Apple today unveiled a new 27-inch LED Cinema Display with 2560 x 1440 resolution and 60 percent more screen real estate than the 24-inch LED Cinema Display. Featuring a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speakers, powered USB 2.0 hub, and universal MagSafe connector, the new LED Cinema Display is an ideal companion for the MacBook family or a Mac desktop, and is available for US$999.
“With built-in MagSafe charging, iSight camera, speakers, and USB ports, the LED Cinema Display is ideal for MacBook and MacBook Pro users,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, in the press release. “With its massive 2560 x 1440 resolution, the new 27-inch LED Cinema Display is a perfect fit with our powerful new Mac Pro, and it gives iMac users an easy way to double their screen real estate.”
The new, larger 27-inch LED Cinema Display features a beautiful 16:9 edge-to-edge glass display on an aluminum stand with an adjustable hinge that makes tilting the display almost effortless. The LED Cinema Display has vivid colors and exceptionally high contrast and uses a premium display technology called in-plane switching (IPS) to provide a brilliant image across an ultra wide 178 degree viewing angle.
Designed as a companion for any Mac notebook or desktop, the 27-inch display includes a built-in iSight video camera for video conferencing, an integrated MagSafe charger to keep Mac notebooks charged, built-in Mini DisplayPort connectivity for video and audio input and a powered three-port USB 2.0 hub so customers can charge their iPhone® or iPod® even when they take their MacBook with them.
The new LED Cinema Display now includes a new ambient light sensor which automatically adjusts the display brightness based on external lighting conditions and uses only as much energy as necessary to provide an optimum viewing experience. Made with mercury-free LED technology, arsenic-free glass and highly recyclable materials, the LED Cinema Display meets stringent Energy Star 5.0 requirements and achieves EPEAT Gold status. The new display contains no brominated flame retardants and all cables and components are PVC-free.
Pricing & Availability
The new LED Cinema Display will be available in September through the Apple Store, Apple’s retail stores and Apple Authorized Resellers for a suggested retail price of $999. The LED Cinema Display requires a Mac with Mini DisplayPort.
Source: Apple Inc.
This and the Mac Pro – A lethal combination powerhouse
3 of these and Mac Pro – Al Gore configuration
Matt option?
Is adding USB 3.0 as a production update at some point technically feasible?
No FireWire ports?
Not anti-glare, or even the option?
Some other company gets my dough.
“…and it gives iMac users an easy way to double their screen real estate.”
A. Done. Deal.
@Markim…
What about Tom, Dick or Harry options to keep Matt company? Although, he may prefer Sally or Jane.
16:9 is fine for watching television or playing games consoles, but I prefer 16:10 for my work.
I mourn the loss of the great 2560×1600 panels (and they weren’t glossy either).
I have one each of the 30-inch models for my two Macs, will be unhappy when I have to replace them: 2560×1440 loses me 409,600 pixels per panel.
Apple lets its pro graphics users down once again with no matte screen.
Looks like more people will be doing what I did – buy from a company who cares about its customers – and meets their needs with hi-spec professional matte screens.
Apple doesn’t do matte anymore, Firewire is basically a dead standard (a moment of silence please), and USB3 has very little support at this point in time, so get over it.
Firewire being dead irks me though. It’s a superior bus compared to USB, but it never got the support. I think being an Apple created standard had something to do with that, especially since it was ’90’s Apple.
Oh, for the love of Gawd, cease your incessant bitching and complaining and depart Apple and its products forever, Twenty Benson, Mr. Reeee, et al. This company is NOT–NOTNOTNOTNOT–for you, nor will they ever be. Vote with your feet, gentlemen, not your mouths, and help put Steve and Company out of business forever, OK?
Clearly, your standards cannot be met by the cadre of Ive, Cook, Jobs, and the like, so do suck it up, walk down to your local Dell or Microsoft store, and make yourselves deliriously happy. DO IT. And STFU!
No matte option? NO SALE APPLE!!
So I read somewhere a while ago about audio through the mini display port. does that mean that microphone and speakers go via that connection to the display and need no other?
ta
also, no microphone on the display?
No dildo either
Matte is a third party option, get it over it already.. (whiners)
Hey breeze fanatic, chill a sec. I wasn’t complaining, just wanted to know. My MBP would be off to the side, so the iunternal mike wouldn’t work in my setup.
And having thought about it after my post, it really doesn’t matter because I can just plug the microphone into the USB port in the back of the display to limit connections to MBP every time I go in and out of the office.
Not on the Apple store?
Paul, not available until September…
@Mr. Reeee,
No Firewire? Please! It’s a display.
Thank God it DOESN’T come with a matte option. Otherwise, there’d be no troll bitching to read. Nonstop. Every. Damn. Time.
I’m not sure that I really get all the uproar over the lack of a matte option. Do you realize just how much brighter these screens are over the older (matte or glossy) screens? The new ones not only give you the added brightness, but give much better color and contrast. As a photographer that shoots primarily water/underwater themes, and as often as not works one the water as well, the new glossy LED screens offer me more than the older screens.
Do you happen to remember when the matte finish screens first came out? Those of you who are screaming about no matte finish were the same ones that screamed about the disappearance of glossy.
Glossy is good!
b:
Wasn’t directed specifically at you, (if the shoe fits…) but at all the miserable sissy whinees that complain about every stupid thing in the planet that is trivial and insignificant without a …thought first.
No fanaticism – Just the facts. Life ain’t for sissies.
