THE Thunderbolt Display was launched by Apple in July 2011. It arrived to replace the LED Cinema Display, which, technically, was very similar – the differences were due to new connectivity options (Mini DisplayPort came out; Thunderbolt entered, among other things). The technology behind the screen, however, is the same. So, we can even say that this display that we are seeing was created by Apple in 2010 – which is even worse considering the speed with which things are advancing in the technological world.
Rumors about a possible Apple monitor launch have surfaced but, just as quickly as they arrived, they are gone.
We have already discussed a lot – mainly in MacMagazine On Air (including last episode # 187) – Apple’s decision to keep the display on sale for so long. To give you an idea, this beauty comes with a FireWire 800 port (very little used today) and a MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adapter (the second generation of the Apple magnetic connector was launched in 2012, along with MacBooks Pro with Retina display, and has everything to be abandoned in the new notebooks in favor of USB-C).
Anyway, you can understand that, as much as it is a beautiful monitor, it is too outdated and, of course, overpriced (abroad costs US $ 1,000; in Brazil, R $ 9,300) – with this amount, you can even purchase monitors 4K! For Apple has finally acknowledged that it is no longer possible and said it is discontinuing the Thunderbolt Display.
To TechCrunch, an Apple spokesman gave the following statement: “We are discontinuing the Apple Thunderbolt Display. It will be available through Apple.com, Apple retail stores and Apple authorized resellers while supplies last. There are a large number of third-party options available for Mac users. ”
The end of the statement is quite illuminating; if Apple planned to launch a new display soon, it would make no sense to discontinue the Thunderbolt Display like this and claim that there are third-party options available out there.
I still bet on the arrival of a new screen, but now, at least based on this change of scenery, it seems that everything was for – well – after …
Update · Jun 24, 2016 at 14:51
Thunderbolt Display takes dirt nap as expected. Sources telling me next-gen display will indeed have integrated GPU https://t.co/kx6n0vQGMf
– John Paczkowski (@JohnPaczkowski) June 24, 2016
The Thunderbolt Display is taking a deep nap, as expected. Sources tell me that the next generation will actually have an integrated GPU.
John Paczkowski is one of those people who have great sources within Apple, contact with company executives, etc. So when he says something about the world of the Apple, it’s almost certain.
For now he “confirmed” that Apple is not abandoning the display segment and that it is working on a next generation. As expected, it will have a dedicated GPU to help with the task of playing Mac content on the likely 14.7 million pixels of the screen.
Summary: Apple is working and will launch the product. Only that won’t happen soon, so she found herself “obliged to recommend” third-party monitors.
