Good design is priceless, right? That's certainly the angle Apple appears to be spinning with its latest product release. The new Mac Pro (opens in new tab) and high-end monitor, the Pro Display XDR were unveiled at the company's annual Worldwide Developers Conference yesterday. And we weren't disappointed. The new machine is, in our humble opinion, a thing of beauty, a total powerhouse and the price, while eye-watering, wasn't a complete surprise (although we weren't expecting it to be quite that much).
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However, what we're sure Apple wasn't expecting is the news of the new Mac Pro stand completely overshadowing its release. Yes, you read that right – the stand. The new Mac Pro Display XDR (see our first look at the Pro Display XDR here), which – let's just remind ourselves – starts at a whopping $4,999, doesn't come with an actual stand to hold it up. The Pro Stand, sold separately, will set you back a further $999.
That's almost one thousand dollars for a computer stand.
We are, unsurprisingly, not the only ones a little dumbfounded. Here are some of our favourite reactions to the news on Twitter so far:
$1,000 monitor stand? #WWDC19 pic.twitter.com/JjiYi50TbX3 June 2019
#Apple is selling a monitor stand for $999 #WWDC19 pic.twitter.com/z3Q6dlDizg4 June 2019
Can anyone explain to me why this Pro Stand costs more then literally everything I own? Can someone else explain WHY you need to spend $999 on a computer stand?#WWDC19 pic.twitter.com/qPtHEY3U9u4 June 2019
But it's okay, because it's a fully counterbalanced stand that apparently makes the Pro Display XDR feel weightless and easy to adjust, which totally justifies the cost, right? Okay, okay, we're being sarcastic and it obviously does more fancy stuff than that, but nothing we can see that warrants such an extortionate amount of money.
The price tag of Apple's new Mac Pro Display XDR alone will sadly make it unobtainable to many an artist and designer. So to add an extra jaw-dropping cost to simply be able to stand the thing up just adds further insult to injury. Right now, we're really struggling to understand what on earth Apple was thinking or which creative professionals it's targeting with this new product range. Extremely wealthy ones, presumably?
If you're looking for something more affordable, we've got an excellent round up of the best computers for graphic design (opens in new tab). That said, if you've got a spare $12,000 lying around, grab a new Mac Pro, Display XDR and Pro Stand and let us know what you think. We'll stick to the built-in screens of our MacBook Pros in the meantime, thanks.
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