I like the ambient light sensor for the new LED Cinema Display, Anyone know if the new iMacs include that as well? I skimmed their specs but didn’t see it listed. That would be a nice feature for the desktops, too.
@twenty
Cry us a river.
Ever heard the phrase, It’s not the car, it’s the driver.?
I’ve yet to meet a graphics pro who is defined by his tools. At the end of the day, you are responsible for getting the job done regardless of what’s in your tool chest.
Whining in a public forum how
much your pussy hurts, is unprofessional but, trying to convince us that the manufacturer who made your “hi-tech” monitor cares more for you than any other company is hilarious.
You know what I think? I think you use this matte issue as a way to distinguish yourself from the other wannabes. If it wasn’t matte, it would be graphics cards, or I/O, or inflated prices that cut into the bottom line, anything that allows you to peddle your inflated sense of self-worth.
Apple has tremendous respect for professionals of every stripe and you know it. I can’t recall a time when you haven’t used MDN as a forum to spread your snarky comments about Apple.
Why do Brits hate America so much? Envy?
Glossy sucks for color correcting. it’s by far the hardest monitor to color correct on.
Try to match the same photo on glossy & matte monitors for print without using numbers or histos. Can’t do it easily on the glossy monitor.
Steve says ‘everybody’ wants glossy. Whatever Steve says is what you get. He’s in control – of everything. So, as they say, you can STFU.
Says he loves his ‘users’ but he doesn’t. He actually sees us as his lowly subjects and fully expects us to bow down to lord Jobs.
If you were ever unsure about this, take a look at the amazing iP4 presser where he explains the non-working antenna and then insists that Apple has been good to us so WE should STFU.
Really good chance that he sees himself as a monarch – not merely a mega-wealthy corporate CEO.
Won’t make it to my studio without a matte option.
@G4Dualie
GLOSSY SUCKS – any graphics pro worth their salt knows that. Even Apple know that because up until a couple of years ago they were clearly and loudly advertising their matte options for graphics pros who required a high level of colour accuracy and a non-reflective work surface.
It’s difficult to see how Apple has “tremendous respect for professionals” when its previous efforts to recognise, value and meet professional’s needs are tossed out of the window so that one of the richest companies in the world can squeeze an extra buck or two of profit out of its locked-in user base.
I don’t know what line of work you are in – but if you put up with using sh*t, substandard tools I guess you’re not very good at it.
I’m always amazed at the number of “regular” posters that come on, with new unregistered screen names, and post negative comments on this site whenever Apple does something new.
Get over it. It’s a company that is in the business of making money. Like all companies, Apple is trying to build a market that will sustain itself.
Whoever you are, stop posting as 15 different people. Everyone get’s that ploy now. You’re one person, who is either really ticked off at Apple or you’re a paid shill that comes here to troll.
(the above post was not directed at regular posters on this site, only at the troll who continues to bombard every thread pretending to be 4 or 5 different people.)
b
Read the article. “…Featuring a built-in iSight video camera, microphone and speakers….” See the word “microphone?” It’s in the article.
What?! No cupholder?! No happy ending?! NO SALE APPLE YOU SUCK!
@Shut Up: low self-esteem much? I believe life exists to be enjoyed and not for worrying about how a seller of products looks down on me. Those that do the latter suffer from consumeritis and need to rethink their priorities; not to mention their self-worth…
Damn. I too was hoping for a matte option. Can anyone suggest a good LED (not LCD) matte monitor for about $1,000 (24″ or larger for me?. My old 20″ Cinema Display is getting tired.
To add to the glossy debate – although we aren’t pros, myself and many people I know prefer matte. I can’t stand the reflections on a glossy screen. Brightnessis a non-issue for me as screens these days are so bright they hurt my eyes. 95% of the time I’m on the lower 20% of the brightness scale, but on a glossy screen I often have to increase brightness to lessen the amount of visible reflection.
Oh well, I don’t need a $999 monitor anyway. If they get rid of a matte option on their notebooks, I will not be happy
Scubaboy said:
“Do you realize just how much brighter these screens are over the older (matte or glossy) screens?”
Yes, and that’s part of the problem. Apple has decided that to overcome reflections, you can just overpower them with brightness. Problem is, you lose your black level if you do that. If you want to calibrate your display properly, you probably have to lower the brightness to an acceptable level. My matte Cinema Display calibrates properly at one or two bars of brightness if I want my prints to match my screen. On a glossy, that would move me into Reflection City.
Therefore, on bright glossy displays, it’s tough to get both proper color and avoid reflections. The high brightness you state is not a feature, but a problem.
As the owner of an LED Cinema, I was looking at the specs and wondered why Apple didn’t include an infrared sensor for the display. It kinda sucks that on my MacPro with a Cinema Diaplay I had to dig up an old Kensington USB IR sensor and install Remote Buddy in order to use my Apple Remote with my high $ Mac setup.
Aside from the expense, it ties up a valuable USB slot on the display and adds clutter to the desktop. It should not be a BFD to include an infrared sensor on a monitor at
this price- especially since the MacPro also lacks one.
Finally, glossy screens suck & don’t even suggest putting some kludge film on my display.
