Apple Thunderbolt 5 Cable & Dell U4025qw

[joshmv]

I currently have a Macbook Pro Max on pre-order, and a Dell U4025qw on the way.

Would there be any advantage to ordering one of the new Apple Thunderbolt 5 cables, or does the included Thunderbolt 4 cable that comes with the Dell do everything I need? I've heard a lot of mixed reviews on the monitor and how it works with Macbooks so I'm trying to cover all of my bases before it gets here.

Thanks!

 

[Bigwaff]

TB4 cable suffice.

 

[supercharge]

I already received the M4 Max and, like you, have that monitor on the way. It should be here in a couple of days.

I purchased some TB4 cables last year when the M3 Max was released. I think we'll be fine. I know the cables matter in general and I think these are active, which is why they cost an arm and a leg, but I'm not sure it matters for just one monitor. If daisy-chaining multiple monitors and trying to maximize the refresh and resolution, it might matter, but this is only a 5K (horizontal, not vertical) and tops at 120Hz, so we should be good.

Thunderbolt 4 also supports Display Port 2.1. TB4 just operates at 40Gbps rather than TB5's 80Gbps (or if being fancy 120Gbps/40Gbps Up/Down) ... https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/thunderbolt-5-vs-thunderbolt-4.

 

[joshmv]

I already received the M4 Max and, like you, have that monitor on the way. It should be here in a couple of days.

I purchased some TB4 cables last year when the M3 Max was released. I think we'll be fine. I know the cables matter in general and I think these are active, which is why they cost an arm and a leg, but I'm not sure it matters for just one monitor. If daisy-chaining multiple monitors and trying to maximize the refresh and resolution, it might matter, but this is only a 5K (horizontal, not vertical) and tops at 120Hz, so we should be good.

Thunderbolt 4 also supports Display Port 2.1. TB4 just operates at 40Gbps rather than TB5's 80Gbps (or if being fancy 120Gbps/40Gbps Up/Down) ... https://www.tomsguide.com/computing/thunderbolt-5-vs-thunderbolt-4.

I ended up going with a 16" MB Pro with the M4 Pro chip and it's working well with the U4025QW using the TB4 cable that comes with the monitor so you should have no problems with your Max. If the Pro version of the chip didn't work I was going to need to exchange it for the Max so I'm glad it's working. Tonight I'll be testing if it would be possible to add another 4k screen in case I ever need it.

I won't have a chance to get much screen time until later today, but I did some testing to make sure it was working and everything looks great. Scaling and HiDPI worked properly right away.

 

[Mactagonist]

In general, the Apple Thunderbolt cables are some of the best quality cables you can buy. They aren’t required for the use case you described, but if you ever encounter connection issues it is an easy place to start troubleshooting. And compared to the price of a new M4 Max laptop and monitor $69 for a cable is not significant.

 

[Tymbo]

TB4 will be fine. TB5 is needed for 16:9 5k120hz monitor, of which this monitor (21:9) is not.

 

[Tricone]

I am successfully running my Dell U4025qw monitor with a M4 Pro MBP using Dell’s included TB4 cable. No issues.

 

[drmorley]

I just picked up my Dell U4025QW with my M4 MBP Pro Max. I splurged on the Apple TB5 cable, and so far, it's running great. I just wish I could run it at 5120 x 2160 and scale like I can in Windows.