Apple's 24-inch LED Cinema Display gets unboxed, sure is glossy
By Darren Murph 
posted Dec 2nd 2008 6:15AM
posted Dec 2nd 2008 6:15AM
Please note: If you're a current Engadget commenter, you do not need to re-register. Simply login and you will be prompted to select a username.
I Like.
only an idiot would want to have a screen as a mirror..
@thef1re: This is a feature. Apple allows the user to see how stupid he/she looks while gaming = priceless :)
"only an idiot would want to have a screen as a mirror..."
Apple knows its target group well.
"how stupid he/she looks while gaming"
Well, you do look pretty stupid playing on a Mac, as there aren't too many games for Mac you know.. :p
Dont buy if you are in motion/graphic design. Its the same as glossy laptops... colors are inaccurate.
the most ugly acd ever
Apple Crystal Display? Acronym fail. They dont replace the liquid inside with apples..
Kris, I do believe that he meant Apple Cinema Display.
So shiny! :)
Too shiny. Personally I don't want to have to shut out the sun to watch TV during the Day. Had enough of the Sony X-Black screen on a laptop, in the end I sold it on and bought a non-sony for that very reason.
"We have detected a problem with your monitor:
There is a reflection of your face in it.
EW! — YOUR FACE!!!"
not as shiny as you think. all depends on where you put it in the room and how you angle it. I have a buddy that just got his and the mirror barely shows. but the colors, wow.
now I"m not sure if I'm going to get an Imac or a laptop and one of these. I like the 24" screen space to work in cause I use a lot of Photoshop, Final Cut etc and like to spread out the toolbars and such.
Ooooo, Shinies!
I think it looks fantastic. Anyone know the price because no doubt there is a cheaper better rival to there somewhere.
I think it is around $900.
If the previous LCD screens from Apple are any indication, this one would also be an S-IPS/H-IPS (or the like) display. This technology gives the best colors rendition but are has a somewhat slow response time compared to TN panels (found in the cheaper displays). S-PVA panels (like the 2408WFP from Dell) might be viewed as a middle solution between the two.
Yeah, also not many monitors out there comes with LED backlight.
Didn't apple switch to TN panels for the last generation or two of Cinema Displays in order to keep costs down?
You'd have to be a fanboy to buy this overated piece of material. Especially since it's a TN panel and glossy as my head.
Here's the information on the display as reported by a MacBook Pro (running on the GeForce 9600M GT) compared with the built in screen:
Built-in
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1440 x 900 Depth: 32-bit Color Core Image: Hardware Accelerated Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off Online: Yes Quartz Extreme: Supported Built-In: Yes
LED Cinema Display:
Resolution: 1920 x 1200 Depth: 32-bit Color Core Image: Hardware Accelerated Mirror: Off Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported Rotation: Supported Connection Type: DisplayPort
It's an excellent screen - I've been using it for 4 days but its ONLY compatible with unibody MacBooks and MacBookPros right now. No, Mirror doesn't mean the obvious ;) Rotation support is in 90 deg increments.
It's power supply is integrated - the AC cable is for the wall - no brick. You can power the laptop from it as it has a built-in MagSafe AC adaptor.
Looks like an iMac but without the "chin"
Are those speakers on the bottom?
Or are you just pleased to see me?
I wonder when we're all going to get LED poisoning.
I really don't wonder that at all. I am just typing.
In a fortnight.
Probably get low ranked from this but im getting sick and tired of everyone jumping on the piano black glossy bandwagon, they get smudged and dirty really quickly, they make the screen hard to see at the best of times let alone in daylight, it makes it even worse when the devices are designed to be handheld you spend more time wiping it with a microfibre cloth than using it.
Nope, I fully agree with you. When I want to clean my matte Dell, I just wipe over it with my bare hand and the dust is gone. No smearing, no nothing. Besides that no reflections. Great.
I don't mind glossy displays on laptops and the like, but what I really hate is this (not so) new found penchant for gloss and chrome. Apple isn't the only offender, but it might be one of the worst (think chrome backs on iPods)...
Sure the products look great in the marketing photos, but in reality they end up with scratches and fingerprints all over them.
100% ACK. Glossy is only good for sales, as things look beaten up faster, urging you to replace them. Its nothing but hassle.
Having see one of these at the Apple store, Regent Street, I can confirm that it is a joke and an example of Apple doing what they don't normally do, and that is to dumb down their products for a market they are not even supposed to be catering for. The screen I saw was so shiny it was annoying - plus it was covered in finger prints. So now, one buys a high priced MacBook or MacBook Pro, with a glossy screen and has to connected it to a glossy external monitor. This makes showing others your work or working with any lighting behind you a joke. But I am sure a few gamers and DVD watchers (who will of course have the lights off) will appreciate it. But then, why not just buy a PC? As a die hard Mac user, I am at a lose as to what on Earth Apple were thinking with the new MacBooks and this monitor! I have no credible upgrade path from my MacBook Black (whose glossy screen was it's only let down.)