I’m an artist with last year’s glossy 27- inch iMac. It’s tough to look at a matte screen afterwards. Dull, old-looking. I recommended the matte option to my wife for her Macbook Pro, because you want to be flexible in a variety of lighting conditions. Otherwise, use your brain and set up your glossy screen away from direct lighting. It’s really not that difficult- sort of like taking a photograph with the sun behind you instead of facing it. Stop whining and be creative- common sense is also helpful. Or buy a non-Apple monitor without insulting everyone connected to the company, particularly Steve Jobs because he’s boss and Al Gore because you don’t like his politics (as if he’s got anything whatsoever to do with these decisions). Now That’s just plain stupid.
RIP 24″
…anyone want to buy the original 22″ cinema display?
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still going strong since 1999
vintage!
OMG, would you self-professed “graphics pros” here stop parroting the same old “glossy sucks and any pro would know it” BS. Here’s a reality check:
FACT: Glossy is sharper
FACT: Without the diffusion layer, glossy displays pass more brightness from the backlight and panel.
FACT: With ANY ambient light whatsoever, the glossy display will display a better black.
FACT: Because of the previous two conditions, the glossy display yields higher contrast and larger color gamut, hence the typical “more vibrant” desciption.
FACT: Glossy has a superior viewing angle, which results in better uniformity for close-viewing.
FACT: The only advantage the matte display has is lack of defined environmental reflections… If environmental reflections are a concern then you’re not working in a proper environment for “graphics pro” or color critical work, and you probably aren’t the “graphics pro” you claim to be at all!!!
FACT: Regardless of whether you’re using a glossy or matte LCD, you can’t do color-critical work in a work environment with high light levels. The glossy display will show terrible reflections, and the matte display will be completely washed-out (obscured) in the shadows (low-IRE for the video types), making anything remotely color-critical impossible.
Lastly, for you whippersnappers that are probably making up most of the glossy haters, we REAL graphics pros used CRT monitors with glossy (glass!) screens to perform color-critical print and video work for YEARS long before LCD displays (matte or otherwise) came along, and we did it well.
So, stop with the BS, glossy haters!!! Glossy and matte both have advantages and disadvantages. Personally, I love my glossy MacBook screen, and I love the iMac screen, but then I work in a proper environment for doing the “graphics pro” work I actually do every day.
@ecrabb
As someone who has spent years supporting creative workgroups, I thank you for writing the rant I was too lazy to write myself.
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Did all you whiners have this much trouble color correcting on CRT monitors?
ecrabb: many of us pros don’t have the ability to hang black curtains behind us because our studios are multi purpose.
Even if i could, i’d see the person sitting behind me in the screen anyhow.
If pros don’t really need anti-glare, why do 17″ MBP anti-glares sell 3-to-1 for the refllective screen?
Apple IS abandoning pros in one key location – the Apple Stores.
want to configure a Mac Pro with different memory – no can do.
want to buy a 12-core machine – no can do.
pro’s will be relegated to the online store – the apple stores will be for the Dell using iPhone crowd.
I run a design company and am looking at upgrading all our 30 Apple displays.
The fact that Apple don’t do a matt version for the creative professional is a deal breaker im afraid.
I don’t think Apple realise how many sales they are losing because of no matt version.
Oh well, looks like LaCie will get the sale of £19,000 of business!
@ecrabb
Well put.
As a user of all matt screens I’ve gotta LOL at the whining pro matt screen neo-luddites.
Glossy is much more appropriate for video editing and photoshop work. I think the complainers just don’t like the reflections. The screen is better but the reflections suck. Good point.
Get a lighting expert in and eliminate the reflections. Indirect lighting, blinds, drapes, whatever it takes. Glossy screens are better if you control the lighting. On the fat Mac with the ‘glossy’ 9″ screen and the overhead fluorescents we used to build cardboard hoods to stop the reflections.
Get creative and stop your bitching.
re: Im not sure that I really get all the uproar over the lack of a matte option. Do you realize just how much brighter these screens are over the older (matte or glossy) screens? The new ones not only give you the added brightness, but give much better color and contrast. As a photographer that shoots primarily water/underwater themes, and as often as not works one the water as well, the new glossy LED screens offer me more than the older screens.
Do you happen to remember when the matte finish screens first came out? Those of you who are screaming about no matte finish were the same ones that screamed about the disappearance of glossy.
—-
YOU try and work in a glass walled creative studio all day doing detailed creative work for 8hrs a day on a glossy screen.
I’m not kidding when I say that since Apple stopped the matt screens a few years back more and more of my employees are now wearing glasses!
Glossy screens are totally unsuitable for detailed work on. There is too much glare, reflections and colour distortion to use in any professional environment.
@ecrabb
You clearly don’t know what you are talking about.
“FACT: Glossy is sharper”
Physically impossible.
“FACT: Without the diffusion layer, glossy displays pass more brightness from the backlight and panel.”
Complete nonsense. All a glossy display is is a matte panel with a sheet of glass stuck on the front.
“FACT: With ANY ambient light whatsoever, the glossy display will display a better black”
Rubbish – behind a sheet of glass blacks (ie areas with no LED light transmission) are the FIRST areas to reflect ambient backgrounds. That’s why unlit shop windows are far harder to see into, being polluted with reflections.
“FACT: Because of the previous two conditions, the glossy display yields higher contrast and larger color gamut, hence the typical “more vibrant” desciption.”
Laughable. “more vibrant” does NOT mean more colour accurate. I remember a time when real Mac users laughed at the Windows crowd for their gaudy “more vibrant” screens.
FACT: Glossy has a superior viewing angle, which results in better uniformity for close-viewing.
Utter tosh! How can a mirror-like surface have a “superior viewing angle” when even a slight movement changes the reflectable background in relation to the screen?
