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What is the deal with the Cinema Display Refresh?

bobcatou

bobcatou

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 6, 2009
19
21
I'm sorry to say that it has been frustrating waiting on the next Cinema Display to come out. They are way overdue. I've been patiently waiting. I know many figured to see one with the new Mac Pro then again at WWDC but still no word. This seems very strange. With other companies out with 4k displays, all I can figure is that they can't produce them at a price point where they would be happy with the profit margin.

Any other ideas why?

Bryan
http://www.bryancady.com
 
bobcatou said:
I'm sorry to say that it has been frustrating waiting on the next Cinema Display to come out. They are way overdue. I've been patiently waiting. I know many figured to see one with the new Mac Pro then again at WWDC but still no word. This seems very strange. With other companies out with 4k displays, all I can figure is that they can't produce them at a price point where they would be happy with the profit margin.

Any other ideas why?

Bryan
http://www.bryancady.com
Click to expand...

I truly believe that Apple is looking to release a new Thunderbolt display but wants to offer the best panel and is waiting for the production of them in a Retina or Retina+ resolution.
 
Cinema Display or Thunderbolt Display? Those are two different types of monitors.

I very seriously doubt there will ever be a new Cinema Display with a mini display port input. Those are in the same category as MacBooks with spinning drives.

What we may be seeing this fall is a Retina iMac and a Retina Thunderbolt Display. They will likely be higher resolution that the current Thunderbolt Display, but not all the way up to 4K. I would guess all USB ports would be USB 3.0 and Firewire would not be supported. What would be great is to have USB 3.1 support. If the unit had USB 3.1 and TB2.....that would be some serious transport bandwidth.
 
bobcatou said:
Any other ideas why?
Click to expand...

1. With most of Apple's range being retina-ized, they really need a 'retina' badged external display. That means 4k. From what I can see, 4k is still very much at the 'early worm gets eaten by the bird' stage.

2. Replacing the 27" 2560x1440 display is tricky - 'UHD' 3840x2160 with pixel doubling gives you chunky '1080p' size icons and system fonts that are too big on a 27"+ display. 3840x2160 raw gives you eye strain, 'scaled' mode gives you a sensible compromise, but hammers your GPU because everything is rendered at 5120x2880 and then downsampled to UHD. A properly pixel-doubled 27" 'retina' display with 5120x2880 is beyond current affordable technology.

3. 4k needs Thunderbolt 2 and probably the latest Intel GPUs. Apple may not want to roll out a 4k TBD until more of the range has been upgraded to TB2 and Iris Pro. Currently, their entire computer range is stuck waiting for the delayed Intel Broadwell chips.
 
Some of it is old technology but there is no telling how long a wait until there is a refresh. Honestly, I think the Cinema Display is what's keeping the Thunderbolt Display from getting refreshed. They're practically the same so the manufacturing costs stay low. I don't see them updating one and continue to offer the other. We may not see a new TBD until Apple is ready to discontinue the Cinema Display.
 
As soon as Apple kills off the remaining non-Retina MacBooks and Minis.....they can definitely pull the plug on Cinema Displays that use display port. They they can do a Retina Display that only needs TB1 connections or, a Retina 4K Display that would need TB2 connections. Maybe we will find this out in the fall product launch event for Yosemite, IOS 8, and any other new products.
 
psingh01 said:
Some of it is old technology but there is no telling how long a wait until there is a refresh. Honestly, I think the Cinema Display is what's keeping the Thunderbolt Display from getting refreshed. They're practically the same so the manufacturing costs stay low. I don't see them updating one and continue to offer the other. We may not see a new TBD until Apple is ready to discontinue the Cinema Display.
Click to expand...

Haven't they already discontinued the Cinema Display?

I can't find them on the Apple Store either as new or refurbished.
 
Last edited:
The latest rumors are of an iMac refresh next week -- likely only a spec bump and a possible price drop. The rumors also point to a second iMac line with Retina-level displays being released this fall.

If there is a Retina iMac coming, dollars to donuts the Thunderbolt display refresh occurs at the same time or shortly thereafter.

I can't think of a good reason for Apple to consider letting the Retina display of the iMac out of the bag prematurely, in the form of an updated Thunderbolt display released before a Retina iMac release.

So I continue to save up my pennies, waiting for fall's arrival.
 
Agreed. If Apple releases a rATD this fall, Santa will have to fit two in the sleigh. I will pass on our current ATD units to family members.
 
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