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Monitor options for M2 Pro Mac mini

dotnet

dotnet

macrumors 68000
Original poster
Apr 10, 2015
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Sydney, Australia
I’m somewhat confused by the video output specs of the M2 Pro mini. For connecting a single display, what are my 3rd-party monitor options when I want 4K@120Hz?

  • Thunderbolt 4? Are there any monitors out there that support this? Would I need adapters (TB4-to-DP or something like that)? It seems like 120Hz isn’t supported out of the TB/USB-C ports anyway?
  • HDMI? Apple says it supports 4K@240Hz, is that even possible? Is that a yet to be released HDMI spec? For 4K@120Hz, is this something 3rd-party monitors typically support via HDMI? It seems like the monitor market is mostly centered around display port these days. I notice that there are 4K@144Hz monitors being advertised, how do they connect?
Apple’s specs don’t mention 6K, would 6K also work at >60Hz like 4K, or be limited to 60Hz like 8K?
 
Well you definitely can use a 120Hz TV with HDMI 2.1. The question is whether or not you need a 55” or 65” “monitor.”
 
I don’t think 4K 120 displays really exist yet. High refresh is a gamer thing and usually those are 1080. I expect those in the near future especially if Apple makes ProMotion displays.
 
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thingstoponder said:
I don’t think 4K 120 displays really exist yet. High refresh is a gamer thing and usually those are 1080. I expect those in the near future especially if Apple makes ProMotion displays.
Click to expand...
What are you talking about? Of course there are 4K 120hz displays lol. I have two 4K 120Hz displays (TVs) that I bought 1 and 2 years ago. You can even get gaming monitors at 4K 160Hz now.

I have a 1440p 165Hz monitor. You can get 1080p 360Hz monitors.

If Apple come out with a high refresh rate monitor they will be far from the first to do so. You don't need an overpriced ProMotion display. You can find high refresh monitors at 1080, 1440, 2160p right now.

Apple monitors are likely stuck at 60Hz because they are focusing on higher resolutions. The XDR is 6K. Of course they aren't going to make a 6K 120Hz monitor lol. That doesn't exist yet but yeah 4K 120Hz monitors have existed for at least a few years now.
 
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krspkbl said:
What are you talking about? Of course there are 4K 120hz displays lol. I have two 4K 120Hz displays (TVs) that I bought 1 and 2 years ago. You can even get gaming monitors at 4K 160Hz now.

I have a 1440p 165Hz monitor. You can get 1080p 360Hz monitors.

If Apple come out with a high refresh rate monitor they will be far from the first to do so. You don't need an overpriced ProMotion display. You can find high refresh monitors at 1080, 1440, 2160p right now.

Apple monitors are likely stuck at 60Hz because they are focusing on higher resolutions. The XDR is 6K. Of course they aren't going to make a 6K 120Hz monitor lol. That doesn't exist yet but yeah 4K 120Hz monitors have existed for at least a few years now.
Click to expand...
TVs are TVs. Idk maybe I’m wrong but it seems most PC gamers go 1440 at most.
 
So, I'm in the same boat - want to have something high-refresh at around 27 to 32 inches space. TVs are out of question size-wise.

Any ideas/experiences with M2pro and such a monitor?
 
azpekt said:
So, I'm in the same boat - want to have something high-refresh at around 27 to 32 inches space. TVs are out of question size-wise.
Click to expand...

If all you need is high refresh rate then there are plenty of options. The ones I looked at (most on paper, some in person) were all dim and/or coarse (low res).
 
dotnet said:
If all you need is high refresh rate then there are plenty of options. The ones I looked at (most on paper, some in person) were all dim and/or coarse (low res).
Click to expand...
No mate, I'm looking at something Apple Studio Display level of quality plus high-refresh minus 5K (I need 4k).
 
just wait for the Samsung S9. If the price is low then that could be an amazing option

azpekt said:
No mate, I'm looking at something Apple Studio Display level of quality plus high-refresh minus 5K (I need 4k).
Click to expand...
 
azpekt said:
No mate, I'm looking at something Apple Studio Display level of quality plus high-refresh minus 5K (I need 4k).
Click to expand...

Ah, in 4K you should be able to find decent alternatives. The 27” and 28” Samsung Odyssey G7, for example, or the Gigabyte M28U. I looked at those, they are nice monitors. For me, the text rendering was visibly fuzzy, though, and that’s going to be the same with all 4K monitors larger than 24”.

Coming from a 27” 5K display or, heck, years of Retina iPhone and iPad screens, I cannot bring myself to go back to fuzzy text. This is probably of less importance to a lot of people. Maybe you can find a scaling factor that will make text look good. Or perhaps text rending isn’t a top priority anyway.
 
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The ASD is my only option being that I have had a 5k iMac for the last 8+ years and wanted another one. Since there is no M series 27” iMac, I went with a Mac Mini M2 Pro with the ASD bought from Costco for $1299.
 
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why do you need 4K? Asking only as Mac is not really that optimised (unless you go for smaller screen) so 5K is the best (as Apple intended with 27")

So, why 4K?

azpekt said:
No mate, I'm looking at something Apple Studio Display level of quality plus high-refresh minus 5K (I need 4k).
Click to expand...
 
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