“FACT: Regardless of whether you’re using a glossy or matte LCD, you can’t do color-critical work in a work environment with high light levels”
Drivel. Who’s talking about “high light levels”. Graphics pros use matte monitors because they work extremely well in low to mid light levels whereas glossy monitors fail badly – reflecting any source of light and making a visible silhouette of the user polluting the screen.
“…we REAL graphics pros used CRT monitors with glossy (glass!) screens…”
BS! CRT monitors has a sophisticated matte coated layer and the slight vertical curvature in the screen dissipated reflections even more.
You’re not really a graphics ‘pro’ at all are you.
@Pros Hate Glossy
Glossy sucks for color correcting? Not true.
The type of finish on the screen plays no role in color calibration. The colorimeter is reading the phosphors, or crystals that produce the light and if anything, a matte screen could potentially bias the results of the ambient light read by the colorimeter.
One doesn’t calibrate the monitor, you are actually calibrating the graphics card to match what the monitor is capable of displaying, and only after you’ve determined what color space your printer uses. I always download the latest ICC profiles from my printer’s website, just to make sure we were on the same page. Calibration is a moving target and my printer was constantly updating his color profiles.
You know what plays a bigger role in color calibration, after the graphics card and the monitor itself? The ambient light levels and ambient white point of the room in which your monitor is located. The lighting fixtures you’re using can impact the overall effectiveness of the colorimeter’s performance. Huge differences exist between the types of fluorescent bulbs that are available on the market. I was paying about 25 dollars (times 12) for each 36″ bulb in my office space.
Many other factors can impact color calibration, such as consistency and frequency. I calibrated every time my printer calibrated his equipment and always at the same time of day (3pm) to ensure all of my equipment’s ambient temperatures had reached its optimum operating range. We always calibrate our equipment using the same working conditions for the room too; curtains open, lights on, etc.
Real professionals reconfigure their workspace to suit their working needs. They don’t adapt, adjust, or compromise their talent, skills, or ethics, to suit their employer’s notion of a regimented workplace.
.
@Twenty
There are many standards for graphics professionals, so when you speak of “any graphics pro worth their salt”, I question, with a grain of salt, just what you actually mean. What sort of “graphics pro” are you, and why should I care what you think?
Why should Apple care what you think?
I can certainly understand, from a businessman’s point of view, why it would be more beneficial to deal with a single vendor, instead of two, but there’s a limit to what Apple is willing to do to satisfy the needs of every working professional.
I will say however, nothing gets Apple’s attention like a large, informed group of professionals presenting a unified front to affect change. I have ties to both the print and broadcast industries and in the last fifteen-years, the fit and finish of a monitor’s screen wasn’t even on our collective radars.
I do recall a time when Apple preferred matte over gloss, but that value disappeared with the CRT.
Pipelines and production workflow was the greater concern and our thrust was to reduce as many variables possible. In television, we wanted a less-costly alternative to Avid and Apple gave us FCP, we asked for and received an alternative to Protools and they delivered Logic. In print, we wanted uniformed color standards for print-to-film and they reached out to the prepress industry to consolidate the corporate knowledge of the working professional across the entire spectrum of the graphics industry.
FYI, in my second career, I built an advertising agency that operated out of the desert Southwest of the US, in the power triangle of LA, Vegas, and Phoenix metro. We hired talent out of LA and Nashville and did spec work for casinos, dealerships, and franchises. We produced advertising campaigns in television and radio and print for our clients.
The scope of my work was challenging, to say the least, but I never compromised my ethics or my prices. Compromised strategies, yes, but not my principles. My stubbornness cost me business but at least my client list paid their bills on time, every time.
These days, I just sit around on my arse, poking fun at blokes like you.
Gees! I just bought the 24″ version. Love it though.
@Petey
“I’m not kidding when I say that since Apple stopped the matt screens a few years back more and more of my employees are now wearing glasses!”
Ditto. A graphics pro colleague of mine bought the first 27″ glossy iMac… a few months later she was complaining of regular headaches and daily eyestrain. This is after decades in the business and many, many years spent on Macs.
_____________________________________
Note to graphics pros:
DO NOT buy this tacky monitor from Apple! DO NOT let Apple abuse its customer lock-in by forcing you to use inappropriate kit! DO NOT put your health at risk for no other reason than to swell Apple’s bank balance!
There are PLENTY of excellent high-quality pro monitors out there – and ALL of them, of course, are matte.
There is absolutely NO REASON for Apple to glue this piece of glass onto the front of its monitors – other than to satisfy Johnny Ive’s vanity. It serves absolutely no purpose other than form over function (once a cardinal sin in the classic Apple book of design principles).
In nearly all polls I have seen (including MDN’s own) around 50% of respondents clearly stated a preference for matte monitors – do not let Steve Jobs lie about this to increase his profits (at the same time as boasting that Apple does NO market research).
I use Photoshop extensively and have a 23″ Cinema Display, but my next monitor will be either an Eizo or a LaCie.
Are you saying that this monitor is worth reconfiguring an entire workplace for? There are plenty of matte monitors that do the job better, cost less and don’t require expensive lighting experts or time consuming reconfigurations.
You know something is wrong when you have to change your entire workplace in order to use a product, and you don’t even mind. Apple has you by the balls.
@ Twenty Benson,
In my opinion, if anybody doesn’t know what they’re talking about, it’s pretty clearly you. At least I can articulate my ideas. Your arguments are along the lines of “nonsense” or “rubbish”, or “drivel”, along with some irrelevant, non-technical reasoning.
