The 2023 Worldwide Developer Conference: A Look at Apple's Most Densely Packed Event Yet

Apple recently held one of their most densely packed Worldwide Developer Conferences ever, where they announced some pretty incredible technology. Like Sidecar in macOS Catalina, dark mode in iOS 13, Project Catalyst, SwiftUI, and even a new Mac Pro, these announcements are sure to have a significant impact on the tech world. However, despite all these exciting announcements, the product that received the most publicity was a display stand.

The display stand is actually for Apple's new Pro Display XDR, which has sparked quite a bit of interest among tech enthusiasts and critics alike. But what caught everyone off guard was not the display itself, but rather the fact that Apple decided to sell its display stand separately from the screen for an additional $1,000.

The reason behind this decision is quite intriguing, and our team at Apple Explained is here to explore it in detail. As I mentioned earlier, we're not making this video to defend Apple or justify the stand's price; instead, we want to dive into the reasons why Apple chose to separate the display stand from the screen.

To put Apple's new Pro Display XDR in perspective, we need to become familiar with the sort of displays they have released in the past. The most recent model being the Thunderbolt Display, which was released in 2011 and sold for $1,000. This display was marketed towards everyday consumers who wanted a more streamlined external display solution. It featured a built-in FaceTime HD camera, microphone, speakers, and an array of IO ports.

However, when it comes to panel quality, there wasn't much to set the Thunderbolt Display apart from its competition. With a 1000:1 contrast ratio, 375 nits of brightness, and a resolution of 2560x1440, the display delivered a typical viewing experience. Apple continued to sell the display until 2016, when they decided to exit the display market altogether.

So what changed? Why did Apple decide to re-enter the display market with the Pro Display XDR, which seems to be quite expensive? And why are they selling the stand separately from the screen for an additional $1,000? These are the questions that we'll try to answer in this article, so let's get started.

