San Jose, Calif. – In another move that emphasizes style and pushes away the image of the beige-box PC, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said the company has stopped producing CRT and is only making LCD models.
Jobs told the news to a gathering of Macintosh software developers attending the company’s worldwide developer’s conference here that a three-unit line of LCDs will replace the CRT monitors. Apple now sells 15-inch and 22-inch models, with respective suggested retail prices of $599 and $2,499, and today added a 17-inch display for $999 to the line up. The LCD features 1280 x1024 image resolution and two USB ports and will be available in early June.
The monitors all have a digital interface with the computer, which eliminates the need for the user to make adjustments to the screen’s image. The CPU and monitor will continue to be sold separately allowing customers to still buy another brand of CRT monitor to avoid the added expense.
“Apple is the first company to move to an all LCD flat panel display lineup–the all-digital desktop has finally arrived,” Jobs said.
An Apple spokeswoman said the company has stopped manufacturing CRT monitors and is in the process of blowing them out through the channel. The iMac line will be the only area where CRT-based monitors will remain in use because the monitor is integrated into the computer’s design.