Let’s try this again, mmmmkay?
No, it isn’t impossible for glossy to be sharper. The way the matte surface works is by diffusion. Diffusion works by scattering or softening, therefore it’s simply less sharp.
No, glossy displays are not a matte display with “a sheet of glass glued on”. You clearly have no idea what YOU are talking about. Glossy displays are completely missing the diffusion layer that’s in front of the matte displays that you love so much. The diffusion filter is what MAKES the display matte… Otherwise, it would be… Wait for it… Glossy.
No, glossy displays having better blacks is not rubbish at all! True, the glossy screen reflections will reflect badly, unless you put an anti-reflective coating on it… Just like the AR coating that’s on camera lenses, used to be on CRT monitors, and to this day is even on some retail display cases – for better transmission and lower reflection. The matte display isn’t immune to the problem, either. Instead of a sharp reflection, it shows a diffuse reflection, “lighting up” all the black areas of the screen from the ambient light. This is why the matte screen is clearly and obviously visible as a medium-gray surface when it’s turned off in a lighted room. You can’t get away from that.
On color, read my earlier statement again… Did I say more color accurate? No. I said, “larger color gamut”, which is completely true. Besides, is the opposite true? Does a diffusion filter somehow make a display more accurate? No, it does not. Matte or glossy, your display needs to be calibrated if you’re doing color-critical work. Period. On the uniformity/viewing angle issue: Can you read? I brought up uniformity. With larger displays like 27-30″, off-axis uniformity becomes very important. You don’t want the brightness or color balance falling off toward the edges of the display. Throw up an all-white image in Photoshop and move your head back-and-forth and watch the color temp change on your beloved matte screen, and you’ll know what uniformity (or the lack thereof) is.
Again, if you’re seeing a distracting silhouette of yourself, then you’re working in too bright of an environment. The matte display isn’t going to be accurately viewable under those circumstances, either. Your shadow details is going to be completely obscured by the ambient light falling reflected (diffused!) by the diffusion layer.
CRT’s have “a sophisticated matte coated layer and the slight vertical curvature in the screen”? Really? All of them? It’s true that some did, but most did not; especially those sold in the few years before LCDs took over. In fact, the last series of best graphics-grade Trinitrons Sony ever made before everybody started switching to LCDs was perfectly planar, and was shiny glass with an AR coating. Google the GDM-FW900 and you’ll see what I’m talking about. Try again, padme.
Yes, as a matter of fact, I AM a “graphics pro”… I sit in front of a MacBook Pro working working with the entire Creative Suite and Final Cut Studio all day every day… I’ve been a professional designer, illustrator, photographer and content creator for nearly two decades. How about you, Mr. Know-it-all?
Note to graphics pros… methinks Twenty B doth protest too much.
It’s painfully obvious, he has an agenda against Apple, especially when he starts talking about lock-in, bank balances, and vanity, none of which has anything to do with your productivity.
He couldn’t stop his colleague from buying a 27-inch iMac and he isn’t going to stop others from making up their own minds, either.
He hasn’t even seen this monitor first-hand, much less had an opportunity to use it, and here he is, running his gib and bashing Apple’s latest offering. Twenty B’s hatred of Johnny Ive, a fellow Brit, has clouded his judgement.
Make up your own minds, Apple has a return policy that provides you ample opportunity to test out their monitors under real-world conditions.
Don’t take my word for it, see for yourself!
Apple stores are well-lit environments and every monitor in the place is glossy and in plain view for your own inspection. Sit for awhile, browse the internet, play with all of the software, ask questions.
You know what I find disturbing about Twenty Bs approach? His insistence that he knows better than you, what’s good for you. For all his cackling, Apple continues to sell millions of iMacs and Cinema Displays to hard-working professionals and consumers alike.
Fear. Uncertainty. Disinformation. That’s Twenty Benson’s game.
Replaces both the 30″ and 24″, according to Daring Fireball. I’m guessing that Apple Computer Monitors will disappear in the future and we’ll see a return of the iSight Camera (as I look at my Samsung 25″ LCD TV with iSight camera attached). Facetime in the living room is gonna need a camera if not an Apple TV (40″+) with iSight built in.
@ecrabb
Please – do just a little research before writing. Education is no bad thing.
Many graphics pro users were so fed up fighting all the reflections in the first glossy iMacs that they ending up ripping off the glass in frustration. Only to find underneath… wait for it (and read v-e-r-y slowly)… the original matte panel! Exactly as it had always been on all previous Mac monitors (in the days when Apple cared about its customers and frequently advertised its matte models were for graphics professionals who needed colour-accuracy and non-reflective screens).
(So widespread has been the pro-users frustration at Apple forcing them to suffer a completely useless piece of glass (‘Ive-Candy’) that third party companies offer a service to remove the glass and fit a plastic bevel so that the end result doesn’t look like a complete dog’s dinner.)
This simple FACT alone renders the rest of your verbiage complete and utter nonsense.
“Yes, as a matter of fact, I AM a “graphics pro”… I sit in front of a MacBook Pro…”
Ha! Say no more – case closed.
REAL Graphics Pro users… do not buy this vanity product from Apple – there are a lot of pro suppliers with high-quality matte monitors out there… many using the identical LG Phillips IPS component as Apple do.
@ @G4
Are you saying that this monitor is worth reconfiguring an entire workplace for?
Nope.
