Apple pushes external monitor development

Bloomberg

Apple Inc. embraced a new strategy for selling external monitors to professional users by launching new large, high-resolution screens with LG Electronics Inc.
The new displays were highlighted by Apple Senior Vice
President Phil Schiller on stage during the company’s Mac-focused
press conference at its Cupertino, California, headquarters. The monitors come in 21.5-inch and 27-inch sizes, with 4K and 5K resolutions, respectively.
Apple exited the external monitor business earlier this year with the discontinuation of the Thunderbolt Display. With the new LG monitors, Apple is outsourcing the development of an accessory that doesn’t contribute much to the company’s bottom line. By partnering with
LG, and co-marketing the displays, Apple is still serving its most
professional users while saving engineering resources for more lucrative products.
The monitors are branded as LG Electronics products but initially will be sold exclusively via Apple’s retail channels. They are compatible with 12-inch MacBooks and the latest MacBook Pros.
The smaller 4K model currently ships in five to six weeks from Apple’s website, and the larger 5K variant will go on sale in December, the companies said. Both monitors have more pixels than standard 1080p televisions, and cost $700 and $1,300, respectively.
Both versions have three USB-C ports for accessories like external storage drives. They connect to new Apple laptops with a single cable handling power, data and video. The ports on the 5K version can double as “Thunderbolt 3” outlets for faster data transfers. The Thunderbolt connector is used by video editors and photographers to transfer large chunks of data.