In the next section, we'll explore the reasons behind Apple's decision to sell the display stand separately from the screen. We'll also examine the costs involved and how they relate to the final product. So if you're curious about Apple's latest display strategy, keep reading for a detailed analysis of this fascinating topic.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enApple recently held one of their most denselypacked Worldwide Developer Conferences ever,where they announced some pretty incredibletechnology. Like Sidecar in macOS Catalina,dark mode in iOS 13, Project Catalyst, SwiftUI,and even a new Mac Pro. But despite all theseexciting announcements, the product that receivedthe most publicity was a display stand. Andthat’s because Apple decided to create a$5,000 display while selling its stand separatelyfor an extra one thousand dollars. And youcan actually hear the audience’s reactionto this news. Now I’m not makingthis video to defend Apple or justify thestand’s price, we’re simply going to explorereasons why Apple is selling their display’sstand separately, and why it might be so expensive.This is Greg with Apple Explained and I wantto thank Squarespace for sponsoring this video,if you want to help decide which topics Icover, make sure you’re subscribed and thesevoting polls will show up in your mobile activityfeed.Now in order to put Apple’s new Pro DisplayXDR in perspective, we have to become familiarwith the sort of displays Apple has releasedin the past. The most recent model being theThunderbolt Display in 2011 which sold for$1,000. It was marketed to everyday consumerswho wanted a more streamlined external displaysolution. It featured a built-in FaceTimeHD camera, microphone, speakers, and an arrayof IO ports. But when it came to the panelquality, there wasn’t much to set it apartfrom its competition. With a 1000:1 contrastratio, 375 nits of brightness and a resolutionof 2560x1440, the Thunderbolt Display delivereda typical viewing experience. Apple continuedto sell the display until 2016, when theydecided to exit the display market altogether,saying \"There are a number of great third-partyoptions available for Mac users.”Now I actually thought this was the rightdecision for Apple since their display panelsweren’t much better than average. In fact,I’d say there were only two advantages ofowning an Apple display. First, is their signatureApple design, and second, they worked seamlesslywith your Mac. But those benefits weren’tenough to justify the Thunderbolt Display’spremium cost. Because although its one-thousanddollar price tag may not sound too bad bytoday’s standards, you could easily finda third party monitor with a comparable panelfor half that price. And although Apple stoppedmaking their own external monitors, they didpartner with LG to create the Ultrafine 4Kand 5K displays in 2016 which were designedto be used with MacBooks, and featured thesame high-quality panels as the retina iMacs.So it appeared that the days of Apple-designeddisplays were over. That is, until 2017 whenrumors surrounding a new high-end 6K Appledisplay began to surface. It came as a surpriseto many, considering Apple had just announcedtheir departure from the display industryone year earlier. Now that rumor became realityat this year’s WWDC when Apple revealedthe Pro Display XDR, which introduced featuresthat had never been seen before on displaysin its class. It delivers 1,000 nits of sustainedbrightness which is far higher than the average300-400 nits. It has a 1,000,000:1 contrastratio which is just crazy compared to theaverage 1,000:1 ratio. And it delivers billionsof colors, perfects black, and a color-consistentultra-wide viewing angle. Not to mention itsretina-level pixel density of 218 pixels perinch. But what really sets the Pro DisplayXDR apart from Apple’s previous monitorsis its starting price of $5,000. A significantjump from the $1,000 thunderbolt display,which was already considered to be pricey.But there’s a huge distinction that needsto be made when comparing the Pro DisplayXDR to anything else on the market. And thatis, Apple isn’t marketing this product tothe everyday consumer like they had been withtheir Thunderbolt displays. Which is probablywhy it’s the first Apple monitor to havethe word “pro” in its name. Just lookat the terminology Apple uses on its productpage: “Transforms the professional workflow,”“the world’s best pro display,” “Whenmultiple people review work together on asingle screen, it’s critical that everyonesees the same thing,” “if you’re inan especially uncontrolled lighting environment,there’s an innovative matte option,” “Professionalsrequire a lot from their displays,” “Itwasn’t just made for the pro workflow. It redefines it.”So it’s clear Apple is using terminologyto target a specific demographic of professionalcustomers. Also, we have to consider how thedisplay was introduced. It was featured alongsidethe new Mac Pro, which is obviously not amachine for everyday users.So it’s very important to understand thatdiscrepancy when considering the marketingdecisions Apple made. Because if you watchedtheir WWDC, Apple didn’t compare the ProDisplay XDR to their old Thunderbolt Displayor LGs Ultrafine Display, they compared itto reference monitors. Which cost tens ofthousands of dollars and are used in veryspecific professional settings, like on moviesets or in editing studios. And in that context,Apple’s Pro Display XDR will likely disruptthe display market. By bringing features thatwere previously only available on expensivereferences monitors to a more reasonably priceddisplay.Now before we go any further I want to pointout that there are some big differences betweenbroadcast reference monitors and Apple’sPro Display XDR. While we don’t know everythingabout Apple’s new display, I think it’ssafe to assume it won’t feature some ofthe very niche functionality of a $40,000reference monitor. Things like interlacingoptions, attaching multiple SDI inputs formulti-camera recording, and allowing for custommarker overlays for different aspect ratios.These advanced features are necessary in manyprofessional settings and likely won’t bepossible with Apple’s Pro Display XDR. Sowhile I don’t want to lead you to believethat reference monitors will be replaced,it is true that Apple’s new display incorporatesmany incredible features that pros would findhelpful.So now that we understand the context of thisproduct in the pro market, we can begin tounravel the mystery behind its $1,000 stand.You see, most professionals don’t use standswith their reference monitors since they alreadyhave an existing workstation in place. Sothey’ll simply mount it to whatever setupthey already have. That’s why Apple is offeringa stand and VESA mount separate from the display.It seems like an odd approach to everydayconsumers, but it isn’t so strange to high-endprofessionals, which again, is Apple’s targetmarket.But I don’t think people were upset aboutthe stand being sold separately as much asits $1,000 price tag, which is exorbitant.Now Apple kind’ve tried to justify thisprice by demonstrating how many componentswhere inside the hinge and how much technologywas required to counterbalance the displayto make it feel weightless when adjusted.But the simple fact is this stand is not worth$1,000. It doesn’t have the technology orcomponent cost of a $1,000 iPhone XS. It’deven be a stretch for Apple to sell this standfor $500. So the big question is, why is thisstand so unnecessarily expensive? Now Applehasn’t given an official explanation, andprobably never will, but I think I have areasonable answer. And it has everything todo with Apple’s approach to their accessoriesbusiness.You see, the term “Apple Tax” has beenused throughout the years to describe Apple’stendency to charge more for a product thanits competition. And nowhere is this moreapparent than with their accessories. Forexample, Apple’s Magic Keyboard costs $130.And if you want the space gray color, there’sa $20 up-charge. A comparable HP keyboardcosts just $90. And consider their leathersleeves which costs $30 for the Apple Penciland $130 for the iPad. Lastly, their AppleWatch bands. $50 for a rubber strap, all theway up to $450 for a stainless steel linkbracelet. I can’t even imagine the profitmargin on those accessories. Now that’snot to say these products aren’t good quality,they just have insanely high markups.And when it come’s to the Pro Display XDR’sstand and VESA mount, Apple considers themto be accessories. And therefore applies thosesame markups that we’ve seen in the past.Again, I’m not trying to justify Apple’shigh accessory prices, I’m just pointingout that this is how Apple has been doingbusiness for decades and it’s likely whythis stand is so overpriced. There’s alsoa second point I want to make. As we learnedbefore, Apple is marketing this display tothe pro market, and that means they’re morelikely to have business customers who areinherently less price-sensitive than individualconsumers. They won’t hesitate to spend$1,000 more on a stand or $200 more on a VESAmount if that’s what their employees need.But to be honest, I think this display standfiasco was a huge marketing mistake. Appleshould’ve simply charged $6,000 for theirdisplay with its stand included. That waythey’d not only make more money from eachpurchase, but they’d avoid all this negativepress which is taking attention away fromother incredible technology they’ve announced.So while charging $1,000 for a stand is obviouslyexcessive, professionals who actually buythe Pro Display XDR will either not need it,or probably won’t mind spending the extramoney for it.Now that we’ve discussed an expensive productyou’ll probably never need, let’s talkabout an affordable service called Squarespacethat’s a must for anyone with a website.Squarespace allows you to build the best,most beautiful website you can. All withoutspending tons of money on development, designingand hosting, and without worrying about patchingor installations or any of that complicatedstuff. Squarespace is an all in one platformwith a super easy to use drag and drop interfacethat offers 100s of customizable templates.And if you get stuck or don’t know whatto do next, Squarespace has helpful videotutorials on their YouTube channel and a 24/7customer support team. Not to mention thepowerful SEO, analytics, and marketing featuresbuilt right in to the service. And if you’rethinking about running an ecommerce store,Squarespace allows you to create productsto display for sale on your website, offersinventory management tools, and automaticallygenerates shipping labels for you to printoff. I actually use Squarespace for my ownwebsite after trying quite a few differentservices and I highly recommend them. So headover to squarespace.com/appleexplained andget ten percent off your first purchase. Youcan find that link in the description.Alright guys thanks for watching and I’llsee you next time.\n"