I am saying people who conduct mission-critical work in a prepress environment have already given plenty of consideration to their plant’s working conditions and bringing in a new monitor isn’t going to disrupt the workflow. Nor is upgrading, and rearranging the furniture, or buying matte-finished monitors going to define you as a professional. Your work stands or falls on its own merits and your clients could care less what type of monitor you use, because at the end of the day, you’re the one responsible for delivering on your promises.
You’re just trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill. What’re you, a drama queen?
I am saying anyone who buys, or is contemplating the purchase of a glossy monitor and claims it will compromise their ability to turn out a top drawer product is just looking for an excuse for their shortcomings. Well, guess what? Clients don’t want excuses, they want results.
I am saying anyone who says a glossy screen will compromise their work ethic, has probably overlooked so many other factors that can impact the quality of your work, that the matte/gloss argument is probably the least of their worries, and just gives them something to bitch about.
I’m not suggesting anyone go out and buy lighting, colorimeters, or photometers to yield the best results either, especially if you work for scale. But, if you were like me, you did these things in order to differentiate yourself from your competition. Telling a potential client you prefer matte over gloss isn’t going to score you any points, or earn you any extra money.
I am suggesting that if you have aspirations of becoming an independent professional in the graphics industry, that you don’t let something as benign as the finish of your monitor stand in your way.
However, if you’re an employee and you are forced to work with a glossy screen, try blaming your substandard work on your monitor and see how far that takes you.
On the other hand, if you’re an employee and you work with a beautiful, but expensive matte monitor connected to an eight-hundred-dollar Dell computer, blame the computer for your substandard work and see how far you get.
Twenty Benson stated 50% polled preferred matte. And why not? This is a polarizing issue that divides the graphics community right down the middle, according to his research. So, I’d hardly call that conclusive evidence that one is superior over the other.
If you’re going to lie, using statistics, why not say 60% or even 70?
@ Nickel & Dime Benson
<i>”So widespread has been the pro-users frustration at Apple forcing them to suffer a completely useless piece of glass… “
Let me stop you right there. No one is forcing anyone to do anything. I suspect you are just addicted to drama!
If this problem was as big as you say it is, Apple would have reversed their policy already, however it’s quite apparent no one of import is twisting their arm and your one-man campaign is an utter fail.
After weighing the advantages against the environmental impact of chemical etching, Apple probably concluded there just wasn’t a big enough demand for matte monitors that would offset the expense of dealing with the accumulation and disbursal of hazardous waste.
Besides, anyone who wants a matte-finished monitor can simply go elsewhere, much like you did, so what are you bitching about?
What’s next, bitching at Apple for not making bicycles?
@ Twenty Benson,
OK, so if the iMac gloss/glass screen is so easily removable, and the MacBook Pro is available with the matte screen as an option, then WHAT THE F is everyone (like you) bitching about? Buy your plastic Samnsung or LG displays and STFU.
Oh, and because I’m using a MacBook Pro, I’m somehow not a professional? Please. I didn’t say that was the DISPLAY I was using, did I?
Oh, I know why you’re bitching… Because the new iMac and these displays AREN’T just a matte display behind the glass… They’re like I said and HAVE no diffusion layer. Ooops!
How exactly does one model of iMac having had a matte screen under the gloss screen render any of what I’ve written complete and utter nonsense?
Also, could you PLEASE stop parroting the idea that a glossy screen is somehow less color accurate than a matte screen – that’s completely untrue.
@G4Dualie
You can try putting words into my mouth and telling me what I have and haven’t done until you are blue in the face – it will not hide the fact that I am one of Apple’s biggest fans and – just like S Jobs – I will call a pile of junk a pile of junk when I see it.
Like ALL experts, I demand the very best tools for my work and will accept no compromise. If you want to make yourself an apologist for poor quality and inappropriate tools it’s up to you… if you are unable to see the difference between a good tool and a bad one, well that’s your problem (ignorance is bliss, as they say). I can only imagine what your work looks like.
A large part of that 50% who voted for matte screens in the MDN poll were undoubtedly pro users – like me… experts who care passionately about having the best tools. If Apple has lost that passion, I’ll get my kit elsewhere and leave the Ive-Candy for you and the Windows switcher crowds.
@G4Dualie
“After weighing the advantages against the environmental impact of chemical etching, Apple probably concluded there just wasn’t a big enough demand for matte monitors that would offset the expense of dealing with the accumulation and disbursal of hazardous waste.”
Jeeeez – to think MDN once attracted intelligent comment. What in the world is the “environmental impact” and the additional “hazardous waste” of LEAVING OFF a completely useless piece of Ive-Candy glass from the front of a monitor?
Apple’s dumbing down is clearly infectious.
@ecrabb
When in a hole – the best advice is to stop digging.
In the “one cable” picture on the product overview page, it’s funny how tiny the Mini DisplayPort connector looks next to the USB plug.
FYI – You can ONLY connect TWO of these to the new Mac Pro with the stock video config. One of the three ports is a dual-link DVI port, which does not work with this the LED Cinema Display. It’s obvious that Apple doesn’t care about maximizing sales of displays (no dual-link DVI port to make it more compatible). Apple wants to maximize Mac sales, and this amazing display is primarily meant to be an “accessory” to benefit Mac users.
Having used Macs since 1984, when the only option was a matte screen, since it’s been possible I’ve always purchased the highest quality monitors available.
