Why hasn't Apple returned to the display business?

[satchmo]

And no, I don't count the XDR which is out of reach for most users.

You just have to peruse this forum to see how many threads of people seeking a good display to use with their Mac.
And I suspect many would just want it to work out right out of the box and made for Mac.

I know they got out of the business many years ago, but I'm thinking with the inevitable resurgence of Macs (due to M1), there's certainly the demand.

I suspect part of the reason is wanting users to get an iMac if you need a large display. But with the new M1 Mac mini, and MacBooks, one wonders why they won't offer a mid-priced standalone 27" display.

 

[Fishrrman]

Amount of revenue returned from the R&D, manufacturing, marketing probably just doesn't add up for them to stay "in the monitor business".

It was the same with printers years ago.
Apple seemed to come to the decision that they didn't need that segment of the market, and cut loose from it.

I wouldn't expect to see much in the way of "retail displays" for the general market from Apple again.

 

[KrisLord]

The R&D could be minimised by simply sticking with the panels from the iMacs.

I’d quite like a screen around 24 or 27” to go with my MacBook Air.

Knowing it would “just work” with the ports on the laptop would be great.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Why hasn't Apple returned to the display business?

Low gross margins.

In the same way they are finished with the wireless router business.

Apple prefers to innovate in new categories (smart speakers, smart wearables, etc.) particularly those that potentially generate more recurring/additional service revenue (apps, cloud services, Fitness+, etc.) than a commodity box like a wifi router.

 

[retta283]

A 24" monitor from Apple that's reasonably priced would be nice. It's really about the brand name these days, I mean back in the days of the Cinema displays you could get a Dell monitor that used the same exact panel for hundreds cheaper. The brand really did come at a premium. The brand does sell though. People would like to have a display that matches their Mac minis.

 

[satchmo]

Low gross margins.

Sure, not as high as services but there’s something to be said about user experience. As I and others have repeated, a display that just works when you plug in your MacBook Air or Mac mini.

You would think with their investment in Sharp, they’d secure some pretty good prices on LEDs.

Additionally we’re not talking cheap $200 Acer like pricing. Not XDR expensive, but somewhere in the middle.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

Well I had a MacBook Air 2019 and I currently have a Mac mini 2018 and both systems "just worked" when plugged into my LG 27UL850-W. The same monitor works great with a custom build Windows PC (GeForce 2070 SUPER) and a Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box with a Radeon RX 580 GPU (either driven by the Mac mini or a Windows ultrabook).

Compatibility is not an issue. I note that my Mac mini 2018 also drives a Dell S3320DGF without any fussing.

In any case, Apple clearly can jump back into the monitor business on any day. My guess is that they simply aren't that interested. Macs are something like 15% of Apple's total revenue and notebook computers are something like 85% of all Macs sold.

Clearly, Apple has a good idea of how much money they can make from monitor sales since they have decades of actual first-party experience and sales data.

Note that Apple still evaluates monitor panels for its iMacs, they're not clueless to what's available from manufacturers. I'm sure their labs are full of sample units from all of the panel manufacturers.

You can dream all you want but it is highly unlikely that Apple will return to this part of the market.