In the latest edition of his Power On newsletter, Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman writes that he is convinced Apple will soon launch a new external display for its latest Macs.
In contrast to the Pro Display XDR which Apple currently sells, this would be within reach of more conservative budgets. It could be as ‘cheap’ as half the price of the company’s more premium monitor.
“A lower-cost monitor, I think, would be a hot seller for those looking to add a larger screen to their new MacBook Pro without spending the equivalent of a luxury car down payment on the Pro Display XDR,” Gurman writes. “At this point, the cost of building that monitor has likely come down, and with a few tweaks and perhaps a slight drop in brightness, Apple might be able to get to a similar quality monitor (at a slightly smaller size) at perhaps about half the price.”
In passing, Gurman adds that “it’s still hilarious that Apple tried to justify the current monitor’s price by comparing it to a $43,000 Hollywood-grade reference monitor.”
The Pro Display XDR currently retails for £4,599/$4,999, and Gurman’s ballpark estimate would therefore put the new consumer monitor somewhere around £2,300/$2,500. However, he does not care to be any more specific than that regarding the new device’s price, nor does he offer any launch dates or further details.
But a separate source has offered tantalising hints of what’s in store.
The popular and credible Twitter leaker DylanDKT claims that LG is currently developing two new displays that have the same specs as the current 24in iMac and the upcoming 27in iMac.
🧵Thread 1/4: There are three LG made Displays encased in unbranded enclosures for usage as external monitors that are in early development. Two of which have the same specifications as the upcoming 27 inch and current 24 inch iMac displays.
— Dylan (@dylandkt) December 15, 2021
DylanDKT claims these are screens that will be sold as standalone, Apple-branded displays, which would fit with Mark Gurman’s prediction. However, it should be added that these could also be new iMac models, although DylanDKT does not believe so.
In terms of specs, the 27in display will reportedly get mini-LED lighting and 120Hz ProMotion technology, but the 24in model will not.
DylanDKT is often accurate but by no means infallible, with a current accuracy rating of 77.5% on AppleTrack.
For all the latest rumours about Apple’s display development plans, read New Apple display release date and price.
This article originally appeared on Macworld Sweden. Translation (using DeepL) and additional reporting by David Price.
Author: Samuel Nyberg, Contributing Editor
Samuel is an editor for Macworld Sweden, writing about a wide variety of Apple products.