by Dan Moren
The lackluster state of Retina quality external monitors
Podcast host, developer, and single-ping aficionado Casey Liss decries the state of high-quality external displays for the Mac:
The above is the entire lineup. That’s it. Four options. Three of which existed 1665 days ago.
In [effectively] 2022, there are four options for retina-quality monitors to attach to your Mac.
If there are others, please let me know, as I’d love to share them. I know that others have existed at some time in the past — like the Dells I featured in the first version of this post — but they’ve been discontinued and/or are not readily available here in the States. [emphasis original]
It remains quite surprising that there isn’t an option for those who can’t afford and don’t need the $6000 reference-monitor quality of the Pro Display XDR to pair with a MacBook or Mac Pro, even two and a half years after Apple released its foray back into the external monitor market. Even the iPad can connect to external displays, though its utility remains a bit limited.
Rumors have continued to appear of a mid-range display, possibly even alongside a refreshed 27-inch iMac next year. Making a version of the iMac displays that stand on their own would be greeted with open arms by many consumers, but as always Apple is surely doing the math on whether it’s a big enough market to justify the product development.