No ACDisplay Refresh at WWDC - What to do?

[Mr Ten]

I'm expanding my home office and am looking to add a couple new machines here.

One of the things I want is a second 23" ACD (I don't care what competitive third parties offer).

Everyone was speculating on a monitor refresh coming at WWDC. So will this be a late item, a post-teaser item of sorts, or will we not see this for some time?

Just wondering if I should spring for an existing monitor or if something is closer on the horizon.

Thanks in advance.

[Luca]

It's hard to predict what Apple's going to do with their monitors. I mean, every time they update they go from being, say, three years behind their competition to being two years behind their competition. You can't judge when they'll be updated based on how out of date they are because they're always out of date.

It's impossible for someone to give logical purchasing advice if you are dead-set on buying an Apple display. Their displays use S-IPS technology, which is good, but they have no other redeeming qualities. They cost hundreds of dollars more than most LCDs, they lack the extra inputs and other features that nearly all competing LCDs have, and (perhaps most importantly) they have only one year of warranty coverage. You have to pay extra to extend that to three years, something every other LCD has included in the price.

I'm sorry, I don't really intend for this post to be rude, I just have strong feelings about Apple's LCDs. I feel they are ripping off their customers, and many people are perfectly happy with being ripped off. I guess if you're happy with them and absolutely hate anything by any other company, that's your business, but there's a lot more to the monitor business than Apple vs. Dell. Viewsonic, LG, Samsung, and Doublesight all make excellent and stylish monitors. Apple doesn't have a monopoly on style the way they do with laptops, so there aren't many compelling reasons to buy a monitor from Apple.

[Yonzie]

If you want an extra 23" CD, buy one. New displays most likely won't match your current one. It's not just about design either. New displays have better contrast and more powerful backlights, and your old display is going to look like shit (no, really).
In fact, depending on how old your current display is and how much you've used it, that could happen even if you buy a new 23" CD as well. Backlights age and your old one won't be as powerful anymore.

So really the best advice would be to buy a used display of approximately the same age.

[nikstar101]

I am in exactly the same situation. I wanted to get a new 23" Cinema display last Oct, but i have been waiting for Apple to refresh its displays. If i remember correctly they HAVE to update them before the year is out to meet their environmental targets.

I don't think that Apple displays have been always behind the curve, but i agree they are normally on the expensive side for what they are. But i have set my mind on an Apple display to match my PowerMac and i am happy(ish) with my 17" Studio display for now. So its a waiting game.

[psmith2.0]

They seem to stick with their display designs longer than anyone, even if it means going through a period where they look a bit odd next to their current computers (the matte aluminum G5 towers co-existed with the curvy, acryclic/gloss silver ACD for a good while before the displays were finally updated to the aluminum, one-legged design we know today).

That always bugged me, as a "match-y" kinda guy...

:D

[Luca]

I don't think that Apple displays have been always behind the curve, but i agree they are normally on the expensive side for what they are.

That's true. Back when a 17" LCD was considered pretty good, Apple was on top of their game, providing great image quality for not much more than their competitors. Since then, though, LCD technology has advanced a great deal but Apple doesn't seem to have gotten the memo.

[Mr Ten]

No rudeness taken from any of these posts, I fully accept that Apple has and still is ripping off customers in some forms, but for me, say utilizing a student discount on a 23" ACD, for $700, I don't really mind the purchase, decent form and function to add to the setup. I was just hoping the product refresh would come sooner so I could invest into that direction more so.

I'll keep my eye out, thanks for the input.

[Luca]

You know, there is a great resource to go to if you like tracking update dates and stuff:

Macrumors Buyer's Guide (http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Apple_Cinema_Displays)

This will show you the number of days elapsed between past refreshes, and it compares the average number to how long the current revision has been around. Now, it's never a perfect indicator of when a product will be updated. Apple updates their computers and other hardware when they think it would benefit them the most, so you never know. But I think, given the current situation, you shouldn't buy an Apple display, at least until they're updated.

According to the buyer's guide, it's been over a year (April 4, 2007) since they even dropped the price, and it's been nearly two years (August 2006) since they got an improvement in specifications. There's no way they can't be thinking of updating them soon.

I think the reason Apple doesn't update their displays or drop the prices very often is because people don't buy their displays for their specs or their price. They know most of the people buying Apple displays do so because they're pretty, and they'd buy them no matter how outdated or overpriced they are.