Known for products that are beautiful, sleek and riding on the edge of innovation, Apple has just revealed the latest incarnation of it’s Mac Pro and a fitting display for it – the Apple Pro Display XDR. The Mac Pro might just sport spec upgrades, but that display is a whole new ballgame. Unfortunately, although priced at a whopping $4,999, it doesn’t come with a monitor stand.
Before we harp on about that, let’s take a general view of the Mac Pro. While we may simply mention it as a spec upgrade, the new Mac Pro really does take a step up with a massive Intel Xeon 28-core processor and graphic card capable of driving that Pro Display XDR monitor.
A beautiful 32” monitor which features Retina 6K display and 10-bit colour, 1,600 nits brightness and 1,000,000: 1 contrast ratio. It is any production engineer’s wet dream which will likely last until they learn that even a close to $5k each, it comes sans monitor stand.
That’s right folks, something which should be included out of the box, Apple has decided to offer for sale as an optional extra. We’re not sure how Apple considers it optional, since as far as we know, most people do make use of monitor stands and seldom want to pay thousands of dollars for a monitor and then prop it up against the wall.
In fact, Apple was careful to NOT mention anything about a stand when giving the spiel about the spanking new monitor, with Phil Schiller, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing saying “With Retina 6K resolution, gorgeous colour, extreme brightness and contrast ratio, and a highly functional design, Pro Display XDR delivers the most comprehensive set of features ever offered on any display at this price point”.
Given that the words “functional” and “most comprehensive set of features” were included in that statement, it is even more baffling as to why a monitor stand was thought to go better as an optional extra.
When Apple first came out with its cutting-edge products, they were considered the leading wave of innovation, combining proven technical prowess with stable software, a good ecosystem and beautiful designs. Combined, these allowed it to command premium prices in the market.
Fast forward a decade or so and the i-whatever of the day seems to have been raised in price from the eye-raising to “oh my God” till we come to today’s “WTF?” Headquartered in a state which has over 120,000 homeless, Apple has not just remained out of reach for the masses but has now ventured into the “out of touch with reality” territory.
We certainly understand producing premium products at premium price tags, but to have consumers pay an additional $1,000 for something which should come out of the box with the monitor is not just delusional, but downright insulting.