Apple Adds High-End 15" Retina MacBook Pro to List of Macs Supporting Dell's 5K Display

[shaunp]

Not sure why anyone would buy a Dell UP2715K when for $300 more you can get a whole 5k iMac.

It depends on what else you already have. I have a nMP and a PC. I wouldn't buy an iMac to replace the nMP, but I would buy the Dell screen to replace my current Dell screen.

What I don't like about Apple's monitors is that they can only be plugged into a Mac. Monitors from other vendors can be plugged into anything.

 

[furi0usbee]

No it isn't.

Yes, yes it is. Wait, what is?

 

[furi0usbee]

On a clean system, with no other apps installed, Preview crashes when viewing a screen shot image that was just taken?

No, not exactly. It can be any image, but I used screenshot as that's a new image that wouldn't be an issue from a previous install. What happens is this, and it happens about 25% or more of the time.

So I double-click on an image, it opens in Preview. I can keep the image open for any length of time, no issues. However, about 1 in 4 times, if I then simply close the image window (stop light), the image will close as normal, but then without a reason, Preview will then seemingly quit a couple seconds later, it will leave the dock and not be available from the app switcher (CMD-TAB). However, if I go to Activity Monitor, Preview is still there running, using ram. The only way to close it now is go to Force Quit.

Also, I have "show indicators for open applications" checked for the dock, so it's not a question of just not seeing the indicator. This ONLY happens with 1st party Apple apps. Hasn't happened yet with a third party app.

This is new for me with Yosemite. This never happened under Mavericks. My father just got a new mini so I will check it out when I go there in a couple weeks.

 

[furi0usbee]

For the few interested, here is my Yosemite issue. Showing it with Preview, but it happens with Apple apps, mostly Preview, Numbers, Pages. Video is right after a restart. Happens with even a clean install of latest Yosemite from USB key. If it's not the OS alone, it's the OS/my hardware combination.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/a0pzi0901nf3upg/Yosemite.mov?dl=0

 

[Sonmi451]

Yes, yes it is. Wait, what is?

Your whole post is a gross exaggeration. Astroturfing maybe?

 

[guzhogi]

Why hasn't Apple made a 4K display then? Their current Macs seem to be able to support it. Is there some other technical/practical/financial reason against? Is it not high enough resolution to be considered Retina and therefore not worth the trouble?

Possibly. Considering they have a 5K iMac (which probably uses multiple internal connections to drive it), why ship a 4K ThunderBolt display?

Something I'm curious about is that there are some Windows laptops with 4K displays built-in. http://www.toshiba.com/us/p50t

Why doesn't Apple do this? I haven't used one, so I also wonder can people really tell the difference, or are they just spec trolls? I have a 15" rMBP and I run some games on it. I can tell the difference when playing between 2880 x 1800 and something like 1920 x 1080. However, I don't know if I'll be able to really tell the difference between 4K and 2880 x 1800. For me though, I don't think I'd really care and pay that close attention anyways. For me, 2880 x 1800 is good enough for me.

 

[venom600]

Why doesn't Apple do this? I haven't used one, so I also wonder can people really tell the difference, or are they just spec trolls?

Someone asked earlier when the PPI race will end... the answer is it will end the same way it did for printers. In other words, until text on screen looks indistinguishable from printed text, there's still more work to do. In printers, that was 300DPI. So until devices get there, there's room for improvement.

 

[AppleDroid]

Why hasn't Apple made a 4K display then? Their current Macs seem to be able to support it. Is there some other technical/practical/financial reason against? Is it not high enough resolution to be considered Retina and therefore not worth the trouble?

They are waiting for TB3 which can drive 5k using a single cable.

 

[sniderbr]

Mid 2014 MBP with GT750M works at 5K!

Has anyone tested the UP2715K with a 2014 MacBook Pro with GT750M? One of Dell's support pages explicitly states (more than once) that this machine supports "5k3k" (which I presume means 5120x2880 native, or 2560x1440@2x).

http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/SLN295089/EN

See the "Configuring your system and the UP2715K to display 5k3k @ 60Hz resolution" and the "Abnormal behavior on some Apple Mac platforms" sections.

