New Apple display may be coming, may contain its own GPU


9 to 5 Mac:

we have heard some rumblings about what the new display might offer. Finally bringing it up to speed with its Retina display Mac cousins, the new 'Thunderbolt Display' will likely feature a 5K resolution display 5120Ã--2880 pixels. Moreover, sources indicate that Apple will take the display in a surprising direction, specifically suggesting that Apple plans to integrate a dedicated external GPU into the display itself

The Thunderbolt Display was a decent value back in the day, but is now ridiculously overpriced. You can source basically the same display from vendors like Dell for much less, for example. Along with Apple's push for Retina displays, it's also technologically lacking.

One reason could simply be the horsepower needed to push all those pixels makes the display only really practical for Mac Pros. Embedding a GPU in a display makes sense in only an Apple sort of way. It will likely increase costs, be only useful for Macs, and make for a shorter lifespan since the GPU may hinder future performance. Unless Apple offers display GPU upgrades, which would be shocking. (I'm still using a 30-inch Apple Cinema Display from 2007, BTW). On the other side, it would be an elegant solution to connecting a great display to even the lightest Mac laptops.