5k external display for 2015 rMBP 15 inch

[Kaineliu]

I plan to purchase the new BTO 15" rMBP with 2.8 GHz and M370x, primarily for photo and video editing (FCP X). I currently work from late 2013 iMac 27" (3.4 GHz, 8GB memory, Nvidia 775M 2 GB) and need the portability of MBP.

Does anyone have experience with 5k external display from the 15" rMBP? Apple's spec page says it supports 5120 x 2880 60 GHz. I want to get the Dell Ultra HD 5K UP2715K in the future if the price goes down, or if Apple ever releases a 5K Thunderbolt display.

Thanks in advance

 

[jonisign]

I plan to purchase the new BTO 15" rMBP with 2.8 GHz and M370x, primarily for photo and video editing (FCP X). I currently work from late 2013 iMac 27" (3.4 GHz, 8GB memory, Nvidia 775M 2 GB) and need the portability of MBP.

Does anyone have experience with 5k external display from the 15" rMBP? Apple's spec page says it supports 5120 x 2880 60 GHz. I want to get the Dell Ultra HD 5K UP2715K in the future if the price goes down, or if Apple ever releases a 5K Thunderbolt display.

Thanks in advance

Huh, Apple must have just changed their specs... I could have sworn that it said 5120x2160 earlier this week... and it now reads 5120x2880!

Edit: They don't say anything about a single cable, so my guess is that this is still a two cable solution. I imagine the Dell 5k would work fine with two cables. However, I imagine if Apple were to update their thunderbolt display it will probably just take a single DP 1.3 input. It is unclear if any current GPU will be compatible with this.

 

[jesusplay]

5k imac is the cheapest 5k display at 1999.99 I think, I did a brief check

 

[MrAverigeUser]

The Dell is anti-glare… a REAL Argument NOT to buy the apple-Display…
5 k only with two cables. I really don't think this might be possible with a rMBP...

 

[JTToft]

Huh, Apple must have just changed their specs... I could have sworn that it said 5120x2160 earlier this week... and it now reads 5120x2880!

- It did. Apple's spec pages have been quite volatile lately...
They haven't updated their 4K and 5K support document yet, though.

Edit: They don't say anything about a single cable, so my guess is that this is still a two cable solution.

- It will be, yes. Single-cable 5K is only possible via DP 1.3, and since the 2015 rMBP 15" has retained Thunderbolt 2 (and thereby DP 1.2), it will need two cables. Also, no 5K monitors with DP 1.3 exist.

5k imac is the cheapest 5k display at 1999.99 I think, I did a brief check

- That might be true, but the 5K iMac can't be used in Target Display Mode, so you'd be very disappointed if you were to purchase it for that purpose.

5 k only with two cables. I really don't think this might be possible with a rMBP...

- Why not? It has two Thunderbolt ports, and the specs list support for 5K.

 

[whitedragon101]

The Dell is anti-glare… a REAL Argument NOT to buy the apple-Display…
5 k only with two cables. I really don't think this might be possible with a rMBP...

The Dell is edge to edge glass just like the iMac. It has antireflective coatings just like the iMac. It does not have an antiglare diffuser which is a good thing. Antiglare is simply a diffusion panel placed in front of the display this spreads out the light in both directions.

Outside light hitting screen : gets diffused and spread out, reducing reflections and lowing saturation and contrast, but preventing distracting reflections
Inside light coming out : gets diffused making the image more blurry

On a display with a PPI this high the blur from antiglare would destroy the advantage of the panel.

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Huh, Apple must have just changed their specs... I could have sworn that it said 5120x2160 earlier this week... and it now reads 5120x2880!

Edit: They don't say anything about a single cable, so my guess is that this is still a two cable solution. I imagine the Dell 5k would work fine with two cables. However, I imagine if Apple were to update their thunderbolt display it will probably just take a single DP 1.3 input. It is unclear if any current GPU will be compatible with this.

That is exciting I did think 5120 x 2160 was a strange resolution. I am glad it was a mistake.

Fingers crossed for a 5K thunderbolt with DP 1.3

 

[MrAverigeUser]

The Dell is edge to edge glass just like the iMac. It has antireflective coatings just like the iMac. It does not have an antiglare diffuser which is a good thing. Antiglare is simply a diffusion panel placed in front of the display this spreads out the light in both directions.

Outside light hitting screen : gets diffused and spread out, reducing reflections and lowing saturation and contrast, but preventing distracting reflections
Inside light coming out : gets diffused making the image more blurry

On a display with a PPI this high the blur from antiglare would destroy the advantage of the panel.

I absolutely agree - Hard to find a compromise for all customers.

BUT: reflections are disturbing like antiglare does…

so: as much antireflection/Antiglare as necessarily demanded - and as less of reflections/glare possible…
not too much people work in absolute darkness.
I am astonished that the DELL does not even come with black hood…

maybe I´ll wait a little bit for (affordable) NEC solutions...

 

[mcarling]

I haven't tried this but, in theory, 5120x2880 will require either two DisplayPort 1.2 cables, one DisplayPort 1.3 cable (not supported by the mid-2015 MBP), or one DisplayPort 1.2 cable (at lower than 60Hz). Please let us know how it works out for you.

I just bought two Dell P2415Q 4K monitors to go with the 15" mid-2015 MBP (no discrete GPU) that I have on order.

 

[dagamer34]

I'll be picking up the $2499 model of the 15" MacBook Pro to test this theory, as I have also the Dell UP2715K in for testing as well (it's the best display to pair with a Retina iMac, period).

I'll post my results in a day or two.

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I haven't tried this but, in theory, 5120x2880 will require either two DisplayPort 1.2 cables, one DisplayPort 1.3 cable (not supported by the mid-2015 MBP), or one DisplayPort 1.2 cable (at lower than 60Hz). Please let us know how it works out for you.

