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Ploki

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jan 21, 2008
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I have the LG UltraFine 4K 21.5", but i'm looking for another one to connect to 2012 15" retina mac my gf has.
I remember the Dell p2415q, but it's nowhere to be found anymore.
most are 27" which ends up being huge and not sharp.
 
Any 4k monitor smaller than 24" would be 180+PPI. "Retina" as originally defined by Apple would also take into account distance from the monitor though, so achieve that just sit further back, hehe.
Seems like there's a good deal of 4K 24" monitors on the market though; Even an UltraFine :)
 
Seems like there's a good deal of 4K 24" monitors on the market though;
Can you clarify that with actual models?

There used to be The Dell P2415Q (seemingly discontinued), the LG 24" 4K Ultrafine (seemingly discontinued) and the LG 24" 24UD58-B (seemingly discontinued).
 
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connect to 2012 15" retina mac my gf has.
A 2012 15" MBP, no matter if "retina" or not, will not drive a 4K monitor at 60 Hz because it lacks DisplayPort 1.2 (thanks to Thunderbolt 1). As for monitors, there was also the 23.6" Samsung U24E850R.
 
Any 4k monitor smaller than 24" would be 180+PPI. "Retina" as originally defined by Apple would also take into account distance from the monitor though, so achieve that just sit further back, hehe.
Seems like there's a good deal of 4K 24" monitors on the market though; Even an UltraFine :)
The new Ultrafine 23.8" is thunderbolt 3, i'm not sure if it would work with Thunderbolt2/Hdmi of the 2012 mbp.
And the ultrafine is like 800€...
the 21.5" was at least 220ppi and 4096*2304, the new model is 23.8" and 3820*2160, and its 800€. The dell and LGs were more like 400€. And even then, the 4K is again gone from the apple page.
 
A 2012 15" MBP, no matter if "retina" or not, will not drive a 4K monitor at 60 Hz because it lacks DisplayPort 1.2 (thanks to Thunderbolt 1). As for monitors, there was also the 23.6" Samsung U24E850R.
oh crap, i thought it had Thunderbolt2...
HdMI is also limited to 30Hz i think.
 
oh crap, i thought it had Thunderbolt2...
HdMI is also limited to 30Hz i think.
Bingo. You might still be able to get a higher refresh rate like 40 Hz by exploiting DP 1.1's full pixel clock but a) the monitor has to accept odd refresh rates (the Dell P2415Q does, I've had quite a bit of fun with that one) and b) while noticeably better than the unusable 30 Hz, it's not nearly as smooth as 60 Hz.
 
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Can you clarify that with actual models?

There used to be The Dell P2415Q (seemingly discontinued), the LG 24" 4K Ultrafine (seemingly discontinued) and the LG 24" 24UD58-B (seemingly discontinued).

It was based on extremely shallow research, just putting 24" 4K into Google and seeing a fair few results - I did not check availability or if they were discontinued
 
It was based on extremely shallow research, just putting 24" 4K into Google and seeing a fair few results - I did not check availability or if they were discontinued
yeah well, that's the problem :) (availability and discontinuation)
for some reason, nobody likes small 4K monitors.
I love my 21.5" ultrafine 4K.
 
The lack of high density (> 200ppi) monitors choice at all sizes (except laptops with 4K panel) is a tragedy...
My main and best monitor is my 17" 4K laptop (not a macbook obviouslty) panel for its whooping 255ppi. And I'm sitting next to the Dell 24" P2415Q (183ppi) and a 27" 4K Asus monitor (163ppi).
 
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