Apple recently held one of their most densely packed Worldwide Developer Conferences ever,
where they announced some pretty incredible technology. Like Sidecar in macOS Catalina,
dark mode in iOS 13, Project Catalyst, SwiftUI, and even a new Mac Pro. But despite all these
exciting announcements, the product that received the most publicity was a display stand. And
that’s because Apple decided to create a $5,000 display while selling its stand separately
for an extra one thousand dollars. And you can actually hear the audience’s reaction
to this news. [clip] Now I’m not making this video to defend Apple or justify the
stand’s price, we’re simply going to explore reasons why Apple is selling their display’s
stand separately, and why it might be so expensive. This is Greg with Apple Explained and I want
to thank Squarespace for sponsoring this video, if you want to help decide which topics I
cover, make sure you’re subscribed and these voting polls will show up in your mobile activity
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Now in order to put Apple’s new Pro Display XDR in perspective, we have to become familiar
with the sort of displays Apple has released in the past. The most recent model being the
Thunderbolt Display in 2011 which sold for $1,000. It was marketed to everyday consumers
who wanted a more streamlined external display solution. It featured a built-in FaceTime
HD camera, microphone, speakers, and an array of IO ports. But when it came to the panel
quality, there wasn’t much to set it apart from its competition. With a 1000:1 contrast
ratio, 375 nits of brightness and a resolution of 2560x1440, the Thunderbolt Display delivered
a typical viewing experience. Apple continued to sell the display until 2016, when they
decided to exit the display market altogether, saying "There are a number of great third-party
options available for Mac users.”
Now I actually thought this was the right decision for Apple since their display panels
weren’t much better than average. In fact, I’d say there were only two advantages of
owning an Apple display. First, is their signature Apple design, and second, they worked seamlessly
with your Mac. But those benefits weren’t enough to justify the Thunderbolt Display’s
premium cost. Because although its one-thousand dollar price tag may not sound too bad by
today’s standards, you could easily find a third party monitor with a comparable panel
for half that price. And although Apple stopped making their own external monitors, they did
partner with LG to create the Ultrafine 4K and 5K displays in 2016 which were designed
to be used with MacBooks, and featured the same high-quality panels as the retina iMacs.
So it appeared that the days of Apple-designed displays were over. That is, until 2017 when
rumors surrounding a new high-end 6K Apple display began to surface. It came as a surprise
to many, considering Apple had just announced their departure from the display industry
one year earlier. Now that rumor became reality at this year’s WWDC when Apple revealed
the Pro Display XDR, which introduced features that had never been seen before on displays
in its class. It delivers 1,000 nits of sustained brightness which is far higher than the average
300-400 nits. It has a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio which is just crazy compared to the
average 1,000:1 ratio. And it delivers billions of colors, perfects black, and a color-consistent
ultra-wide viewing angle. Not to mention its retina-level pixel density of 218 pixels per
inch. But what really sets the Pro Display XDR apart from Apple’s previous monitors
is its starting price of $5,000. A significant jump from the $1,000 thunderbolt display,
which was already considered to be pricey.
But there’s a huge distinction that needs to be made when comparing the Pro Display
XDR to anything else on the market. And that is, Apple isn’t marketing this product to
the everyday consumer like they had been with their Thunderbolt displays. Which is probably
why it’s the first Apple monitor to have the word “pro” in its name. Just look
at the terminology Apple uses on its product page: “Transforms the professional workflow,”
“the world’s best pro display,” “When multiple people review work together on a
single screen, it’s critical that everyone sees the same thing,” “if you’re in
an especially uncontrolled lighting environment, there’s an innovative matte option,” “Professionals
require a lot from their displays,” “It wasn’t just made for the pro workflow. It redefines it.”
So it’s clear Apple is using terminology to target a specific demographic of professional
customers. Also, we have to consider how the display was introduced. It was featured alongside
the new Mac Pro, which is obviously not a machine for everyday users.