EDIT: I'm also interested to know if this display would work with one of the two mini DisplayPort cables running through, say, an OWC Thunderbolt 2 dock, so that other peripherals could use the dock rather then having to run everything through USB 3.0 ports on the laptop/display, as both Thunderbolt ports on the laptop would be used up.

Well — answered my own question:

The Mid 2014 MacBook Pro 15" with GT750M does support the Dell UP2715K 5K display at 2560x1440@2x at 60Hz, using both of the included DisplayPort-to-mini-DisplayPort cables!

It also works just fine at 1920x1080@2x at 60Hz with DisplayPort audio (volume keys on Mac keyboard are disabled, but hardware/OSD controls on the monitor work), using just the single included mini-DisplayPort-to-mini-DisplayPort cable. As stated on the Dell support page I linked in my previous post, this is the only configuration that yields audio through the display's speakers.

I did have to reboot the MBP once after first trying "5K3K" via 2x DisplayPort inputs. I toggled between 5K3K and 4K2K settings on the monitor a few times, first getting only a strange 2000-something-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz, then finally it kicked into perfect 5120x2880 native after opening and closing the MBP lid. The MBP initially gave a warning about disconnecting the USB device that was drawing too much power (only the monitor was plugged in using the included USB 3.0 cable to drive the monitor's built-in ports). After dismissing the warning and unplugging and re-plugging the USB cable again, no further warnings were issued. I tried the USB ports on the monitor, and had no issues using a SanDisk USB 3.0 flash drive.

Note that the "default for display" setting in system preferences gives me 5120x2880 native; I had to select the "looks like 2560x1440" scaled option, but I can confirm that it's exactly like the 27" retina iMac (i.e., pixel-doubled, not scaled). My MBP is also running nice and cool, definitely not running scaled with corresponding heat/fan noise as you'd see on, say, a Dell P2715Q 4K display running at 2560x1440 scaled (I have one at work).

For reference, my MBP is the maxed-out mid-2014 15-inch/2.8GHz/16GB/1TB/GT750M config running 10.10.3 (build 14D136).

Tomorrow, I'll try running one of the two DisplayPort cables through my OWC Thunderbolt 2 dock to see if it's possible to get a functioning dock as well as 5K resolution

 

[randian]

If only Apple would update its Thunderbolt Displays. If they're going to cede the display business to Dell they should get out of it entirely.

 

[andy89]

I'm hoping for a new 5K Apple Cinema Display with dual MDP connectors.

 

[dyn]

It depends on what else you already have. I have a nMP and a PC. I wouldn't buy an iMac to replace the nMP, but I would buy the Dell screen to replace my current Dell screen.

What I don't like about Apple's monitors is that they can only be plugged into a Mac. Monitors from other vendors can be plugged into anything.

The problem with the Dell 5K display is its use of 2 DisplayPort connections. If you want to use it with another machine it needs to have 2 DisplayPort outputs and be able to drive 1 display with it. That's just as crippled as the iMac 5K so I highly doubt you can use that display with another machine in the future. Both that display and the iMac 5K are first gen products. The second gen versions most likely won't have these issues nor the small price difference.

This also means that Apple will release a TB 5K display once you can use it via 1 connection. It could also be a second model of the TB display just like the iMac 5K is to iMacs.

 

[shaunp]

The problem with the Dell 5K display is its use of 2 DisplayPort connections. If you want to use it with another machine it needs to have 2 DisplayPort outputs and be able to drive 1 display with it. That's just as crippled as the iMac 5K so I highly doubt you can use that display with another machine in the future. Both that display and the iMac 5K are first gen products. The second gen versions most likely won't have these issues nor the small price difference.

What I can't plug the Dell 5K display into a nMP (using two thunderbolt ports), or any PC that has a GPU with 2 x display port? How is that crippled?

 

[shaunymac]

I've tried LR. I just can't get over the ugly UI. I may have to go that route someday, but right now Aperture does exactly what I need it to do.

