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

5 Things You Need to Know About M2 Pro and M2 Max

Samuel Sosa said:
I think what bothers me is I need to spend over 3k to get a machine to connect to 3 monitors. My 2019 16in MBP that cost $1999 can connect to 3 4k monitors at 60hz without a sweat. I don't use it all the time I mostly use dual but still would like the ability to without paying crazy prices. The only alternative would be to plug in 2 natively and connect the 3 using display link.
Click to expand...
The $1299 mac mini connects to three monitors...

To quote from the Apple store:
  • Up to three displays: Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI
  • Up to two displays: One display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI
  • One display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

Usual internet reaction: give a man a backpack full of gold and he'll immediately complain that it's too heavy...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Burnincoco
infinitejest said:
Can we expect a MacBook Pro redesign in 2024? I'm really not a fan of the bulky design and the all black keyboard. 😕
Click to expand...
Bulky? The thing is 2/3rd's of an inch thick (1.68cm), and barely larger than the screen in the other two dimensions. Short of folding the screen, how can you get "bulky" out of that? Have you actually used one, or are you just complaining about online pictures?
 
  • Like
Reactions: russell_314
It’s purely insane this is what Apple M2 Chip looks like. Look at how small it is.

Activate the iPhone 14 Pro Max "Macro Mode".

1674087664065.jpeg
 
  • Like
Reactions: _Spinn_, Leon Ze Professional, svish and 1 other person
infinitejest said:
I'm really not a fan of the bulky design and the all black keyboard. 😕
Click to expand...
Jony Ive has left the company, so no it’s not going back to thin and light. Your best bet is look at the MacBook Air and there are rumors of a larger MacBook Air but that’s just rumors.
 
CarlJ said:
Bulky? The thing is 2/3rd's of an inch thick (1.68cm), and barely larger than the screen in the other two dimensions. Short of folding the screen, how can you get "bulky" out of that? Have you actually used one, or are you just complaining about online pictures?
Click to expand...
I have one. And I also have a 2019 model which feels way less bulky.
 
  • Like
Reactions: kyjaotkb
kyjaotkb said:
HDMI 2.1 offers 48Gbps whereas Thunderbolt 4 is limited to 40 Gbps. You need 43 Gbps for 8K, 60Hz in 4.2.0.
This means that the MacBook Pro's support for 8K is limited to 4.2.0 chroma subsampling: fine for watching movies, unsuitable for grading movies, OK for gaming but downright awful for displaying text at 1x the resolution, but probably alright at 2x retina. https://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/chroma-subsampling
Click to expand...
HDMI 2.1 max data bandwidth is ≈42 Gbps since it uses 16b/18b encoding and FEC.
8K60 HDMI 10bpc RGB requires 71.28 Gbps.
8K60 HDMI 10bpc 4:2:0 requires 35.64 Gbps.
8K60 HDMI 12bpc RGB using DSC@12bpp requires 28.51 Gbps.
For the first two, you could try 8bpc but HDR requires 10bpc. 6bpc is possible with RGB in Windows.
You can try CVT-RB2 timing instead of HDMI timing to reduce bandwidth so you can get 8K60 (24.8 Gbps) with DisplayPort (max 25.92 Gbps).

DSC is better than 4:2:0 for color data since it's smarter at what info it throws away (it's supposed to be visually lossless). 4:2:0 is perfect for grayscale text on grayscale background - as long as the OS is not trying to do subpixel antialiasing.

I am thinking that M2 Pro is using a DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.1 adapter - in that case any of the other Thunderbolt ports should be able to do the same 8K60 if you can get a similar external adapter. Or maybe Apple created a non-DisplayPort output? That would be a first in recent times.

kyjaotkb said:
My guess is that next year's laptops will offer Thunderbolt 5, which offers 80Gbps and will allow full 4.4.4 chroma subsampling, and the next XDR display will be 8K and require Thunderbolt 5. Or maybe, Apple will put two Thunderbolt ports on that future XDR and allow 2022 MacBook Pros to output 4.4.4 to it using 2x Thunderbolt 4 connections. Similar to how the Dell UP3218K uses two Displayport connections (this monitor seems incompatible with the 2022 MacBook Pro and I've only read about one person using it with a Mac, using a Mac Pro 7.1, two PCIe graphics cards and a fair amount of hacking).
Click to expand...
The Dell UP3218K can now work at 8K60 8bpc on Intel Macs running Mac OS 13 Ventura. Apple enabled this mode on certain MacPro7,1 configurations but I don't know what configurations. I made a Lilu/WhateverGreen patch to enable the mode on any Intel Mac. The mode requires two DisplayPort 1.4 outputs from the same GPU.

eduardshugar said:
Thunderbolt 4 supports DisplayPort up to 2.0
Click to expand...
Can you name a computer or controller chip that supports Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 and also supports DisplayPort 2.0?
 
  • Like
Reactions: kyjaotkb
rhysmorgan said:
Because DisplayPort 2.0/2.1 support is required for uncompressed 5K 120Hz, which is what their next monitor is going to support.
Click to expand...
I believe the rumours suggest the next monitor will be the 5k 27" miniLED display that will fit between the two existing models. If Apple was going to let this monitor support 5k120 I'm very surprised they haven't announced the new M2 Pro/Max Macs will be compatible with DP2.1 resolutions via an update. The fact that their press release we a bit untidy suggesting that 8k60 is only possible over HDMI suggests to me that they aren't planning to update the thunderbolt ports to support these DP 2.1 resolutions.
 
infinitejest said:
I have one. And I also have a 2019 model which feels way less bulky.
Click to expand...
I have a 2021 14" Pro and I agree, it feels bulky and it's kind of heavy. When I'm at home and carrying a laptop around the house, I pick up my 2015 13" MacBook Pro instead of the 14", despite a huge difference in speed. All I want is the 13.3" MacBook Pro with the ability to connect multiple monitors, ideally with MagSafe and a HDMI connection. I can live with the smaller screen but wouldn't mind a bump to 2880*1800 (they can do that and remove the touch bar). That would be my perfect laptop.
 
  • Love
Reactions: infinitejest
kiranmk2 said:
I believe the rumours suggest the next monitor will be the 5k 27" miniLED display that will fit between the two existing models. If Apple was going to let this monitor support 5k120 I'm very surprised they haven't announced the new M2 Pro/Max Macs will be compatible with DP2.1 resolutions via an update. The fact that their press release we a bit untidy suggesting that 8k60 is only possible over HDMI suggests to me that they aren't planning to update the thunderbolt ports to support these DP 2.1 resolutions.
Click to expand...
The rumours from Ross Young also state that the monitor is going to support ProMotion, i.e. 120Hz.
Apple don't talk about specific DisplayPort versions or HDMI versions - note, they've just stated the features that the HDMI port supports on the new MacBook Pros. They don't state that it's HDMI 2.1 anywhere.

Plus, 5K 120Hz still works with DisplayPort 1.4 + Display Stream Compression, so I suspect even if they can't retroactively make the older Macs support DisplayPort 2.0/2.1, that's the route they'll use for older devices.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back