Get a ThinkPad or Dell, they offer non-glare screens. You should be able to install OSX on them anyway. Or don't buy a Apple screen, there are plenty of good screens out there, if you've got enough cash look at Eizo. They offer professional monitors.
Apple have changed their direction I think, now they are catering for the consumer market.
Get a grip. There are a number of actual, professional models out there. It's ok to go to different companies for different products. Think differently.
oooohh...I like shiny..shiny shiny shiny..like me hin..oh you know.
Apple should start putting a sheet of antiglare film in the box to shut the gloss-o-phobes. You like glossy and colorful? Good. Not? Apply the film and be happy. It's not that expensive.
matte > glossy + antiglare.
So, if you want a matte screen, then the best option is to buy directly a matte screen, instead to convert one. Sadly Apple did remove this option, glass or bust.
thank you. I was thinking the same thing.
$900 is effin insane for a display, don't care how purtty it is!!
$900 for a 24inch, is a RIP OFF people please tell me you all understand this lol. I dont care what the specs are, compare it to any other monitor in its category, you're getting ripped the hell off
And I considered HP charging $500 for their 24inch a rip off too but WOW apple
You obviously don't know what you are talking about. I'm not defending Apple here, but if you think $500 for a 24" is a ripoff, then you don't know the first thing about monitors. The Dell 2408wfp and the Samsung 245T are both just under $600. These are top of the line displays. They use the better S-PVA panels. One thing the Apple display has going for it is the LED backlighting. Try and find another LED backlit display for this price. You can't. Whether this is a benefit on a desktop display is another story. But LED displays cost more. I still won't pay $900 for this. I can live without the LED backlight. I'm trying to decide whether to get the Dell 2408wfp or the Samsung 245T. And this is to connect to my Mac Pro.
I would gladly pay $900 for an Eizo (usually pay a lot more) but I can at least calibrate and profile those... these, not so much. The glass seems to do funky things to colorimeters and spectrophotometers.
Love the idea of having the laptop power, USB Hub, video and webcam all through one set of connectors, but would be nicer if they had firewire in the mix.
Glossy is bad. Glass != glossy.
Clearly none of you have actually tried one of these. They're bright, clear, pretty, convenient, and the reflections aren't distracting – except under the myriad fluorescent tubes you get in stores, which make matte screens look bad too.
Glossy is acceptable, glass is bad, at least for outdoor and office with fluorescent lights (over 50% of the office around the globe).
Good luck using this outside! My aluminium MacBook is great in the open air – miles better than my old white one, with the glossy screen, largely because the screen is so much brighter. YMMV though I guess.
Second, if you have a job where they'd seriously consider dropping this much cash on a display for you, could you put in a good word for me? :)
Looks like somebody's very large finger print on it.
No power brick, no on/off button, does this mean it can only work with a MacBook. Sorry it sounds stupid but with the picture I can't understand how this works... The screen gets its juice from your laptop? An why does it look like you can't power you macbook and have the screen working at the same time. I'm confused!
Yes, only compatible with unibody MacBook and MacBook Pro currently due to its reliance on the mini-display port. Who would use a 24" display outside? You plug your MacBook in via a three-headed cable that has a MagSafe adaptor, a USB plug and a mini-DisplayPort. It has no switches (it's controlled via the Display Preference Panel). Apple charges too much for its displays but you pay for the system-level integration.
Ok but what I don't understand is when the screen is plugged to you macbook, if it is using the power plug (with the magsafe adaptor), how the hell do you power your laptop? (there is probably something I am missing here)
@ Vianon
Sorry - I wasn't very clear at all. The 24" LED Display has two cables coming out of it. One plugs into the wall and powers the Display. The other plugs into the laptop and ends in three plugs including a MagSafe AC plug (+ a USB and a miniDP). So you plug that MagSafe AC plug into your laptop to power it fromt he Display. You can use laptop open (in which case you have two screens, either spanning or mirrored) and use the laptops trackpad and keyboard, or you use it in clam-shell mode (laptop closed) in which case only the 24" display is available (and you need to plug in a keyboard/mouse).
All right makes sense, thank you for that Jim, the no power brick part lost me there, but I get it now.
This is one of those products that is so sexy, it makes you forget about cons you'll experience with everyday use. Kind of like me, getting a rear wheel drive sports car in snowy Michigan. I curse myself everytime it snows, while praying to god I get from point A to point B alive.
i want a 30 inch model
Bend over and i'll give you the 30" model.
Stop spamming on every post. You site is shit.
Why is everyone pissed/surprised with the glossy screen? Isn't "100% style, 75% substance" Apple motto or something?
Addendum= 's
I was in such a rush to have you all bask in my wit.
Don't open your eyes Marion!!!!
... shiny as hell but it is pretty.
I'm in the market for a new [headless] Mac, and a new monitor, but I will most likely get a Dell monitor. Not fond of the glossy screens (and the higher price points).
Mirror, mirror, on the wall...
What strikes me most is that 99% of those bashing the new dispaly are 1) either simply anti-mac and have nothing better to do with their day or 2) have not owned or used on of these displays.