So it’s very important to understand that discrepancy when considering the marketing
decisions Apple made. Because if you watched their WWDC, Apple didn’t compare the Pro
Display XDR to their old Thunderbolt Display or LGs Ultrafine Display, they compared it
to reference monitors. Which cost tens of thousands of dollars and are used in very
specific professional settings, like on movie sets or in editing studios. And in that context,
Apple’s Pro Display XDR will likely disrupt the display market. By bringing features that
were previously only available on expensive references monitors to a more reasonably priced
display.
Now before we go any further I want to point out that there are some big differences between
broadcast reference monitors and Apple’s Pro Display XDR. While we don’t know everything
about Apple’s new display, I think it’s safe to assume it won’t feature some of
the very niche functionality of a $40,000 reference monitor. Things like interlacing
options, attaching multiple SDI inputs for multi-camera recording, and allowing for custom
marker overlays for different aspect ratios. These advanced features are necessary in many
professional settings and likely won’t be possible with Apple’s Pro Display XDR. So
while I don’t want to lead you to believe that reference monitors will be replaced,
it is true that Apple’s new display incorporates many incredible features that pros would find
helpful.
So now that we understand the context of this product in the pro market, we can begin to
unravel the mystery behind its $1,000 stand. You see, most professionals don’t use stands
with their reference monitors since they already have an existing workstation in place. So
they’ll simply mount it to whatever setup they already have. That’s why Apple is offering
a stand and VESA mount separate from the display. It seems like an odd approach to everyday
consumers, but it isn’t so strange to high-end professionals, which again, is Apple’s target
market.
But I don’t think people were upset about the stand being sold separately as much as
its $1,000 price tag, which is exorbitant. Now Apple kind’ve tried to justify this
price by demonstrating how many components where inside the hinge and how much technology
was required to counterbalance the display to make it feel weightless when adjusted.
But the simple fact is this stand is not worth $1,000. It doesn’t have the technology or
component cost of a $1,000 iPhone XS. It’d even be a stretch for Apple to sell this stand
for $500. So the big question is, why is this stand so unnecessarily expensive? Now Apple
hasn’t given an official explanation, and probably never will, but I think I have a
reasonable answer. And it has everything to do with Apple’s approach to their accessories
business.
You see, the term “Apple Tax” has been used throughout the years to describe Apple’s
tendency to charge more for a product than its competition. And nowhere is this more
apparent than with their accessories. For example, Apple’s Magic Keyboard costs $130.
And if you want the space gray color, there’s a $20 up-charge. A comparable HP keyboard
costs just $90. And consider their leather sleeves which costs $30 for the Apple Pencil
and $130 for the iPad. Lastly, their Apple Watch bands. $50 for a rubber strap, all the
way up to $450 for a stainless steel link bracelet. I can’t even imagine the profit
margin on those accessories. Now that’s not to say these products aren’t good quality,
they just have insanely high markups.
And when it come’s to the Pro Display XDR’s stand and VESA mount, Apple considers them
to be accessories. And therefore applies those same markups that we’ve seen in the past.
Again, I’m not trying to justify Apple’s high accessory prices, I’m just pointing
out that this is how Apple has been doing business for decades and it’s likely why
this stand is so overpriced. There’s also a second point I want to make. As we learned
before, Apple is marketing this display to the pro market, and that means they’re more
likely to have business customers who are inherently less price-sensitive than individual
consumers. They won’t hesitate to spend $1,000 more on a stand or $200 more on a VESA
mount if that’s what their employees need.
But to be honest, I think this display stand fiasco was a huge marketing mistake. Apple
should’ve simply charged $6,000 for their display with its stand included. That way
they’d not only make more money from each purchase, but they’d avoid all this negative
press which is taking attention away from other incredible technology they’ve announced.
So while charging $1,000 for a stand is obviously excessive, professionals who actually buy
the Pro Display XDR will either not need it, or probably won’t mind spending the extra
money for it.
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Alright guys thanks for watching and I’ll see you next time.