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Thunderbolt display

Gpro

Gpro

macrumors member
Original poster
Dec 21, 2008
30
0
London
I am not one to start threats without researching first but can't find any details on my questions.
I am looking to get a monitor for my 15" rmbp, i am debating between the apple thunderbolt monitor or a 4K monitor but i can't find any solid information on how OSX looks on a 27" 4K monitor will it be usable without straining my eyes to see things? and does anyone know if apple will hopefully be releasing a new monitor this tuesday?

Any monitor advice would be appreciated
 
I am in the same boat but I'm about to pull the trigger on a 27" 1440p monitor. Check out the 1440p 27" NEC monitors. They're amazing and perform much better than the Thunderbolt Displays.

Even if retina iMacs came out, I would expect them to be $$$$$.
 
Correct me if i am wrong but if they did release a Retina version of the 27" thundebolt screen then that would mean it would also be capable of 4K right? but not in retina mode?

Can't i create my own Retina using a 4k monitor but running it at 2506 resolution,
 
Gpro said:
Correct me if i am wrong but if they did release a Retina version of the 27" thundebolt screen then that would mean it would also be capable of 4K right? but not in retina mode?

Can't i create my own Retina using a 4k monitor but running it at 2506 resolution,
Click to expand...

Yes, you can.

Only with the 15" though
 
One thing I really like about the Apple TB display is that it's also a docking station. I have a MBPr and TB display and only one cable is required between the MBPr and TB display. This provides power and the TB connection (the cable from the TB display has a pigtail for power.

The TB display has a TB connection, ethernet, USB and Firewire. I have my external hard drives connected by TB, Firewire & ethernet, and the keyboard by USB. Very convenient IMO.

Mike
 
Apple has yet to call any iMac or ATD screenat some specific resolution as Retina. It will be interesting to see an IMac and ATD at or near 4k.

If Apple does go Retina @ 4k, there be no end of whining by folks with Macs that can't do 4k. ;)
 
Perhaps, but I would be happy with ATD2 if it has AdobeRGB, 4K, and integrated TB docking station. I would not be surprised if Apple sticks with sRGB gamut and leaves AdobeRGB to the pro graphics monitor niche.
 
I highly doubt they would release a 4K retina but very likely they will release a 2506 resolution Retina 27" monitor which some users can obviously turn the resolution up to 4k but loose retina.
Need a monitor badly i hope they release it in october otherwise i will have to purchase somewhere else but i would want it to be a docking station with all my usbs/ethernet plugged in the monitor not the laptop
 
Once the hyperbole and hoopla from IOS8 and Yosemite dies down a bit, we will may start to see some info about this area. But between now and end of September, most focus is on IOS8 and all those new bits like iWatch plus getting ready for Yosemite.
 
kzhlin said:
For a 27" display, if you want to achieve the "retina" quality you get from the rMBP's, you would need 5k resolution.
Click to expand...

Depends on your definition of "retina".

In terms of resolution, a 27" retina 4k/UHD 3840x2160 display qualifies as "retina" when viewed from 21" away (reasonable for a large monitor). (see http://isthisretina.com). The problem is, unless you like really tiny icons, buttons and fonts, to make best use of such a display, all the icons, system fonts etc. would need to be scaled to 150% of their previous size in pixels to keep them the same physical size as on the existing 2560x1440 screen. If OS X (and all its applications) were truly resolution independent this wouldn't be a problem - but they're not.

"Best for Retina" mode on OS X works best when you have exactly double the number of pixels in each dimension c.f. the "old" screen, which makes for better & faster scaling of any old, non-retina-ready material.

So, for best results as a replacement for a 2560x1440 TBD, you'd want to exactly double the linear resolution to 5120x2880 to get the extra clarity of "retina" without having to make things smaller.

...or you could use a 'scaled' mode (so, everything gets rendered to, e.g. 5k pixel-doubled internally, but is then resampled down to 4k) but this involves extra GPU load and potential loss of image quality.
 
kzhlin said:
For a 27" display, if you want to achieve the "retina" quality you get from the rMBP's, you would need 5k resolution.
Click to expand...
And that is exactly the problem! Only the Haswell rMBP and the nMP support 4K@60 Hz and (AFAIK) only the nMP supports 5K@60 Hz (via two Thunderbolt 2 ports). We need Thunderbolt 3 in Macs and the appropriate iGPU (Broadwell Iris Pro), so that even Macs without a discrete GPU (MBA, Mac mini, some rMBP) can support 5K@60 Hz. Let us not forget that in the case of the Thunderbolt Display the 4 additional USB 3.0 ports need 20 GBit/s.
 
I had a little play with the shark 32" 4K monitor and the new mac pro in london today and after seeing it with my own eyes and messing about with it, forget retina, I would love to run that screen on maximum resolution, the amount of space you have is incredible and was surprised you can actually read the text on websites, i was worried it was going to be useless running 4k but its actually really good and perfect for what i do (multiple web browsers and software) But obviously i refuse to pay such a stupid price for a monitor! now i will wait till october and see if apple release a 4k thunderbolt otherwise will have to get a normal 4K monitor like dell or something.

Hopefully apple release one in october, really would prefer a monitor that i can plug all my usbs in to it

----------

A quick question if anyone has done it,
If i run my late 2013 macbook pro at 4K on a external monitor will my graphics card start heating up and fans kicking in like i play a game? or would it be the exact same as it is now.
 
If you're asking this question, you're not going to be able to afford the Thunderbolt 2 display. Dell will be selling their 27" 5K display for $2500, Apple likely selling theirs for $2999 and will probably only run smoothly on the Mac Pro (old 30" ACD from 2004 had similar requirements).

For now, I would suggest the Dell UP2414Q which sells for $750 on Amazon. Far more affordable, can buy 2 if you like. 100% Adobe RGB, minimal glare, excellent color gamut. It runs OS X in HiDPI mode automatically unlike some of the cheaper TN 4K monitors (Dell P2815Q comes to mind) and looks absolutely amazing with Yosemite.

That's what I'd recommend you take a look at.
 
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