STUDIO DISPLAY: THE APPLE MONITOR FOR EVERYONE ELSE (WHO CAN AFFORD IT)

DISPLAY

- ROMAN LOYOLA

When Apple discontinued the Thunderbolt Display (fave.co/35Ce5j0) in June 2016 after a five-year run, it wasn't pulled off the shelf right away; it stuck around for a few months until its stock ran out. Instead of issuing a new display to replace it, however, Apple worked with LG Electronics, and by the end of 2016, the UltraFine 4K and 5K displays (fave.co/3x3qVC9) went on sale.

So for nearly three years, Apple's "official" display offerings were the LG UltraFine displays. The LG displays were fine displays (pun intended)-despite an early hiccup (fave.co/3DHomHs) with Wi-Fi interference-but the design was typical of any ordinary PC display. Apple's partnership with LG seemed to focus on the technical aspects of the screen. I'm not downplaying it at all, but one of the reasons Apple customers love Apple products is because Apple's high-quality design is very appealing.

The LG UltraFine displays were available in the Apple Store and popped up when you bought a Mac mini, but they were something of an afterthought. Before long, we began to think that Apple had no interest in being in the display business at all.

Then in 2019, Apple released the Pro Display XDR (fave.co/37dH6SK), a very expensive standalone monitor sold as an accessory for the reincarnated Mac Pro. Starting at $4,999 without a stand (which costs another $999), it wasn't a display that even Apple's most die-hard users could afford to invest in. But its design screamed Apple in every way, and we all had the same thought: If only Apple made a version of it for everyone else.