User profile for user: JazzJunkie
JazzJunkie Author
User level: Level 1
49 points

30" Cinema Display Discontinued?

Looks like Apple has discontinued the 30" Cinema display. They now offer a 27" display with a glossy screen. Perhaps this is old news, but I'm not finding any discussion on this. I'm a long time imaging pro (retoucher, photographer, illustrator) In a world of giant TV's, how could Apple choose to discontinue the flagship monitor? NO ONE I talk to likes the glossy screen monitors. Every photographic pro I know uses at least one 30" display, and some use 2 (side by side). I have seen QC issues in the monitors, but shrinking down to a 27" offering is not a step forward. Any INFORMED opinions here? (no hand wringing or emotional tirades)

Please Steve, give us a full size alternative (without the glossy screen).

Posted on Jan 3, 2011 10:28 PM

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13 replies
User profile for user: simon gamble
simon gamble
User level: Level 1
4 points

Jan 28, 2011 8:08 PM in response to JazzJunkie

Yeh you're right, no option for display feedback, probably this is why!. I posted it in mac pro and macbook pro instead!

I think they are going backwards and actually FORGETTING who the core users were.

I love apple pro products and use them in business, we have macbook pros, mac pros and 30" displays. But really, going backwards to 27" displays with a glossy screen...

Are they crazy? Have they EVER consulted professionals, did they EVER give us a thought? HAVE THEY TRIED WORKING ON A GLOSSY SCREEN IN A STUDIO WITH FLOOR TO CEILING GLASS ALONG ONE WALL?

No, I thought not.
I really can't understand any company REDUCING the size of a product and then having a glossy only version.... oh, sorry, I can, apple...

because everything has to look like a big iphone even if it's not practical for a professional, a million guys who just want to look at it will buy it now.
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User profile for user: JazzJunkie
JazzJunkie Author
User level: Level 1
49 points

Jan 3, 2011 10:49 PM in response to Niel

Thanks Niel.

There is no option for product feedback on displays. In fact I had to do some searching just to find the displays currently offered on the Apple site. This just seems odd. Perhaps they're going to announce a new display -that would be OK. But to simply drop the option from the line up seems strange.

I started with a 13"in. monitor in 1988(?) and this is the first time I have seen Apple REDUCE the size of their largest display.
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User profile for user: SL1988
SL1988
User level: Level 1
14 points

Feb 8, 2011 11:28 AM in response to NullUnit

I wholly agree. Today I checked out all the displays at my local dealer's and was shocked to see they had no 30" ones left - until recently there was one on display, so I never even dreamt of asking. I bought mine the moment it was released and never looked back. The glossy version might be nice as a hobby thing but definitely not for working all day long with my mac - I am a translator, focusing a great deal on art and technical texts, and I SHALL NOT DOWNGRADE to a smaller display, for what would be the sense in that? And the glossy version already gets on my nerves when I am travelling, as the MacBook Pro mirrors every little ray of light and may be great for TV but not for working all day long. If Apple does not reconsider - along with good html and, of course, php for iWeb - they will loose the professionals. Web-site building on a glossy display and with no php is an absolute njet, great as everything else may be!
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User profile for user: snoball
snoball
User level: Level 1
4 points

Mar 3, 2011 11:29 PM in response to JazzJunkie

Psyched to have my old 30" & it still looks new too. Good design.
Bought it w/ my G5 Powermac back in '05 & never looked back @ a smaller screen since (other than MBP/iPhones). Currently running it w/ a (Jan'11) 15" Macbook Pro and so happy to have not ended up w/ a glass screen one there as well.

Can't agree more with all comments.

Q: will the 30" HD Cinema display eventually become unable to run w/ newer Macs?
Was a bit concerned when I bought the mini dvi/usb cable to hook my MBP up.

I ask this b/c I'm actually thinking of buying another 30" along w/ the MP.

2560x1600...
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User profile for user: Network 23
Network 23
User level: Level 6
12,351 points

Mar 5, 2011 7:47 PM in response to JazzJunkie

Monitors may be at the point today where printers were back when Apple stopped making those: Totally commodified, no profits. At the high end, there are so many good matte options out there now that Apple would have to make a major push to compete there, and maybe they don't want to. All the high growth in this industry is in mobile devices...

snoball wrote:
Q: will the 30" HD Cinema display eventually become unable to run w/ newer Macs?


The 30" Cinema is a DVI monitor like hundreds of models out there. For it to stop working with newer Macs would probably mean that newer Macs would stop working with hundreds of standard DVI monitors. That's not likely.
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User profile for user: Network 23
Network 23
User level: Level 6
12,351 points

Jun 30, 2011 10:53 PM in response to PROOZAK

Why does it have to be an Apple 30" display?


NEC, Eizo, HP, and Dell sell 30" displays that should have as good and in some cases (Eizo, NEC, and maybe HP) better image quality and far newer panels than the Apple 30", with more features on the monitor like more ports.


By trimming their product line to one single glossy 27" display, Apple is showing that they're not making serious monitors for serious people anymore. There are many other better choices now by companies investing heavily in pro monitors. There's no need to deprive yourself of a 30" monitor just because it no longer matches your Mac Pro case.


Here's how the Eizo compares to the Apple. Apple loses.

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/reviews/two-displays.shtml


Quote:

I was not ready for the shock when I asked him to show me the same images on an Apple display side-by-side. The difference was huge. The Eizo looked much more pleasing to the eye, much sharper, much smoother, completely uniform in color and intensity from edge to edge and from corner to corner, and the color gamut and dynamic range were clearly far superior. The more shocking thing to me was that after seeing a neutral gray displayed on the Eizo, I realized that we could not get a totally neutral gray on the Apple. We calibrated and profiled the Apple several times, and next to the Eizo the pure gray always had a reddish/purplish or a greenish cast.

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User profile for user: Beardy man
Beardy man
User level: Level 1
35 points

Mar 13, 2012 12:38 PM in response to Network 23

I know this is an old thread but then my ACD30 is getting older too! Still working fine but I can't see what I'm going to do once it dies. As a freelance graphics professional I don't like to be in the position of reliance on any one piece of kit - I have backups and options for everything else apart from my monitor.

As others have noted, Apple doesn't offer a solution any more (I'm after more screen real estate, not trimming 160 pixles off what I'v got AND suffering the glossy screen).


Hving had a look to see what the Eizo prices were looking like I was dissapointed to find they've also stopped the 30" dispaly as well.


At this point, with the Mac Pro in the balance I can't see Apple stepping up to the plate with a new pro monitor so it looks like I'm stuffed. I don't really want a Dell but I don't see what other choice I've got in the UK at the moment. Very sad that Apple have left the field, I've been more than happy (and still am for now!) with the ACD30.

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30" Cinema Display Discontinued?

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