Why don’t Apple-like monitors exist?

[tweaknmod]

I’m just curious as to why external monitors like the mbp 16” don’t exist - unless they do and I’m missing something.

Thin as a couple of coins, sharp as can be, true blacks, super high ppi, and 120hz refresh… you can find some that match many of those, but not all… (often very thick)

I’m sure there’s a reason, I’m just curious to learn why.

 

[Sheepish-Lord]

The PPI is because of Apple’s Retina method but there are plenty of great OLED laptops that have similar characteristics you mentioned.

 

[CWallace]

Main reason is cost, I imagine, along with Macs being the main high PPI market (even though Windows handles it well enough, it never caught on because of the high costs). So just not enough of a market for the panel OEMs or the monitor OEMs to go outside of what Apple is willing to buy.

 

[tweaknmod]

The PPI is because of Apple’s Retina method but there are plenty of great OLED laptops that have similar characteristics you mentioned.

Thanks - but I was referring to external monitors

 

[Iwavvns]

Thanks - but I was referring to external monitors

Structural integrity plays a big part. Once you get past 20 inch diagonal or so then as “thin as a couple coins” is not enough structural integrity to keep the glass panel from bending to the point of cracking. Thickness must retain proper proportions as the width and length increase, otherwise you risk bending the monitor. And, as jerryrigeverything says, “glass is glass, and glass breaks”. Couple materials for strength with sharp as can be, true blacks (OLED), super high ppi, and 120hz refresh.. and you end up with a monitor that could cost thousands of dollars.

 

[Zest28]

Because a lot of people still game at 1440p.

 

[xraydoc]

I’m just curious as to why external monitors like the mbp 16” don’t exist - unless they do and I’m missing something.

Thin as a couple of coins, sharp as can be, true blacks, super high ppi, and 120hz refresh… you can find some that match many of those, but not all… (often very thick)

I’m sure there’s a reason, I’m just curious to learn why.

Panels much larger than 16" are hard to produce and light while keeping the cases that thin. Larger surface areas require cooling if lit that brightly (take the 27" Apple Studio Display for example), so heatsinks and fans will end up adding to the bulk.

Cases as thin as a laptop lid, for a display larger than 16-17", become easy to bend & torque, so thicker cases are required to prevent glass cracking. Plus there needs to be room for ports and power and such. Yes, a flex cable could be run to some kind of base (like in a laptop), but that requires additional engineering and cost. You thought Apple Studio Displays and XDR Displays were expensive... wait until Apple wants to make them 6mm in thickness...!

 

[salamanderjuice]

You can get pretty dang close. There's a number of 15.6" 4K OLED monitors on Amazon for a few hundred. Only downside is 60Hz. Otherwise arguably better, sharper with deeper blacks.