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4K (3840 by 2160) with the new rMB
- Thread starter iRun26.2
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Thinking about an rMB + 4K monitor for a birthday present for the Mrs. but not until/unless I get trusted 3rd party verification that it works well.
Mike, according to one of the Members it can: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1856116/.
Nevertheless, the question still remains in case of 12" rMB.
Personally, I don't think it will be capable, but we will see.
It can. Apple's product page tech specs list that resolution as its max "up to" for an external monitor. USB 3.1 does native mDP 1.2, so it is obviously technically possible. However, Apple curiously isn't providing a USB-C to mDP port option in their multi adapter offerings, just HDMI or VGA, neither of which are capable of the high resolution, so you're getting a max 1080p there.
Interesting to see if a USB-C monitor or two will come out, and failing that, a USB-C to mDP adapter. Shouldn't really be a technical reason why Apple didn't provide one to begin with...especially if they are going to list that spec on the product page.
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Yup, it can, two external monitors simultaneously at up to 3840x2160 resolution while running its own at native retina resolution. Not "true" 4k, but close enough.
How in the world could a 5W part be able to drive that many pixels? It seems like it wouldn't have any power left to do anything else.
It would be quite a sight, though: One of the smallest of computers driving one of the biggest monitors.
It would be quite a sight, though: One of the smallest of computers driving one of the biggest monitors.
Why? I have my tiny 11" MBA driving dual 27" Thunderbolt displays without breaking a sweat.
Apple wouldn't be listing 4K as supported external resolution in rMB specs, if it wasn't capable of it. Modern GPUs are surprisingly good even in ultra-portables.
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HDMI from standard 1.4 (partly) and 2.0 (fully) supports 4k. However the apple adapter so far only lists up to 1080p as supported resolution. But i'm sure the third party market is already gearing up to provide the full mDP support that apple currently does not provide with its adapters.
There is this: http://www.intel.com/content/dam/ww...s/core-m-processor-family-datasheet-vol-1.pdf (p.26)
To support maximum display resolution of 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz on DP or eDP, extra cooling is required and only two displays can be supported as shown in the table.
So don't expect to drive two 4K external displays, and only one already seems unsupported with a fanless design.
Maybe the rMB can only support one 4K@30Hz?
To support maximum display resolution of 3840 x 2160 @ 60 Hz on DP or eDP, extra cooling is required and only two displays can be supported as shown in the table.
So don't expect to drive two 4K external displays, and only one already seems unsupported with a fanless design.
Maybe the rMB can only support one 4K@30Hz?
Based on everything I've read on the Intel 5300 it should support ATLEAST one 4K display. Which I think is enough. Who's going to buy a Macbook to drive two 4K displays anyway? My 2013 Macbook air ran my 2560x1400 display with ZERO problems, yet forums were filled with people saying it didn't support it.
That's good to know. I think it could make the new rMB more valuable for me for some of the CAD tools I use (schematic capture and PCB layout design) if I could connect it to a 4K monitor.
Under what circumstances would 30Hz be noticeably worse than 60Hz? How about CAD software (schematic capture and PCB layout), would 30Hz look acceptable?
That works? It's not supported, according to the specs. http://www.apple.com/macbook-air/specs.html I run a single TB display off mine. Running two would be fantastic!
This may not completely apply to this thread, im planning on getting a 4k TV .... does apple TV allow you to mirror your mac in 4k resolution??
Yes, it's been supported for years.
Of course not. Apple TV itself can only output up to 1080p resolution - that's what AirPlay mirroring is limited to.
Choppiness with the low framerate should be visible with any scroll in a page or in OS X visual transitions, adding in the second screen to drive and the large resolution.
For a usage like displaying static images/pages aside the MB screen, it shouldn't be much frustrating, but you probably wouldn't want to use a 4K@30Hz display as your main computer screen to browse the web or scroll through PDFs and stuffs daily.
I keep reading that 60z will need passive cooling. I hope that doesn't mean I won't be able to increase the screen real estate to 1650x1080 or higher.
Maybe apple should have asked microsoft to borrow the fan from the surface pro 3 and done some apple magic to it, to make it smaller and thrown it in so we could have 4k at 60z.
Maybe apple should have asked microsoft to borrow the fan from the surface pro 3 and done some apple magic to it, to make it smaller and thrown it in so we could have 4k at 60z.
Active cooling appears to be necessary only for driving a 3840x2160 screen at 60Hz.
The maximum resolution supported by the new rMB wil be equivalent to 1440x900 (HiDPI 2x 2880x1800 resolution scaled down to the 2304x1440 grid of pixels of the screen). It will not need active cooling and supposedly Broadwell Core M should support it at 60Hz.
The maximum resolution supported by the new rMB wil be equivalent to 1440x900 (HiDPI 2x 2880x1800 resolution scaled down to the 2304x1440 grid of pixels of the screen). It will not need active cooling and supposedly Broadwell Core M should support it at 60Hz.
It can't, it's not possible.
USB-C has max 10 Gbits/sec bandwidth.
4k 60Hz 4:4:4 needs around 12 Gbits/sec
bit_per_channel = 8
num_channels = 3 (RGB)
resolution = 3840 * 2160
60Hz = 60 times per second
bandwidth = 3840 * 2160 * 8 * 3 * 60
bandwidth 4k@60Hz = 11.94 Gbits/sec
Case closed
USB-C has max 10 Gbits/sec bandwidth.
4k 60Hz 4:4:4 needs around 12 Gbits/sec
bit_per_channel = 8
num_channels = 3 (RGB)
resolution = 3840 * 2160
60Hz = 60 times per second
bandwidth = 3840 * 2160 * 8 * 3 * 60
bandwidth 4k@60Hz = 11.94 Gbits/sec
Case closed
Displayport alternate mode runs over the same physical wires but does not use USB-C natively (since display bit error rate is much more forgiving than real data). So yes it is possible.