting and turned into a Display Only. I will continue to be miffed about no iMac 27 . . .
I got the Samsung M8 about 1 week ago and have been working on it all week (mostly reporting / excel / producing figures/graphs). Compatibility with my MacBook Pro 16 M1 Max is spot on, with the webcam, charging, hub all working as expected.
After reading all the comments in this post, I was half expecting to be badly disappointed, but I’ve found it very good. I’m using it at scaled 2304 × 1296, which seems like the sweet spot for me, in terms of UI readability and screen real-estate. I don’t get all the negative comments in this thread on scaling. I sit about 70cm back from the display, everything looks retina, and scaling doesn’t seem to impact image quality or performance in a meaningful way. In fact, if I had the smaller Studio Display, with pixel doubling, the UI would almost certainly be too small at 70cm (for me). As it stands I’m loving the 32 inch size and the resolution selected. Being able to kick back onto the sofa in my study and use it as a TV, with nice deep blacks (presumably thanks to the VA panel) and colours that pop, rounds it out nicely 👌🏻. It’s not perfect (sound quality and viewing angles could be better), but having paid £550, I’m not complaining!!
After reading all the comments in this post, I was half expecting to be badly disappointed, but I’ve found it very good. I’m using it at scaled 2304 × 1296, which seems like the sweet spot for me, in terms of UI readability and screen real-estate. I don’t get all the negative comments in this thread on scaling. I sit about 70cm back from the display, everything looks retina, and scaling doesn’t seem to impact image quality or performance in a meaningful way. In fact, if I had the smaller Studio Display, with pixel doubling, the UI would almost certainly be too small at 70cm (for me). As it stands I’m loving the 32 inch size and the resolution selected. Being able to kick back onto the sofa in my study and use it as a TV, with nice deep blacks (presumably thanks to the VA panel) and colours that pop, rounds it out nicely 👌🏻. It’s not perfect (sound quality and viewing angles could be better), but having paid £550, I’m not complaining!!
Thanks for the write-up. I never even considered this monitor but might check out some reviews and videos
Edit: where did you get it for £550? I’m seeing it at £699.
Hey, I am not the OP you are replying to but I can tell you there are ways to get a discount on the M8, at least in the USA you can through Educational Discount, which is pretty considerable; and there are others for government, veteran, and even some in-store programs at the likes of Best Buy and such.
I googled Samsung discount codes and found one (15% off smart monitors in June). The site was:
www.telegraph.co.uk/vouchercodes/samsung
You might find a new deal.
The monitor came with Samsung Buds Live, which I sold for £50 (unopened - I have AirPods).
I've been curious about this monitor, as I'd really like to upgrade from the 2K 24" I have. Thanks for the feedback!
I am not a resolution snob but for point of reference:
I have two LG 5Ks. one LG 22" 4K 4096x2306 (true 4K), a UHD 27" LG 4K monitor, and a 49 inch Samsung G9 Odyssey super ultra wide 5120x1440. I use them all daily in different parts of the house.
After having all these monitors, I should have sprung for the Apple Studio displays in pairs. Yes, $200 more than the LG but the major difference is the Apple can daisy chain Thunderbolt 4 with the Caldigit dock. So one cable. Right now, I use two TB cables. All my monitors are 500 nits and up except the Samsung which is 420.
I would not get a 32" 300 nit 4K monitor. The 300 nits is the same reason I did not go for a LG 40" Ultrawide over the Samsung G9.
I deal with the low res 49 inch Samsung because I only use it with my gaming computer. So no small text. It has HDR 2000 and 240Hz refresh. I can drive 120Hz from my Mac but I don't play games.
I don't think the M8 is a good value. I would rather get another LG or Samsung 4K at 27 inch like the G8 and just add Amazon Fire TV Stick to get smart tv features. And that is what I do with my LG 27"
Furthermore, for the price you are getting the M8, you can buy the LG C1 OLED or Asus Aurous OLED. Then with 48" you don't have to do any scaling whatsoever. If you feel adventurous, go for the 42" version of the LG C2. Those monitors are pretty hot. Except those are HDMI 2.1 so 60Hz max from any Macs. That is why I got a G9.
I have two LG 5Ks. one LG 22" 4K 4096x2306 (true 4K), a UHD 27" LG 4K monitor, and a 49 inch Samsung G9 Odyssey super ultra wide 5120x1440. I use them all daily in different parts of the house.
After having all these monitors, I should have sprung for the Apple Studio displays in pairs. Yes, $200 more than the LG but the major difference is the Apple can daisy chain Thunderbolt 4 with the Caldigit dock. So one cable. Right now, I use two TB cables. All my monitors are 500 nits and up except the Samsung which is 420.
I would not get a 32" 300 nit 4K monitor. The 300 nits is the same reason I did not go for a LG 40" Ultrawide over the Samsung G9.
I deal with the low res 49 inch Samsung because I only use it with my gaming computer. So no small text. It has HDR 2000 and 240Hz refresh. I can drive 120Hz from my Mac but I don't play games.
I don't think the M8 is a good value. I would rather get another LG or Samsung 4K at 27 inch like the G8 and just add Amazon Fire TV Stick to get smart tv features. And that is what I do with my LG 27"
Furthermore, for the price you are getting the M8, you can buy the LG C1 OLED or Asus Aurous OLED. Then with 48" you don't have to do any scaling whatsoever. If you feel adventurous, go for the 42" version of the LG C2. Those monitors are pretty hot. Except those are HDMI 2.1 so 60Hz max from any Macs. That is why I got a G9.
Where are you seeing the C1 OLED 48” at the same price as this cheaper Samsung display?
This monitor is currently $599 CAD (approx. $434USD). At this price, it seems like a pretty good deal, compared to the ASD at $1869 (EDU pricing). Is anyone using this at 4K resolution on a daily basis? I don't mind small text (run my native MBP Max screen at the highest scaled resolution supported by MacOS), and am most concerned about the reports of scaling issues with Macs and 4K monitors.
Currently have an LG QHD UW at work and cannot stand the text rendering on it. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any solutions outside the LG 5K ultra fine and ASD, both of which are expensive and have their own problems. I'm not sure about the text scaling issue on the LG 40 inch UW 5K2K monitor either. I'm not opposed to spending the money on a great monitor, but there seem to be significant issues across all of the more expensive options. Thanks for opinions!
Currently have an LG QHD UW at work and cannot stand the text rendering on it. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any solutions outside the LG 5K ultra fine and ASD, both of which are expensive and have their own problems. I'm not sure about the text scaling issue on the LG 40 inch UW 5K2K monitor either. I'm not opposed to spending the money on a great monitor, but there seem to be significant issues across all of the more expensive options. Thanks for opinions!