Apple may be planning a new, more independent Mac display

Apple may be planning a new display with a custom Apple Silicon chip – similar to the A13-powered Studio Display – that would allow it to achieve completely independent behavior from the Mac, such as acting as a Smart Display Said capacity, when not in use BloombergMark Gurman in his client only edition power on newsletter Today.

Rumors have been swirling about Apple’s display plans for some time now. For example, the company could be working on a 27-inch Mini-LED display and a follow-up to the costlier Apple Pro Display XDR, which will likely have the ability to summon Siri built into the display.

The new Smart Display capability sounds a lot like the standby feature coming to iOS 17 later this year. Standby allows iPhones to act as Smart Displays when they are plugged into power and rotated horizontally. The feature is partly reminiscent of an alarm clock, and dims the screen red at night when you’re sleeping, as well as adding viewable widgets and smart home controls from standby.

Interestingly, this feature, or something like it, was first rumored for the iPad late last year, but Apple didn’t announce it for its tablet at WWDC 2023. It remains to be seen whether this will come in future versions of iPadOS 17.