14 DAY TRIAL // Launched in July alongside OS X Lion and a couple of upgraded Macs, the 27-inch Thunderbolt Display is now shipping to retail locations across the United States, people familiar with the matter say, while Apple’s online store is listing 2-3 weeks arrival time for orders placed today.
Apple describes the hardware, saying, “With built-in Thunderbolt technology — the fastest, most flexible I/O ever — the new Apple Thunderbolt Display can do things other displays simply can’t.”
“Of course, it delivers a brilliant viewing experience. But connect it to any Thunderbolt-enabled Mac and it becomes a plug-and-play hub for everything you do,” according to the Mac maker.
The Display boasts a high-resolution 2560-by-1440 LED-backlit screen, a FaceTime HD camera, three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, a Thunderbolt port, and high-quality speakers.
The Thunderbolt Display uses IPS technology, which facilitates an ultra wide 178 degree viewing angle.
Any Thunderbolt-enabled Mac notebook can dock with the display to quickly and easily create a full-fledged desktop solution.
Each Thunderbolt port delivers PCI Express directly to external peripherals such as high performance storage and RAID arrays, as it features two bi-directional channels with transfer speeds up to 10Gbps each.
It also supports DisplayPort for high resolution displays and works with existing adapters for HDMI, DVI and VGA displays.
According to Apple, Macs with discrete graphics can drive two external displays offering over 7 million additional pixels of real estate and the ability to daisy chain additional devices, so long as the Mac used is Thunderbolt-enabled.
The hardware costs $999 to buy - the price of a brand new MacBook Air. Apple says the Display has been designed specifically for Mac notebooks. Mac mini and Mac Pro users will, nonetheless, find it useful on their desktops.