You can both LR and Aperture and go after something even more polished...

Capture One! The color handling is much better.

 

[dyn]

What I can't plug the Dell 5K display into a nMP (using two thunderbolt ports), or any PC that has a GPU with 2 x display port? How is that crippled?

Try doing this with a machine that has only 1 port or one that isn't running OS X v10.10.3... The support for this is both hardware and software; not a very reliable solution as we've seen many times in the past. These things might change in the future, but that is not the main problem.

It will take up all of its TB ports (2) and thus you won't be able to use any TB device. There are no external TB devices with at least 3 TB ports which you need: 1 for connecting to the machine (or other TB device in front of it) and 2 for connecting the display. Using both TB ports to drive 1 display is like turning your MBPr 15" into the MacBook. As you can read from reviews and the MacBook subforum here quite a lot of people dislike that.

The Mac Pro is the only Apple machine where this display could still have potential in the future (it still takes up 2 precious TB ports but at least you have 4 more). The other future is with ordinary PCs but that's not the scope of this website and its community

Let's be honest here. The way 5K is done atm is just ugly, it's not proper. Apple can get away with that with the iMac because it is an all in one device, Dell can get away with it because the PC market is more open for those kind of tricks.

 

[shaunp]

Try doing this with a machine that has only 1 port or one that isn't running OS X v10.10.3... The support for this is both hardware and software; not a very reliable solution as we've seen many times in the past. These things might change in the future, but that is not the main problem.

It will take up all of its TB ports (2) and thus you won't be able to use any TB device. There are no external TB devices with at least 3 TB ports which you need: 1 for connecting to the machine (or other TB device in front of it) and 2 for connecting the display. Using both TB ports to drive 1 display is like turning your MBPr 15" into the MacBook. As you can read from reviews and the MacBook subforum here quite a lot of people dislike that.

The Mac Pro is the only Apple machine where this display could still have potential in the future (it still takes up 2 precious TB ports but at least you have 4 more). The other future is with ordinary PCs but that's not the scope of this website and its community

Let's be honest here. The way 5K is done atm is just ugly, it's not proper. Apple can get away with that with the iMac because it is an all in one device, Dell can get away with it because the PC market is more open for those kind of tricks.

I agree, it's not pretty but I have both a nMP and a PC that are both capable of using this monitor if I want to. Whether I want to or not is another question. To be honest the whole 4K/5K monitor market is a mess, which is why I haven't taken the plunge yet. I'll wait for to be more of a definitive standard before I bother.

 

[sniderbr]

Tomorrow, I'll try running one of the two DisplayPort cables through my OWC Thunderbolt 2 dock to see if it's possible to get a functioning dock as well as 5K resolution

It works! Full 2560x1440@2x at 60Hz running one of the two mDP-to-DP cables through the TB port on the OWC TB2 dock, with the other mDP-to-DP cable and a TB cable plugged into the aforementioned 2014 MBP.

Did discover one funny thing: my MBP thinks the UP2715K is an 81.5-inch display, with and without the TB2 dock inline.

 

[Aetles]

Apple has updated a support document on its website to reflect that the high-end 15-inch Retina MacBook Pro, equipped with AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics, is capable of driving Dell's dual-cable UP2715K 27-inch 5K display.

Looking at that support dokument now and there is no MacBook Pro, just iMac and Mac Pro:

Dual-Cable Displays
Some displays with resolutions higher than 4K require two DisplayPort cables to connect the display at full resolution. With OS X Yosemite v10.10.3 and later, the Dell UP2715K 27-inch 5K display is supported on the following Mac computers:

• Mac Pro (Late 2013)
• iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)

Was it just a mistake by Apple?

 

[foulmouthedleon]

I can confirm this works. Tested it out yesterday.

I've had the high end MBP for a couple of weeks now (yes, I can still return it when the new ones come out later this week), but can't seem to get this working via Target Display Mode on my iMac 5k. How were you able to do this? Again, I realize it might be a moot point but figured I'd ask.