Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

cappo3

macrumors regular
Original poster
Dec 3, 2014
217
74
Hi guys!
Since I'll have to work on some bigger projects for my university, I'd love to have a secondary display to connect to my rMPB 13" Late 2013. I would like to get a 4K monitor, since I found a good offer in a shop close to me. Unfortunately, I read my MBP cannot drive a 4K monitor at 60Hz, being limited to 30Hz on HDMI.
Is there a way around this, maybe by using one Thunderbolt 2 port (or both of them at the same time)?
Do you have some experience with this issue?
Thank youuuu!
 
I think that is not possible purely because the hardware isn't capable of such high bandwidths. Everymac lists this for the secondary screen:

"This model supports a simultaneous maximum resolution up to 2560x1600 on two external displays via Thunderbolt. Alternately, it can support a single display up to 2560x1600 via Thunderbolt and a single 1080p display at up to 60 Hz, 3840x2160 at 30 Hz, or 4096x2160 at 24 Hz via HDMI."

The GPU supports 4k @60Hz alright using HDMI 1.4. But I can't find which HDMI version the late 2013 model has. I think it's lower, which would explain the limitation of 30Hz.
[doublepost=1548172759][/doublepost]Correction: you can force it with a tool and some experimentation. Here's a link:
https://kandrejevs.com/blog/read/50/More-than-30Hz-on-Your-133-Macbook-Pro-and-4K-monitor
It's possible your fans go crazy because the gpu gets very loaded, though.
By the way, I found this using the forum's search function.
 
  • Like
Reactions: tigerintank
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.