For most of the past 26-years this was third-party options, eventually my business settled on Sony GDM-FW900 (the finest CRT available, ever) and we used them for a number of years. Check them out in Pixar “making of” videos, Steve Jobs’ other business used them too. The color calibration on these babies is second to none, I still know people in the movie/tv biz who still use them simply because of the high quality of color reproduction.
When the Apple 30-inch LCDs became available we switched to those, they are excellent and we love them.
I am sad to say that when we come to replace them we won’t be buying glossy screens, our office is all windows and the glare would render them unusable for our purposes; we’ve already only chosen 17-inch MacBook Pros with matte screens, thank goodness there is that option.
You people who take the glossy screens, that’s your choice; my choice will be to shop elsewhere for pro-displays for my Macs.
A new USS Merrimack is also long overdue.
You can bet your life Jonny Ive dont use the apple glossy screens for his work!
@twenty
The monitor in question is called a Cinema Display, and nowhere in this article is anyone stating the CD is a professional-level monitor and yet you’re here bashing Apple for what this product is not? Really?
Anyone who is passionate about their color-critical work is not looking to Apple for color monitors! They’re looking to LaCie or Eizo. If you’re happy with their offerings then STFU about Apple already.
@twenty
What in the world is the “environmental impact” and the additional “hazardous waste” of LEAVING OFF a completely useless piece of Ive-Candy glass from the front of a monitor?
I stand by my thoughts on Apple’s environmental impact of producing/recycling monitors with anti-glare treatment.
@Twenty Benson
You don’t have to be so melodramatic about it. Go ahead and buy your professional monitor from another source and connect it to your Mac Pro. Or don’t – we really don’t care. Your decision on this subject will be met with deafening disinterest. I think that you mistook this forum for Matte Daily News.
@Twenty Benson
I seriously doubt that any poll that you have seen on matte displays was scientifically designed or properly implemented to achieve a valid and statistically significant response. You referenced an MDN poll, for instance – “Ha! Say no more – case closed.”
Did you know that over 90% of contributors to the MDN forum prefer Mac OS X over Windows 7? That’s quite a statistic, but meaningless if you are attempting to characterize the preferences of the general population. It may be true that roughly half of graphics professionals prefer matte displays. But that is half of a relatively small number when compared to the Mac OS X installed base. Even Apple has limits when it comes to developing niche products. Given the increasing demand for Apple products and the growing breadth of its product line, the company cannot risk stretching itself even further in order to cater to special interests. Apple cannot even satisfy the current demand for the iPad and iPhone 4. And just wait until the release of the new iPod touch just in time for the holiday season. Another product shortage in the making…
I could say more, but absolutely nothing, including fact and reason, will change it. I’m sorry, TB, but you have terminal teabagitis.
does it ask for a serial number or key code when you click to register? try that and look on the box for a serial number or key code if it asks for it. if not, then i’d call apple..
http://healthproductadvice.com/revolution-e-cigarette-reviews/
I don’t like screenswith cameras. It makes me very suspicious. Because you never reallyknow of they are off or not. O would place tape over the camera.
@Karlv
Karl you’ve had your very own YouTube channel for months now! You wouldn’t deny millions of users the freedom to watch Karl24/7 TV, would you?
Please pull the tape off, k?
@Ampar
A new USS Merrimack is also long overdue.
The only Monitor left in Apple’s fleet is no such threat,
is highly recyclable and won’t be lost at sea.
Unlike Dell, who wrote the book on Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea,
Apple’s monitor is one-of-a-kind and won’t soon find itself in ordinary.
Your reference and humour wasn’t lost on me,
Only now can I take the time to acknowledge your saucy repartee.
Should we pass this way again,
You’ll know by my forty guns and ironclad skin.
cheers!
When do we see a 30″ non Glare option?
Well done, G4Dualie! Cheers!
@Breeze — When do we see a 30″ non Glare option?
We won’t. Apple has eliminated both the 24 and 30 inch monitors from their lineup.
IMO, the 23-inch monitor was the last professional-grade monitor made by Apple and clearly, its 24-inch replacement was an obvious departure from the quality and features professionals have come to expect from Apple. Stripping the FW-400, DVI, and matte-finish signaled Apple’s departure from the competition for prosumer dollars.
I believe Apple was refocusing its effort to widen the appeal of their external monitors to include those who were looking for a cinema-like experience for movies and gaming. A sentiment which dove-tails nicely with their decision to appeal to the much broader consumer audience.
No one can argue Apple wasn’t committed to providing professionals, including researchers, scientists, designers, publishers, and commercial printers, who care about color and image details, high-quality monitors and professional-grade color reproduction. But that attitude changed for a couple of reasons.
Apple’s professional-grade monitors were becoming an untenable product whose value had finally crossed the boundaries of diminished returns. Sales had fallen well short of the cost to produce and recover them, I’m sure.
The following statement is now included on all Cinema Display advertising:
LED Cinema Display is designed with the following features to reduce environmental impact:
• Mercury-free LED backlit display
• Arsenic-free display glass
• Brominated flame retardant–free
• PVC-free internal cables
• Highly recyclable aluminum and glass enclosure
I believe <strike>Apple</strike> Steve Jobs weighed the merits and faults of producing and selling monitors with a matte finish and decided the recovery costs exceeded their production value.
Couple that with the fact that there are manufacturers, who’s livelihoods depends on the development of professional-grade color monitors, are getting the lion’s share of profits anyway, Apple probably realized they don’t have to compete for that narrow market segment anymore.
