Help add a external monitor

[tx26257]

Ok I have ordered a new MacBook and like to add a external monitor and not sure what is the best one I can respectively use with the MacBook

 

[Mindinversion]

With the AV adapter [sold separately, $79.00] you can connect via HDMI. There is also a VGA adapter that I believe is also $79.00

As for "the best monitor you can use" it'll do up to 4k with a VERY LOW 24Hz refresh rate [IIRC] which means if you want smooth, you're probably looking at either 1920 x 1080 or 2560 x 1440.

 

[tx26257]

I guess being smoother is far more important then getting the 4k resolution

 

[oGu]

You could use a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter and get full 4K support at 60Hz. But that does not allow you to charge the notebook at the same time since only google makes that kind of adapter at the moment. Best thing is to wait and see what sort of docking solutions will come out for USB-C

 

[tx26257]

The questions with that adapter would it be enough to properly drive a 4k

 

[oGu]

With a display port adapter you will definitely be able to properly drive 4k as the MacBook supports display port 1.2

 

[gregvet]

Re 4k support

You could use a USB-C to DisplayPort adapter and get full 4K support at 60Hz. But that does not allow you to charge the notebook at the same time since only google makes that kind of adapter at the moment. Best thing is to wait and see what sort of docking solutions will come out for USB-C

As per the Ars Trchnica review:


Using a USB Type-C to DisplayPort cable (one of Google's, actually, hooray for standards), we were able to drive a 3840×2160 display at 30Hz. This is likely some limitation of the GPU, since the USB Type-C port supports DisplayPort 1.2. We had to put our Dell P2415Q into MST mode to make it happen, though, and higher scaling modes weren’t available. Performance is poor. In short, both the 2015 Airs and Pro are better choices if you’re looking to drive an external 4K display.

So I don't think you will get 4k at 60Hz from these MacBooks, sorry

 

[oGu]

As per the Ars Trchnica review:





Using a USB Type-C to DisplayPort cable (one of Google's, actually, hooray for standards), we were able to drive a 3840×2160 display at 30Hz. This is likely some limitation of the GPU, since the USB Type-C port supports DisplayPort 1.2. We had to put our Dell P2415Q into MST mode to make it happen, though, and higher scaling modes weren’t available. Performance is poor. In short, both the 2015 Airs and Pro are better choices if you’re looking to drive an external 4K display.



So I don't think you will get 4k at 60Hz from these MacBooks, sorry

They had that issue cause if you read apple support documents you will see that the MacBook Suport 4K@60Hz via SST and not MST.

 

[gregvet]

They had that issue cause if you read apple support documents you will see that the MacBook Suport 4K@60Hz via SST and not MST.

Interesting, thanks

 

[theSeb]

With a display port adapter you will definitely be able to properly drive 4k as the MacBook supports display port 1.2

I guess it depends on what we mean by properly. I don't think the experience will be very good with a 4K monitor, even if it's running at 60 Hz, since you have a lot of pixels to move. I would stick with a 2560x1440 or a 1920x1080 (or 1920x1200 if you can find one) monitor.