We Need AirPlay Enabled Thunderbolt Displays

Let’s say your iPad has replaced your laptop. Let’s also say you replaced your iMac or Mac Pro with a MacBook Air. With incredibly useful wireless technology like AirPlay, wouldn’t be nifty if you could not only send a video or audio signal from your iOS device to an Apple TV, but also directly to any Mac or Thunderbolt display?

Apple’s Thunderbolt displays already have a pretty hefty premium over comparable LED backlit LCD panels — albeit with added Thunderbolt technology and sexier packaging — however I would love to see built-in AirPlay support. It seems only natural that at some point, you won’t necessarily need a Mac or Apple TV just to use AirPlay from your iOS device. I can envision my home with AirPlay enabled Thunderbolt displays in each room. If I wanted to lay down in bed and send a movie from the Netflix app to my display, it would be effortless — just a tap away.

Adding AirPlay support to Thunderbolt displays will no doubt add to the cost of the hardware, and naturally complexity in manufacturing, yet I’m sure Apple can figure these two things out.