You can't buy panels from "Apple's supply" any more than you can buy bread from the shipment slotted to go to you local Walmart. Apple, Dell, HP and other larg

You can't buy panels from "Apple's supply" any more than you can buy bread from the shipment slotted to go to you local Walmart. Apple, Dell, HP and other large companies sign contracts for sizable deliveries of these components. In some cases the panels are made exclusively for a specific manufacturer (and corresponding product). And, in these cases, it is very common to have a contractual restriction on the availability of the panel in question for general use. In other words, I could not buy a single panel for a year (or more). Once the panels are release for sale to non-contract parties (generally industrial users or other OEMs) the manufacturer will make it available to distribution, book orders and schedule manufacturing accordingly. Lead times run anywhere from 12 to 20+ weeks depending on the panel and other factors. Some B-grade (and below) panels are immediately available (manufacturers love to unload these rather than take the loss). A-grade panels go through the standard manufacturing process and, well, you get yours when they are ready. They don't cut into Apple's supply to sell some to Joe-Blow-Monitor manufacturer. It sounds like people are somewhat confused and concluding that because the panel had the same part number as the one used by Apple they "came directly from Apple's supply". The only way that can happen is if Apple discontinues the product in question and there's an overstock of panels that the manufacturer needs to unload or; Apple rejects a pile of panels and, again, the manufacturer is very happy to unload them on the unsuspecting masses. Other than that, the fact that the panels have the same part number does not mean that they "came directly from Apple's supply".