Next-gen Apple display with integrated graphics card reportedly remains in the works

Thunderbolt Display (two-up, MacBook Pro)

Since yesterday’s official news that the 27-inch Thunderbolt Display is dead, pundits have been wondering if the move signals Apple’s exited the external display business altogether. Not so fast. According to John Paczkowski, Managing Editor with BuzzFeed News, Apple isn’t done with the Thunderbolt Display and is continuing work on a brand new display with a rumored integrated graphics card.

“Thunderbolt Display takes dirt nap as expected,” he wrote on Twitter, adding that he’s learned from unnamed sources that a next-generation external monitor is in the works that will have a dedicated discreet graphics card in it.

After discontinuing the $999 27-inch Thunderbolt Display, limited stock remains available at Apple’s brick-and-mortar and online stores and via Apple Authorized Resellers, while supplies last.

https://twitter.com/JohnPaczkowski/status/746385671363846144

“There are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users,” said an Apple spokesperson in a statement given to TechCrunch, fueling speculation that it might have decided to get out of the standalone display market completely.

Paczkowski has some good sources and has been very reliable thus far so we have no reason to distrust him, nor do we expect Apple to exit the standalone display market.

Thanks to smart OS X coding, a discreet graphics card inside a next-generation Thunderbolt Display would permit owners of older, or not-fast-enough Macs such as the 12-inch MacBook, to drive the display in ultra high-resolution Retina modes without impacting performance.

The rumored display is also thought to sport a thinner design akin to the 27-inch iMac and could possibly include Apple’s True Tone color-correction technology which made its debut in the 9.7-inch iPad Pro.

Source: John Paczkowski