I just bought two Dell P2415Q 4K monitors to go with the 15" mid-2015 MBP (no discrete GPU) that I have on order.

I tested that scenario with those exact same monitors on a 2014 model, it did cause the fan to kick up to an audible level. Ran decently though, barring all the usually Yosemite bugs where Mission Control animates as slow as molasses.

 

[mcarling]

I tested that scenario with those exact same monitors on a 2014 model, it did cause the fan to kick up to an audible level. Ran decently though, barring all the usually Yosemite bugs where Mission Control animates as slow as molasses.

With or without the discrete GPU?

Until I receive the 15" mid-2015 MBP, I'm using my 15" early-2013 MBP with the two P2415Q monitors. It's working fine -- aside from the monitors displaying 2560x1440 due to the bandwidth limitation of Thunderbolt 1.

 

[dagamer34]

With or without the discrete GPU?

Until I receive the 15" mid-2015 MBP, I'm using my 15" early-2013 MBP with the two P2415Q monitors. It's working fine -- aside from the monitors displaying 2560x1440 due to the bandwidth limitation of Thunderbolt 1.

With discrete GPU (750m)

 

[dagamer34]

I plan to purchase the new BTO 15" rMBP with 2.8 GHz and M370x, primarily for photo and video editing (FCP X). I currently work from late 2013 iMac 27" (3.4 GHz, 8GB memory, Nvidia 775M 2 GB) and need the portability of MBP.

Does anyone have experience with 5k external display from the 15" rMBP? Apple's spec page says it supports 5120 x 2880 60 GHz. I want to get the Dell Ultra HD 5K UP2715K in the future if the price goes down, or if Apple ever releases a 5K Thunderbolt display.

Thanks in advance

I can now confirm that this works.

15" MacBook Pro with Retina Display (w/ AMD R9 M370X GPU)
Dell UP2715K 5K display

Now, there's technically nothing different about the AMD R9 M370X GPU that the Nvidia Geforce 750M wouldn't have been able to handle a 5K display, though I did not have a laptop with the latter GPU to test. Good news is that the fan doesn't become audible like it did when I was testing the mid-2014 model and dual Dell P2415Q displays.

Edit: Seems Apple finally got around to updating their support page: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856 Only R9 M370X is supported, not 750M.

 

[iAustralian]

This is excellent news. How is the performance? Any noticeable additional UI lag or speed issues when running graphics-intensive applications?

I have been looking forward to the day the portable Mac could support a desktop 220 ppi display since I got a rMBP in 2012.

This is the setup I will be moving towards if and when Apple releases a 5K Thunderbolt Display (hopefully around same pricing as current Thunderbolt Display –*hopefully at WWDC).

If they do, I can see it having three Thunderbolt ports on the back, enabling support for the pre- and post-DP1.3 Macs. For these pre-DP1.3 Macs (the 2015 MBP w/370X, Mac Pro, iMac 5K) you will need to occupy two of those ports, but still get another for daisy chaining. But for the newer Macs, the display hardware will be compatible with DP1.3, so you can just connect the one cable in the future and have two port Thunderbolt hub.

 

[dagamer34]

This is excellent news. How is the performance? Any noticeable additional UI lag or speed issues when running graphics-intensive applications?

I have been looking forward to the day the portable Mac could support a desktop 220 ppi display since I got a rMBP in 2012.

This is the setup I will be moving towards if and when Apple releases a 5K Thunderbolt Display (hopefully around same pricing as current Thunderbolt Display –*hopefully at WWDC).

If they do, I can see it having three Thunderbolt ports on the back, enabling support for the pre- and post-DP1.3 Macs. For these pre-DP1.3 Macs (the 2015 MBP w/370X, Mac Pro, iMac 5K) you will need to occupy two of those ports, but still get another for daisy chaining. But for the newer Macs, the display hardware will be compatible with DP1.3, so you can just connect the one cable in the future and have two port Thunderbolt hub.

There aren't any DP 1.3 GPUs. Unlikely to come until next year when both AMD and Nvidia release true next-generation GPUs.

UI is pretty smooth, GPU can clearly handle the 5K monitor without sweating (fan coming on). I don't really have any GPU intensive apps installed yet, I have Final Cut Pro X but have never really used it before. Maybe I'll play around with it this weekend and see if I can make the system stutter. At the moment, I can say any lag that currently exists is from Yosemite being poorly optimized in general, not the lack of GPU power.

 

[mcarling]

Good news is that the fan doesn't become audible like it did when I was testing the mid-2014 model and dual Dell P2415Q displays.

I received my mid-2015 15" 2.8GHz dGPU-free MBP today. Driving two Dell P2415Q 4K monitors, I cannot get the fan to become audible, even with over 100 tabs open in Safari. Both monitors are set to "Looks like 3008 x 1692". I'm completely satisfied and glad I didn't waste money on a discrete GPU.

 

[totten76]

I received my mid-2015 15" 2.8GHz dGPU-free MBP today. Driving two Dell P2415Q 4K monitors, I cannot get the fan to become audible, even with over 100 tabs open in Safari. Both monitors are set to "Looks like 3008 x 1692". I'm completely satisfied and glad I didn't waste money on a discrete GPU.

That's amazing! Are you daisy chaining or using a port for each?

 

[mcarling]

That's amazing! Are you daisy chaining or using a port for each?

Each monitor has exclusive use of one Thunderbolt 2 port.

 

[iAustralian]

There aren't any DP 1.3 GPUs. Unlikely to come until next year when both AMD and Nvidia release true next-generation GPUs.

This isn't to say Apple couldn't build in future DP 1.3 compatibility to a 5K Thunderbolt Display now, if they were to release at WWDC?