Rumors of a new, “more affordable” Apple monitor are here to stay

It’s been a long and sad decade for fans of Apple’s first external monitors.

The 2011 Apple Thunderbolt Display was unceremoniously discontinued back in 2016 without a replacement. The LG UltraFine 4K and 5K displays that Apple will still be selling you are not bad – the 5K variant is still one of the few 5K monitors in existence, and they have modern Thunderbolt 3 ports, USB hubs, built-in webcams, and decent display panels. But their thick, ugly bezels and boxy black design hardly go well with Apple’s sleek silver hardware. And then there’s the ProDisplay XDR, an obscenely expensive screen that can cost two to six times what the Mac you plug it into.

But multi-monitor Mac enthusiasts aren’t losing hope, and rumors are swirling that Apple is getting back into the market for displays that a normal person can afford. The latest iteration of these rumors comes from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who says (via MacRumors) that Apple is planning a new, “more affordable”27-inch display and may be planning to release it alongside a more powerful version of the Mac mini sometime. in 2022.

The only detail Kuo offered was that the display would not use the mini-LED technology from the latest iPads or MacBook Pros, so it’s not specified if “2022”means “at an event tomorrow”or “in December.”

I’m hesitant to use the words “cheaper”, “cheaper”or “affordable”to describe what this monitor could be because it’s “cheaper”than the $5,000 and up ProDisplay XDR, which is a very high price. for another monitor to get below. But if the display is priced close to LG’s current 5K UltraFine display and resolutions above 4K are used, it can be a compelling alternative to the higher density 27″and 32″4K monitors offered by most monitors. manufacturers. These monitors look good when plugged into a Mac, but their pixel density doesn’t match what Apple uses for its own iMac and MacBook displays – you’ll need to use macOS’s scaling settings to make things look right.

If there’s a new Apple display at an Apple event tomorrow, we’ll be covering it live starting at 1:00 pm ET on Tuesday, March 8th.