A $999 monitor stand is everything wrong with Apple today

You can pinpoint the exact moment when Apple lost the WWDC audience on Monday. John Ternus, the company’s VP of hardware engineering, had just revealed that the Pro Display XDR, its new high-end 6K monitor, will cost $4,999. That’s pricey, but reasonable considering all of the features it offers. But then there was one more thing, and not the good kind. One hour, forty two minutes and five seconds into the keynote stream, he revealed that the Pro Display’s stand is a separate $999 purchase. The crowd, which was mostly enthusiastic until then, erupted into cautious murmurs – enough to make Ternus stammer as he continued on. He was completely unprepared for the Apple faithful to question the glorious technology being bestowed upon them.

Here’s the thing: The Pro Display XDR stand seems nice. It has the sort of elegant modernist design you’d expect from Apple; it can smoothly tilt up to 25 degrees, while also holding everything firmly in place; and it can even be nudged into portrait mode. But is it worth $999? Unlikely. From my perspective, as someone who spends way too much time thinking about the relative value of electronics, it seems like a raw deal. And it continues a trend we’re seeing from Apple recently: trying to upsell attractive tech that ultimately doesn’t do much for users.

I’m shocked they didn’t burst our in laughter. It certainly would have gotten the message across.

The only thing that comes to mind, what are they thinking. The mac is a superior machine but the design changes eliminating the cd/dvd drive to extend battery life, the elimination of ports speaks to the out of touch engineering Apple has moved toward on a yearly basis. A Mac Pro that is totally outrageous in price, perhaps a way to discontinue the line as it will generate few sales.

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Whoever said the best is the enemy of the good never had to contend with marketing hype run amuck, otherwise they’d have said “an enemy”.