“It has a resolution of 2560×1440, which no other monitor in the industry seems to have (that I can find). 30” LCDs are the same width but 1600 tall,” Arment writes. “Shrinking 2560-wide into a screen that’s 3” smaller diagonally yields an impressive pixel density, especially given the panel’s still-immense size.”
“It has an IPS panel. IPS is the best and most expensive LCD type, giving the best viewing angle and the least color- and brightness-shifting as the angle increases in any direction. Nearly every panel on the market, including every laptop panel, is the cheap TN type. (TN panels wash out as soon as you move your head slightly, especially vertically, which is why it’s so hard to find a good viewing angle for your laptop lid while watching a dark movie.) Other 27” TN panels exist (only at the lower 1920×1080 resolution), but I can’t find any other 27” IPS panels,” Arment writes. “It’s also LED-backlit.”
Arment writes, “So it’s a very high-specced, brand new panel that’s apparently not being mass-produced yet (since no other monitors for sale are using it)… A standalone monitor with the new iMac’s panel would be perfectly reasonably priced at about $1500. From Dell. Apple’s only charging $200 more than that for theirs, and there’s an entire high-end computer stuck to the back of it.”
“When they mentioned on last week’s quarterly earnings call that they expected lower profit margins for a new product, I don’t think anyone expected a change of this magnitude,” Arment writes. “How are they making anything — or even not losing money — with the base-model 27” iMac?”
“I bet we’re going to see a lot of Mac Pro owners buying 27” monitors for $1700 and trying to figure out what to do with the free computer stuck to the back,” Arment writes. “Maybe Apple wants to push more buyers away from today’s default system-type choice — laptops — and show them why they should consider getting a fast, spacious desktop instead. And, for the time being, it’s a desktop with absolutely no equivalent in the PC world.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “since1984” for the heads up.]
“Nearly every panel on the market, including every laptop panel, is the cheap TN type. (TN panels wash out as soon as you move your head slightly, especially vertically, which is why it’s so hard to find a good viewing angle for your laptop lid while watching a dark movie.) “
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Is that really true? My MacBook Pro display certainly doesn’t wash out very easily at various viewing angles. Certainly not when I move my head slightly horizontally or vertically.
I can’t wait to run Windows 7 on my new iMac. I’m gonna take Apple’s little precious and make her dity and filthy for me. I’m gonna Balmerize Steve Jobs’ little honey. I’m gonna boot Windows and log onto apple.com just to let ’em know about it.
Are you kidding me – there’s a market for Mac pillows for idiots like you – I’m done with this blog.
Hey, where are all the usual commenters with their claims about how Macs are “overpriced”? Funny, it doesn’t look like they’ve added their usual two cents’ worth to this particular article…
Remember, if you get Mac pillows you really need to have the matching Mac PJ’S.
Strange…I put a comment up how I wish the iMac had a matte screen option and the comment was removed.
So matte comments are not approved here?
I wonder. First step in the TV direction …
@Gabriel
this is a site of Mac enthusiasts….. I doubt any would consider a Mac at all over priced
I’m glad they are using high quality display for it. Not like the craptastic LCD panels they used to use for 13” MacBooks
“Reading these reviews, I find that this is the first time in a long time I’ve actually been tempted to get a desktop again. I think I can hold out until these brilliant specs show themselves on an MBP. But just barely.”
Good thing I read through the posts, because I was going to say that about buying a desktop for the first time in about 8 years.
But this next question shows me how out of touch I may be. Can I actually hook my cable tv input into it and use it as my tv? Time for a new one anyway…………..Simple answer if possible?
A 27″ HP monitor from Frys costs $339.
Admittedly it’s resolution is a measly 1920 x 1080.
Are the extra pixels nicer? Sure. Five times the price nicer? You decide.