Whenever Apple FINALLY gets around to updating the 27-inch Thunderbolt Display, perhaps it will be even bigger and perhaps curved. Of course, the same could be said for an iMac update.
According to new data from the IDC research group, the presence of curved monitors is on the rise, with 1.2% market share in the first quarter of 2016. That’s not a lot of market share, but it represents year-over-year growth of 495%.
According to IDC, of the top 10 screen sizes, 23.8-inches wide and 31.5-inches wide saw the largest year-over-year growth, posting 91.4% and 183.2%, respectively, in the first quarter of the year. How about a Thunderbolt Display in two sizes? Or an “iMac Pro” with a 31.5-inch display?
Finally, monitors with TV tuners are expected to grow 1.3% year-over-year to 5.7% market share in 2017, up from 5.1% in 2015. Perhaps a future Thunderbolt Display and/or iMac will include such features.
I like the idea of a curved screen iMac. If you’ve got a 27-incher, as I do, if you want to look at something onscreen near one side, then the other, you need may have to crane your neck to see it. Otherwise, you’re looking at the screen at an angle.
By using flexible display technology, I believe Apple could build wrap-around iMacs that could be about 30 inches high and four or five feet across, curving around in a semi circle so that the middle is about the same distance from your face as the edges.
I’m a die-hard iMac user. As I’ve mentioned before, it often doubles as my TV screen/DVD player/radio/etc. So 30 inches of display would be great for me. And with developments in flexible-glass touch displays, it’s an idea whose day may have arrived.
A curved screen iMac makes more sense than a curved screen television. The curve on a curvy TV can be obvious in person and especially in images and video shot from the sides and above, but when you’re watching it from the couch, it basically disappears. But with an iMac, you’re sitting directly in front of it and a curved screen could be truly immersive.
Apple could really make me happy by providing my ultimate Mac: a 31.5-inch iMac with a curved screen and built-in TV monitor. Of course, with such a workhorse and perfect entertainment computer, I might never leave my home office. And I’d probably never be able to pay off my credit card!
Aurora HDR version 1.2.2: The best Mac app for high dynamic range (HDR) photography