That and the fact that Steve Jobs made a very public commitment to actually abide by the tenets of going Green, instead of paying lip service to the environmental watchdogs, who can and do publicly embarrass any hypocritical company who pretends to care about environmental issues.
G4Dualie:
You’re right, but one of the Mac’s strengths are it’s graphics applications, most all graphic professionals use Macs exclusively and without a non glare option they can’t work. Remember that it took a lot of persistence to get the 15″ MBP to offer a non glare option, but it happened because it mattered.
There may be a way to make this a high end option that fits with the bigger picture and if all the graphics, photographers, architects, graphic designers and art department pros, get together and make a good case, it’s not that small a matter despite the numbers.
It would behoove Apple to keep a presence, there. Maybe they won’t but that would suck.
for sale, Apple 3.06GHz Intel Core 2 Duo $270.
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB952?mco=MTM3NDgzMzI
US$999 ?? for just the 27-inch Display, i don’t think so!
for $270 more you get the whole Mac computer with a 27 inch display that can be used as a standalone external monitor. so… W.T.F.?
is it worth the money?
oh, I forgot, comes with free Magic Mouse and Apple Wireless Keyboard = $69 + $69 = $138
so basically you get the computer for $270 – $138 = $132.
magic word = rather.
i would rather have an iMac.
but it happened because it mattered
Sure. But using a Mac Pro in a controlled environment coupled to an Apple monitor just doesn’t matter anymore. MacBooks are another matter altogether and Apple clearly knows who their target market is, especially where top-of-the-line MacBooks are concerned.
I agree with you in part, Breeze, but the Mac strengths are no longer exclusive to the Mac platform and Adobe made that very clear when they introduced the world’s first 64-bit creative suite, for the Windows platform. What a slap in the face, that was.
Times have changed and so have we. I can recall when Mac users were respected for their choice of tools, ridiculed but respected, however, ever since Adobe expanded their offerings to include the Windows platform, anyone with a 400 dollar Dell and a pirated copy of PS is now calling themselves a graphic artist.
If I were still in the business now, as then, I would have a Mac tower connected to a third-party monitor, not because they were cheaper, or the color fidelity was any truer, but because they were far more flexible and versatile.
These days there are far too many options in monitors out there for professionals to be concerned over whether or not Apple will resurrect the professional-grade monitor, or as has been their inclination at times, to withdraw features without notice.
These days Madison Avenue is content with iMacs, not Mac Pros, and it’s far easier to lift the glass from the frame and have it coated professionally, for the price of lunch, without voiding your warranty.
Apple hasn’t had a presence in the monitor market for years, that’s why I have trouble understanding the hostility directed at them by Twenty Benson because yesterday’s introduction of the new 27-inch monitor lacked a matte finish.
Apple hasn’t made a matte-finished monitor for what, five-years now?
G4Dualie:
Yeah, was just about yo say- 27″ iMac should definitely have a non glare option.
Were down the dumbing down of quality standards again, but you know, a larger non glare cinema display would shine in the living room home theatre scheme of an Apple TV the next generation too…
I
The squeaky wheel gets the
G4Dualie
My hostility is because many graphics professionals are perfectly well catered for with a well-speced mid-range box and a pro-monitor. Having bought into the Mac platform over many years of support (paying a very substantial investment), Apple now deny graphics professionals that most basic choice of computer. Graphics professionals are now forced by Apple to either buy a tiny under-powered Mini Mac (+ pro monitor) or a huge, expensive, over-powered Mac Pro (+ a pro monitor). If Apple no longer want to sell pro monitors to graphics professionals (or anyone for whom quality is important), the least the company could do is sell a well-speced headless mid-range (mid-size) box to that large group of loyal users.
I soldiered on for years with my old iMac G5 waiting for Apple to do this and the company refuses to. In the end I bought myself a very nice pro matte monitor from another company and built myself a very useful mid-range box which I’ve hacked to run my very favourite OS. Not my first choice but, as Apple refuses to continue meeting my realistic needs as a customer, the solution works like a dream and has saved me a small fortune to boot!
@TB
Your lips to god’s ears…
Why keep insist with these glossy screens? Does it look fresh and flashy? Yes, I think it does. However it totally fucks up your viewing experience (if your not interested of using it as a rear-view mirror).
I’m really interested in this screen, but if no anti-glare option – no sale to me either…
…and to fiddle with some sort of anti-glare film feels pathetic to me.
glossy is evil, when will the public realize it is hurting their eyes? I would think apple would rather make the professionals happy and the regular uses on their computers longer per session, before having to turn it off from glare burn out.
where is the matt option???? why i want matt? i want matt display cos i dont want to see my self in the display all the time !! lool so stupid anw i will wait for 1-2 months otherwise i buy the 5 year warranty EIZO !
wow, you people get so heated!
Shouting down dissent – nasty stuff. How about we share our experience and knowledge for the greater good?
I’m a professional graphic designer/photographer.
I’ve been using and managing studios full of macs for 25 years. I have had dozens of them in my studios. I even have seven macs at home hooked up to a variety of displays, from 24″ dells to 30″acds.
Overall, the mac screens work better – more accurate, reliable and consistent – and matte is infinitely better. Staring at my own tired old face over my work is quite distracting.
Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but all opinions are NOT created equal.
G4dually – you’re a wanker.
No matte screen means I don’t buy Apple monitor.
I really wish Apple would remember there are design professionals who give a shit and will go and buy an NEC monitor or what not. on my way…