Mid 2014 15" rMBP Supports 4K SST, While Late 2013 15" rMBP Only Supports MST 4K?

[ooans]

Apple recently announced that 10.10.3 brought new support for 4K screens, mainly SST 4K support for the first time in 60 hertz.

On their info website (https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT202856 ) they say that:

"Single-Stream (SST) displays

With OS X Yosemite v10.10.3, most single-stream 4K (3840x2160) displays are supported at 60Hz operation on the following Mac computers:
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014)
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
iMac (27-inch, Late 2013 and later)
Mac mini (Late 2014)
MacBook Air (Early 2015)
MacBook (Retina, 12-inch, Early 2015)"

and beneath that it says:

"Multi-Stream Transport (MST) Displays

These computers also support multi-stream transport (MST) displays at 60 Hz.
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013 and later)
MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015)
Mac Pro (Late 2013)
iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2014)"


But why doesn't the Late 2013 15" rMBP have SST 4K support when the Mid 2014 15" rMBP does? They have nearly identical components.

What could be the reason for this? Or is it just a mistake?

 

[macmanHEG]

I too noticed this and am quite annoyed. I hope this is just a bug on apples part because if not this is limiting a feature for no reason as like you rightfully said they are identical apart from a small clock boost.

Sorry I couldn't give a definite answer but as I have a 4k screen this deeply annoys me and am hoping someone will come up with a fix or reason.

 

[hamis92]

Count me in – I was excited to hear the 60 Hz SST 4K support being added but annoyed to find Late 2013 excluded from the fun.

I too noticed this and am quite annoyed. I hope this is just a bug on apples part because if not this is limiting a feature for no reason as like you rightfully said they are identical apart from a small clock boost.

Sorry I couldn't give a definite answer but as I have a 4k screen this deeply annoys me and am hoping someone will come up with a fix or reason.

You tried it already but no dice, correct? Sometimes Apple's specs differ slightly from the actual capabilities of the machines but I guess that's not the case here.

 

[macmanHEG]

Count me in – I was excited to hear the 60 Hz SST 4K support being added but annoyed to find Late 2013 excluded from the fun.


You tried it already but no dice, correct? Sometimes Apple's specs differ slightly from the actual capabilities of the machines but I guess that's not the case here.

I have tried it but it still looks like its running in MST mode to me, as half the screen refreshes slightly slower than the other leaving a bouncing effect on one side which this monitor seems to always do in MST mode even with different cables. But under windows SST its fine. Could be the cable as i haven't tried 4K on this macbook under windows before. But I doubt it.

Monitor is a AOC U2868PQU if your interested.

 

[hamis92]

I have tried it but it still looks like its running in MST mode to me, as half the screen refreshes slightly slower than the other leaving a bouncing effect on one side which this monitor seems to always do in MST mode even with different cables. But under windows SST its fine. Could be the cable as i haven't tried 4K on this macbook under windows before. But I doubt it.

Monitor is a AOC U2868PQU if your interested.

OK, thanks for the follow-up. Best thing to do at this point is probably to bombard Apple with feedback on the issue.

 

[terraphantm]

I have tried it but it still looks like its running in MST mode to me, as half the screen refreshes slightly slower than the other leaving a bouncing effect on one side which this monitor seems to always do in MST mode even with different cables. But under windows SST its fine. Could be the cable as i haven't tried 4K on this macbook under windows before. But I doubt it.

Monitor is a AOC U2868PQU if your interested.

Probably a deliberate limitation on Apple's part then. Sort of how like the mid 2012 rMBPs support 2560x1440 over HDMI when running Windows, but not in OSX

 

[BomexM3]

why late 2013 machines wouldn't be supported is beyond me.