Benjamin Mayo, reporting for 9 to 5 Mac:

Independently, we have heard some rumblings about what the new display might offer. Finally bringing it up to speed with its Retina display Mac cousins, the new ‘Thunderbolt Display’ will likely feature a 5K resolution display 5120×2880 pixels. Moreover, sources indicate that Apple will take the display in a surprising direction, specifically suggesting that Apple plans to integrate a dedicated external GPU into the display itself.

My understanding is that current display connection standards are less than ideal for powering super high-resolution monitors. That’s one of the reasons Apple has only shipped Retina displays in notebooks, iPhones, andiPads. It seems that the best way Apple has found to remedy that problem is to integrate the GPU into the display itself allowing for a more robust connection between the two.

The upside is, no matter how powerful your Mac’s internal graphics is, it will capable of powering this new monitor. But the downside is, it will likely require Thunderbolt 3.

(Via Nick Heer.)