Apple displays
Apple Computer currently vends a line of TFT computer displays and had large selection of CRT computer displays in past.
CRT displays
The history of Apple CRT Displays started back in 1977 when the Monitor II display was released with the Apple II. It was able to display 80x24 characters. The Apple III also had a similar monitor named Monitor III. In 1983 the Monochrome Monitor machines IIe and IIc were introduced. They could display pixels in monochrome and had a resolution of 192x60. All monitors were 12" in size. The Apple II line also had color monitors in the AppleColor line of monitors. The first displays able to display colors were introduced in 1983: the AppleColor 100 and AppleColor Composite Monitor IIe and were only able to display characters. The AppleColor RGB monitor was introduced in 1986 and featured color pixels in a resolution of 640x200. The AppleColor High resolution display was introduced in 1987 and was the last display compatible with the Apple II line. Only the Apple IIGS supported it. The display also supported the Macintosh II and had color pixels with a resolution of 640x480.
The second generation of displays were built into the Apple Macintosh line of computers. Back then the Macintosh had a high resolution 9-inch monochrome monitor that could display 512x384 pixels. All future models of the Classic style Macintosh later featured this exact display. New external Apple Displays were introduced in 1987 with the Macintosh II. The Macintosh II had a PC-style expandable case which required an external monitor, it was also able to run seven (7) external displays simultaneously. The Color 12", 16" and 21" displays were introduced with resolutions of 560x384, 832x624 and 1152x870. Also monochrome displays were introduced mainly for the publishing industry, like the Macintosh Two Page Monochrome Monitor which was able to display pages next to each other with identical resolution to the 21" color one. Also the Macintosh Portrait Display was introduced which had a vertical aligment of the screen and was able to display one page. A 12" monochrome version was also introduced at the low end.
The third generation of displays were introduced in the form of the Macintosh Color Display in 1992 and was the first Apple display to feature a Trinitron CRT. The first display to include built-in speakers was introduced in 1994 as the AudioVision 14". The reason to include speakers was mainly multimedia hype which was on back then. Monitors were divided into two groups. There were the cheaper Multiple Scan monitors with standard shadow mask CRTs with fewer colors and lower resolution. There was also the AppleVision series of displays which were positioned to the professional market and included more expensive Trinitron CRTs. Many models didn't include built-in speakers because they were considered toys in the publishing industry. The AppleVision line of displays were later renamed as Colorsync displays when Steve Jobs returned to Apple and consolidated the product lines. Only 17" and 20" models were left in the product line.
The fourth generation of displays were introduced simultaneously with the Blue & White Power Macintosh G3 which included the translucent plastics of the iMac. The displays were also designed with same translucent look. The Apple Studio Diplay series of CRT displays were available in 17" and 21" configuration, the 21" had a resolution of 1600x1200. The 17" had new Diamontron CRT which combined the best features of shadow mask and Trinitron, with a maximum resolution of 1600x1200. The last Apple CRT was a remodeled 17" studio display introduced in 2000 which included the new Apple Display Connector.
TFT displays
The history of Apple TFT displays started back in 1985 when the LCD IIc Flat Panel Display was introduced for the Apple II. The display had a poor form factor and was expensive so it sold poorly and was discontinued in 1990.
The second generation of displays were introduced in 1997 with the 15" Apple Studio Display with a resolution of 1024x768. Interestingly it was the first Apple product to include the translucent plastics before the iMac. The 15" Apple Studio Display was remodeled in 2000 to include the striped look and included the Apple Display Connector. In 2001 the 17" Studio Display was introduced with a resolution of 1280x1024.
The third generation of displays were introduced in 1999 with the 22" widescreen Apple Cinema Display simultaneously with the Power Macintosh G4 and in the beginning was sold only as an option to the Power Mac G4. The display had a striped look on the large edges. In 2000 the 22" Cinema Displays were upgraded with the Apple Display Connector. In 2002 Apple introduced the Cinema Display HD which had a 23" widescreen display with a resolution of 1920x1200. In 2003 Apple introduced the 20" Cinema Display to replace the now discontinued 22" display and it had a resolution of 1680x1050.
The fourth generation of displays were introduced in 2004 with the 20", 23" and whopping 30" TFTs. The displays had a sleek aluminum enclosure with very thin edges, which makes them ideal for multimonitor use. The 20" has 1680x1050 resolution, the 23" has 1920x1200 and the 30" has a resolution of 2560x1600. The 30" version requires a dual DVI link interface because one DVI connector doesn't have enough bandwidth to provide a picture to the display. Apple sells the new NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra DDL as an option to the Power Mac G5. The card includes a total of two dual DVI connectors which allows a Power Mac G5 to run two 30" Cinema Displays simultaneously with the total number of pixels multiplying to 8.2 million.