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Munajj

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 7, 2020
3
1
Hey,

I just got my 2020 Macbook Pro 13 inch today. It's the higher level one with the 10th gen processor. Just wondering if I will be able to run it on the LG 49" ultrawide monitor? I heard there were problems with the older Macbook Pro 13's, and there were resolution issues with the ultrawide. Since the new MBP can support even the Pro Display XDR, so it should be fine right? Just looking for some advice prior to purchasing a monitor. Not too techy, so any advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!
 
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Curious about this as well. I heard that the Macbook Air 2020 worked with the 49" SuperUltraWides but I can't remember if that was confirmed or someone postulating...
 
Here's the post that referenced the Macbook Air 2020 compatibility and why older Macbook Pro 13" weren't compatible:
Macs with Intel graphics cannot output resolution width greater than 4096 using macOS driver. They can in Windows. I guess Apple was lazy with the Mac driver. It is able to do 5120x2880 on displays that use a dual DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2 connections (LG UltraFine 5K, Dell UP2715K).

[...]

The new MacBook Air 2020 with Intel Gen11 graphics does support resolution widths higher than 4K. It also supports DisplayPort 1.4 and DSC. I wonder if this update (10.15.4) affects older Intel graphics? Probably not.

Given the 2020 Macbook Pro 13" and the 2020 Macbook Air share the same generation Intel processor, it stands to reason that it should also support the 49" SUW, which run at 5K resolution widths.
 
That's wrong.

I ran my 2018 13" MacBook Pro with the LG 34WK95U for roughly 2 years up to this point and just replaced it with a 16" MacBook. It works just fine. The monitor is 5120 x 2160.

But don't expect to use any scaled resolution other than 2560 x 1080 with the 34WK95U. The computer stutters like there is no tomorrow.

Tried this briefly with the 2020 MacBook Air and it worked as well. No problem.

The 16" works flawlessly with scaled resolutions as well.

I don't think you'll have any issue with the 2020 MacBook Pro.
 
That's wrong.

I ran my 2018 13" MacBook Pro with the LG 34WK95U for roughly 2 years up to this point and just replaced it with a 16" MacBook. It works just fine. The monitor is 5120 x 2160.

But don't expect to use any scaled resolution other than 2560 x 1080 with the 34WK95U. The computer stutters like there is no tomorrow.

Tried this briefly with the 2020 MacBook Air and it worked as well. No problem.

The 16" works flawlessly with scaled resolutions as well.

I don't think you'll have any issue with the 2020 MacBook Pro.

Thanks. Couple questions:

  1. By scaled resolution, do you mean the resolution is 2560x1080 but still running at retina-like PPI (similar to what a scaled resolution on the LCD screen of a Macbook Pro would look like)? If so, this sounds almost preferable to running at native 5120x2160 where the text would be impractically small, no?
  2. Out of curiosity, are you able to use the 2020 Macbook Air and 16" Macbook Pro at the full 5120 x 2160 resolution with the 34WK95U? Or do they work only at the 2560x1080 scaled resolution?
  3. Is the 2560x1080 scaled resolution worse to you or do you prefer it?
 
1. Scaled resolution at 2560 x 1080 means the effective resolution is 5120 x 2160 (native) and all UI elements are x2 in width and height.

2. Yes. All 3 machines work at 5120 x 2160 natively.

3. As above, 2560 x 1080 scaled is technically the "native" HiDPI (retina PPI) equivalent. There are also other modes higher than 2560 x 1080 that can be selected. They make the effective internal resolution much higher than 5120 x 2160 and then the final output is scaled to fit 5120 x 2160. This puts a great strain on the system and only the 16" can handle these higher scaled resolutions without hiccups.

Anyways, the 49" is lower resolution than that and should be fine overall with all 3 computers, I think.
 
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