A Tour of Apple’s External LCD Displays ⇥ 512pixels.net

A nice thing about writing this website by myself and as a hobby is how I do not feel like I need to cover today’s insanity.

Here is a nice post from Stephen Hackett covering Apple’s history of standalone displays. Maybe the most interesting one to me was 1998’s Studio Display:

This Studio Display would end up spanning the change from beige plastic to more colorful designs, and would ship in three distinct Revisions:

• Rev. A: Used a DB-15 connector and came in a graphite finish. Included ADB ports, as well a RCA jack for extra connectivity.

• Rev. B (January 1999): Used VGA and came in new styling to Match the Blue and White G3, as seen below. Came with a price cut to $1,099.

• Rev. C (August 1999): Used DVI and included 2 USB ports and was styled to match the early Power Mac G4

It launched at $1,999, so the $900 price cut less than a year after its launch seems notable. Also notable is how I have never seen one of these displays in the wild. I was probably too young at the time of its release, but I do remember seeing its transparent tripod-like successor.

The 2004 era of Cinema Displays remains my favourite, if only because the 30-inch model made such an impression on me at a young age. A good working model still fetches hundreds of dollars on eBay — a testament to its quality and longevity. I still love those aluminum enclosures with the glossy white plastic side panels and soft edges on the top and bottom. They were professional products, but approachable, too.