Anyone running two external displays with their 8th Gen? I’m thinking of going to this setup (possibly with the Dell U2720Q's) and am wondering if the integrated GPU handles it smoothly. Apparently the 10th Gen does it well but it has updated graphics capabilities.
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2020 MacBook Pro 8th Gen with 2 4K displays
- Thread starter citivolus
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While I personally have not used the exact setup, it will properly run two 4K displays at 60 Hz even when the internal display is also active, so you will get slightly improved performance on top of that with the internal display off. Are you worried about laggy/not fluid UI in macOS with the setup?
Yes that’s my primary concern. I’m not a gamer or photographer, just looking for fluid OS performance and when watching 4K videos.
I have the 2018 model which should have similar performance to the base 2020 model (they’re both 8th Gen).
I run with two 4K displays connected regularly and I can tell you it’s not a great experience. There’s a good deal of slow down doing basic things and the machine just seems to struggle. Heck I feel that with even one 4K display connected (running alongside the laptop display), performance is less than ideal. I’d really recommend you spring for Ice Lake (10th gen) if you want to run multiple high res displays.
I run with two 4K displays connected regularly and I can tell you it’s not a great experience. There’s a good deal of slow down doing basic things and the machine just seems to struggle. Heck I feel that with even one 4K display connected (running alongside the laptop display), performance is less than ideal. I’d really recommend you spring for Ice Lake (10th gen) if you want to run multiple high res displays.
Thanks, this is very useful info. If anyone with the current 8th Gen can post their experience, would be much appreciated. I guess I need to quickly order two 4K screens and try it out in the next week before my 14 day return period with Apple is up.
My 8th gen MBP won't run a single 4K monitor (28-inch Samsung) well with the lid closed. Can't imagine how bad it would be with two monitors. My usage sounds similar to your's: just want fluid performance, and it doesn't give me that. Plus fans are on, which makes my desk noisy.
Playing 4K video at 60fps is fine though, and very few frames dropped, only single digits. But your fans will be on high, and your CPU operating at 3-400% while doing so on an external 4K. Obviously playing 4K on the laptop screen itself is fine.
To add, I'm thinking of changing mine to the 10th gen as it also allows me to jump to 32 GB RAM as well as better iGPU. On a different thread, someone said their 10th gen was working with 2 x 4K monitors just fine.
Playing 4K video at 60fps is fine though, and very few frames dropped, only single digits. But your fans will be on high, and your CPU operating at 3-400% while doing so on an external 4K. Obviously playing 4K on the laptop screen itself is fine.
To add, I'm thinking of changing mine to the 10th gen as it also allows me to jump to 32 GB RAM as well as better iGPU. On a different thread, someone said their 10th gen was working with 2 x 4K monitors just fine.
Thanks! So how can Apple advertise the following tech specs for the 8th Gen?
- Up to two external 4K displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at millions of colors
I guess because technically it will power them, just not well. I've got a similar issue with my Mac mini 2018. That's my main desktop machine. Bought so I could get a 4K monitor and it was also a sludge to use, despite Apple sayings it's fine. Had to use a HD monitor instead.
The 10th gen can power a 6K (who knows how well), but I'm hopping the extra 'headroom' it has to power a 6K means it will power a 4K with ease. Selling up my MM and MBP to go 10th gen
my base 13-inch 2015 MacBook Pro performed perfectly connected to a 4K 60hz display in clamshell mode with Thunderbolt 2 a few years ago.
I'd love to know anyone else's experience with a 4k with the lid closed as this is my desired config too
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Perfect!
If you could post your feedback and experience that would be so useful! thanks!
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I would think the newer MB's would be able to do this just as well, but it seems some peoples experiences are not so positive. Setup perhaps?
Well thankfully they arrived a day early! I set up the displays and they are absolutely stunning. I am running them at a Scaled resolution with a "looks like 2560 x 1440".
Very happy with the displays!
First I tried the 8th Gen and sure enough, I was only able to get the two displays to run at 30Hz. The desktop was very choppy just when moving windows. I pretty much stopped right there as there was no point in going on. Pretty bummed.
Next I tried the 10th Gen and they were able to display the same resolution at 60Hz. Moving windows around was very fluid. I played some 4K videos and they were very smooth. This is due to the fact that the Ice Lake chipset supports HBR3 (as I've read it has to do with greater bandwidth via USB-C). The 8th Gen only supports HBR2 so it could only connect at 30Hz.
Overall I would say as has been suggested on this forum, the 8th Gen cannot handle two 4K displays @60Hz while the 10th Gen does so very well. Just sucks that Apple forces me to upgrade to the 10th Gen with a $500 premium to do so. I get that there are other benefits, but the graphics capability is pretty fundamental to me.
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Yes I tried native resolution of 1080p and it was just as bad. Pretty annoying how Apple seems to mislead us. As I result I had to spend so much time on this. That's why I'm sending my 8th Gen back to Apple.
Wow... so this may be a data point that tilts some in the direction of an MBA over an 8th Gen MBP if the 10th gen MBP is too much money (for driving at least one 4K display... and potentially two- I've only had one running connected to an MBA).
Or might this just be a cabling problem?
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how did you connect the displays? 2x4k@60hz should be no problem, saw this working with a 2016 MBP and a Thunderbolt 3 dock
Directly connected each monitor to the MBP via USB-C.
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That's what came up as the resolution when I chose "Default for display"...
Hey mate!
Thanks for sharing this! It's exactly what I needed to know.Could you describe the 'choppiness' and how you tested?
I am looking at the 8th gen as have mac pro in office. I usually only run one display at home. Did you try single display at all and also without scaling?
cheers!
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that is a bit low resolution for 4k isn't it? Or maybe it's what what detected for optimal scaling?
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what about with scaling?
I used a 2018 MBP 13" for quite a while connected to two Dell P2415Q monitors at work. I used USB-C to DisplayPort cables (Accell brand supporting DP Alt Mode) and it always worked very well for me. Both cables connected to the two TB3 ports on the right side of the machine. Worked in all scaling modes ... for the 4K monitors, I used the option one from the left, can't remember what "looks like" resolution that was. All other scaled resolutions worked well too. Did not use "clamshell" mode ... the 13" display was my third monitor.
ETA: Both ran at 60Hz with no issues. It was the i5-8259U with Iris Plus 655 GPU.
ETA: Both ran at 60Hz with no issues. It was the i5-8259U with Iris Plus 655 GPU.
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Somebody else mentioned that this cable should be used. USB-C to DisplayPort cables with DP Alt mode support