I have the new iMacs, and yes they are glossy. But mirrors? That's idiotic. The reflection is an anit-glare at best. You only see the gloss when looking at the black frame at an angle towards a light source. I have lights above me, so there is no angle craeting a glossy screen. So unless you worjk 45 degrees facing away from a window, or on the floor with the monitor on a desk you will never see the dramatic engadget gloss.
Lastly, smudges? Seriously? It's hard to smudge a monitor *when you don't touch it*!!!! Ah, smudgy thumbs, just keep your loose didgets on the keyboard and stop complaining about smudge marks.
Inaccurate colors? I didn't know there were many monitors that can with correct colors. Maybe that's why they have those devices and programs for ah, hmm, oh yea, calibration!? If you are a designer then you'd need your monitor calibrated no matter how shiny or mac or pc your monitor is.
The anti-mac venomous rhetoric has really increased here lately, and it seems to have all started with the increase of Apple's success...
As a Graphic and Web Designer... one with actual clients... I can say this screen is no good in my personal experience.
The finger prints are set by clients, co-workers, and other idiots that touch your screen despite requests not to. They're easily wiped off, but insanely annoying.
And the glare is obnoxious. If I had a dark cube, I'd all for it, but with any daylight and lighting this thing is miserable. You can't calibrate for external reflection and this thing could only work with one of the hoods that we used to use on CRTs.
In my experience with colleagues and co-workers, there are very few working designers that favor the mac anymore and even less that favor the displays. They're pretty on your desk, and a great example of industrial design, but they're expensive, mostly poor performers and allow little to no real calibration and profiling.
Eizos are great but expensive and some of the Dells are pretty darn good, esp for the money. Apples are for consumers these days [far more lucrative anyway]... don't try to make a case for "real" designers using them, because we don't want to anymore.
as a real web designer with real clients, I have the glossy display and I love it. I use it in numerous situations and I have no problems with glare. I don't let my clients touch my screen.
Of course, I was designing web pages when the only monitors were glass...
I'll just have to disagree then. And as a graphic/web designer with actual clients, I love my screen and it calibrated quite nicely.
My light is above me so it does not reflect off the screen.
Most of the designers I know and work with all use mac. Those few who use a pc at work, have a mac at home to design on.
Expensive? Yea, compared to a bargain bin thrown together box machine made up of cheap, thin plastic. But when comparing materials, build quality, OS X, there is just simply no comparison.
So you stick to your pc, I'll stick to my only-glossy-when-dramatized-by-pro-pc-users iMac, we'll design for our respective clients and call it a day.
I like how all the connections are on one side of the new MBP. Too bad my DVI port is on the *other* side of my last gen MBP. Even if I bought the mini dvi to dvi adaptor, would the thing be long enough to route along the back? I'm telling you the whole thing sucks that it was built specifically for the new MBP. I'm sure they'd be selling a lot more units if the thing was a little more universal. I like LED but Im disappointed in this --- even though still really want one.
Good looks? Check
Good performance? Check
Apple impracticality embedded? Check
More expensive then similar monitors? Check
OK, I know this is going to get a load of comments about how the panel is PVA and not TN which justifies the cost, but the fact is PVA monitors can still be had for several $100 less. And you would never be able to tell the difference between PVA and TN anyway if it weren't for the viewing angles.
And by the way, why the HELL did they use a PVA panel in this? The only advantage it has is greater viewing angles, but stick a mirrored piece of glass in front of it and you negate that...
Its just so damned glossy....... Of course apple buyers wouldnt go anywhere else usually because itll throw off the apple centro look.....
I think this display would be great for consumers/ the odd prosumer in dimly lit conditions. But personally I think that as a primary monitor would kill my brain. Then again, I wouldn't totally object to having a nice shiny second cinema display to go with my matte display.
So, it's really a glass screen? Isn't glass easier to clean than plastic?
I'm scared to clean a glossy plastic screen, for fear of scratching it... but glass seems like a no-brainer!
Without actually breaking it, I can't be totally sure its glass but if you press your fingernail on the screen it does not squish the pixels so it feels solid to me. It is easy to clean (easier than matt screens) but does pick up fingerprints more. The screen is $100 cheaper through the Apple Education store.
yay..... oh, wait ..... 14ms response time? displayport only? i know 'its designed for a macbook' .... but seriously what a joke
If these had universal mounts on them I might actually be interested... or is there an adapter for such a use?
It is VESA mountable (requires removing the tilt stand like the other Apple displays).
I have to say that, when I first saw the presentation by Steve Jobs, I thought that this display was hideous as hell. However, as it turns out, when I actually saw this thing in the store and also in the hands on photo, this thing actually looks gorgeous.
I don't really care about the glare, however, can you please give me a cable that I can connect my old MBP to this display. I want to buy it, but I can't buy it. What the hell.
with all the crap that apple has turned around, they bring this amazing screen out...and totally redeem themselves...maybe.
Is the new LED screen HD