non-Retina MBP to use external monitor, what's supported screen resolution?

A good 27" display comes with 2560 x 1440 pixel, a good 30" display comes with 2560 x 1600 pixel, both are supported in current and past Macs.

Apple tells us here.

 

Non retina no. Retina is based on ppi, not actual resolution. Retina is apples patented name for such high ppi on screens, like the iPhone, iPad, and new rMBP

PPI= Pixels Per Inch

 

Even my 2009 MBP and a 2005 PowerBook can support 2560 x 1600 pixel on an external 30" display, it has nothing to do with "Retina", which is just a term Apple uses for quadrupling resolutions.

 

Be aware of the connection required. For running high res, you will probably need a mini-dp to DP adaptor/cable, or a significantly more expensive dual-dvi adaptor (50-$120).

 

does anyone know if its possible to use "retina"-like scaling on an external display.

When I'm connected to the 27/30, things look really small.

 

I think apple will only scale the resolution if it's the same. Need boot camp to mirror the resolution.

I had a Mac Pro/30" monitor back in the day. I bought a graphics card for it and it would run like crazy when I played WoW on it.

Running things in windowed mode helps out quite a bit.

 

That's where MONOPRICE comes in to play

 

The 11" MBA supports 2560x1600.....all modern macbooks do.

I am currently running 1 HDMI 1920x1080 display and 1 30" 2560x1600 display simultaneously at work.



Also using thunderbolt to ethernet. The middle one is a 3D display.

BTW, don't waste money on a dual link dvi cable. Get one of these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA

it supports full resolution and its $10! Most dual link displays also have display port these days.

 

Strange how cable documentation often specifies a maximum external resolution of 1920x1080. Glad that's not a hard cap, though.

 

depends on the cable. DVI limit is 1920x1200. Some older HDMI is 1920x1080 (higher bandwidth can do up to 4k) Dual Link DVI limits each signal to half of your output resolution if your display excedes 1920x1200 (so if you plug a dual link display into a computer using a single link cable you get half res, 1280x800) I don't know the limit of display port...but I know it does 2560x1600, because I am currently using it for that.

 

So in other words DisplayPort supports a higher limit than DVI, but a resolution that exceeds said limit could still be transmitted as a DVI signal using a DisplayPort-to-DVI adapter?

 

You would have to get a dual-link DVI to mini display adapter if you want to go higher than 1920x1200 through DVI. So for 2560x1600 you either need to spend $50-$100 (depending on brand) for a Dual-Link to mini display adapter, or spend $10 for a display to mini display adapter.

Sadly, cinema displays only support Dual Link DVI....and Thunderbolt displays support thunderbolt which is a $50 cable.

 

Got it, thanks!