Monitor arm solution for Apple macs (iMacs)

April 1st, 2010

It is common to see furniture showrooms incorporating the largest iMac monitors into their showroom displays. If not in their showrooms then in brochures & marketing imagery. Sexy as these monitors are it is difficult for users to find a “real” monitor arm to accommodate such large and heavy screens.

Without a monitor arm, users have a good-looking monitor but…one that takes up a lot of desk space and cannot easily be moved around for collaboration & idea sharing.  Given Mac’s are heavily used in the design world where the sharing of ideas, imagery and other design stuff is critical to achieving the right outcome – this does not seem right.

Naturally, Apple have taken a different path from most monitor manufacturers (not sure Apple would like to be called a monitor manufacturer) by excluding the international VESA plate from the product. This creates a problem for users. Thankfully, there is the VESA adaptor plate to allow users to;

Use this kit to attach your 24-inch or 27-inch iMac, or 24-inch LED Cinema Display to a wall mount, articulating arm or other VESA-compliant mounting solution.

You simply need to mount this adaptor plate to the iMac by removing the iMac or display stand and attaching the VESA Mount Adaptor. Then connect any VESA-compliant mounting solution with a 100 mm x 100 mm attachment. By the way, once you remove the stand from the iMac the screen weighs a lot less (we think around 10.5kg – down from the 13.8kg’s stated on the specification).

Now get yourself a good monitor arm and you are cooking with gas!  This is a challenge as the iMac is still a heavy solution and well outside the range of most monitor arms.

With our design team we installed an iMac 27″ using our standard (yep, no need for Hercules) Apollo4 solution. As you can see from the images we think this is a pretty cool solution and ensures users obtain all the benefits a monitor arm delivers.

If only we had iMac’s throughout the office…

7 Responses to “Monitor arm solution for Apple macs (iMacs)”

1. Michael says:

   September 6, 2010 at 4:22 pm

   I’m intrigued by your monitor arms, but unfortunately it seems like there’s a dearth of information on your website! First of all, how much do they cost? Do you ship to the U.S.? Do you have any videos showing the range of motion of the monitor arms?

   Also, I’ve read that the 27″ iMac weighs about 13kg without the stand; most likely above the 12.5kg max load for the Apollo4. Has your testing proven otherwise?

   Lastly, many of the links around your site for the Apollo4 are broken (including the ones on this “Monitor arm solution for Apple macs (iMacs)” page). I’m getting an “Error 404 – Page not found” message. Just an FYI!

   Very interested to hear from you. Warm regards, Michael.
2. Coop says:

   September 7, 2010 at 2:18 pm

   Thanks for feedback – trust you got my email
3. Ying says:

   October 5, 2010 at 12:06 pm

   Where can I source your products in Australia?
4. Joe says:

   January 30, 2012 at 6:04 pm

   These are great, but do they work on the latest 27″ Imac?
5. Coop says:

   January 31, 2012 at 7:11 am

   It would appear so once the VESA adaptor plate is added.
6. Joe says:

   February 16, 2012 at 8:51 am

   Will this work on a 30 inch Dell?
7. Coop says:

   February 16, 2012 at 3:45 pm

   Yes, as long as the screen has a 100 x 100 mm VESA or 75 mm x 75 mm VESA. Weight limit is 12kg