Please help me solve my MacBook Pro monitor woes!

[Jimmy Mac]

Ok, I’m a graphic designer and I have just procured a mid-2015 MacBook Pro. 13”, 16gb Ram and 512 SSD, for what it’s worth.

Now I need to find a decent external monitor for it. Trouble is... I’ve been having real issues finding something that works well. To summarise...

1. I tried a 2560 x 1440 Dell monitor. Very happy with the performance and clarity, but it did not seem to allow for scaling to be applied.

2. Tried a 4K monitor and all the scaling worked, but the performance was incredibly iffy... noticeable lag on mouse movements or moving objects around in a design app. Unclear if this was the monitor or the laptop, but I believe it was the inability of the IRIS graphics to drive a 4K display well

SO, now I was considering the option of an Apple Thunderbolt Display. Would this work well with a mid-2015 laptop!? I would like to think they play nicely together? If not, can ANYONE please recommend me an external IPS that is going to work well with a 2015 MBP for graphic design.

eternally grateful, I’m going insane with this...


jimmy

 

[matreya]

An Apple Thunderbolt Display will work just like the Dell monitor, and won't allow scaling.

 

[Fishrrman]

Just some thoughts, my opinion only.

How's your age and vision?
This may seem like an inappropriate question, but it definitely comes into play.
(I'm an older guy and my vision isn't what it used to be, and I don't care for displays with tiny pixels at native resolution).

If you find 4k "iffy", with noticeable lag, and it displeases you, well ... you don't want a display running in "HiDPI" mode (no 4k). You're going to see the same issues with ANY 4k display you buy.

What exactly do you mean by "scaling"?

What was -wrong- with the 2560 x 1440 Dell? What SIZE was the display? 27" or 32"?
You said you were happy with the performance and clarity.
Were the pixels "too small" for you?

If the 2560 x 1440 Dell you tried was 27", I suggest you try a 32" display with 2560 x 1440 (1440p). This will yield the same resolution, but the pixels will be larger, and thus text will be easier to read without increasing its point size.
There aren't a lot of them out there, but there -are- some from which to choose.

Another reason why you might not have been able to "scale" the display (when hooked up to the MacBook) is that you were using the wrong cable (was it an HDMI cable or a minidisplayport cable?).

Sometimes, with certain displays, depending on the connection method, the Mac may "misdetermine" what kind of display is connected.
It may "think" it's connected to a "tv", when it's really connected to a computer monitor.
The quick way to determine this is to open the displays preference pane and observe how the various resolutions are presented to you.
IF you see representations like "1080p", there's a good chance the Mac thinks you've got a tv connected to it (this is common using an HDMI connection).
If you see representations like "1920x1080", the Mac thinks it's hooked to a "real" computer monitor.

There are ways to correct this, but that's the subject for another post.

 

[Jimmy Mac]

Just some thoughts, my opinion only.

How's your age and vision?
This may seem like an inappropriate question, but it definitely comes into play.
(I'm an older guy and my vision isn't what it used to be, and I don't care for displays with tiny pixels at native resolution).

If you find 4k "iffy", with noticeable lag, and it displeases you, well ... you don't want a display running in "HiDPI" mode (no 4k). You're going to see the same issues with ANY 4k display you buy.

What exactly do you mean by "scaling"?

What was -wrong- with the 2560 x 1440 Dell? What SIZE was the display? 27" or 32"?
You said you were happy with the performance and clarity.
Were the pixels "too small" for you?

If the 2560 x 1440 Dell you tried was 27", I suggest you try a 32" display with 2560 x 1440 (1440p). This will yield the same resolution, but the pixels will be larger, and thus text will be easier to read without increasing its point size.
There aren't a lot of them out there, but there -are- some from which to choose.

Another reason why you might not have been able to "scale" the display (when hooked up to the MacBook) is that you were using the wrong cable (was it an HDMI cable or a minidisplayport cable?).

Sometimes, with certain displays, depending on the connection method, the Mac may "misdetermine" what kind of display is connected.
It may "think" it's connected to a "tv", when it's really connected to a computer monitor.
The quick way to determine this is to open the displays preference pane and observe how the various resolutions are presented to you.
IF you see representations like "1080p", there's a good chance the Mac thinks you've got a tv connected to it (this is common using an HDMI connection).
If you see representations like "1920x1080", the Mac thinks it's hooked to a "real" computer monitor.

There are ways to correct this, but that's the subject for another post.

Ok, firstly thanks for taking the time to reply and humouring me. I’m most likely being an idiot, but let me try and elaborate!

So, firstly I need an IPS screen. That is a given, for the colour reproduction. It’s necessary for my trade.

Secondly, I would like a higher resolution monitor. Honestly, QHD (2k, 2560 x 1440, 1440p, whatever you want to call it) is plenty fine in terms of sharpness. To me, these monitors offer the best balance between picture quality and performance.

The issue, as I understand it, is that the MacBooks don’t understand this QHD / 2k as a ‘native’ resolution and can’t ‘scale’ the display. What do I mean by this? Well, if you plug a 4K display you can choose between a few behaviours - you can either have it ‘as is’, which essentially would mean all of your UI would be four times smaller than a 1920 x 1080 display. OR, you can scale it, so it mimics the proportions of a smaller resolution display, but has the benefit of a higher pixel density. In the case of a 4K display scaled to 1920 x 1080, everything should look the same proportionally as a normal 1920 x 1080 monitor, but where one pixel used to be, there are now four.

So, apologies for the verbose explanation, but this is important for digital design. Why? Well if I create a 1920 width document, I want it to occupy the same screen space it would on a ‘normal’ monitor. But in the case of the 2560 x 1440 monitor, this did not happen - it was half the size. Similarly, font sizing becomes a nightmare - xx size font ends up a lot smaller than it would on the web (where browsers seem to scale it up).

Sorry again for all this. I guess what I’m asking is ‘are there any nice QHD monitors that scale to 1920x1080 on a 2015 MBQP?’

 

[Fishrrman]

"I guess what I’m asking is ‘are there any nice QHD monitors that scale to 1920x1080 on a 2015 MBQP?’"

Displays will always "look their best" when running at native resolution (not scaled-down).

If you want 1080p, why not just buy a 1080p IPS display?
There are many good ones out there.

A 4k display running in "HiDPI mode" is showing you the equivalent of 1080p (but sharper). BUT... you said the performance when hooked up to the MPB wasn't good.

I don't believe many 1440p displays will scale down to 1080p and still "look good", due to pixel interpolation.

Hmmm... have you gone to an Apple Store (or place that sells Macs) and taken a good, long look at a 5k iMac...? I think that's the display you really want...

 

[Jimmy Mac]

Displays will always "look their best" when running at native resolution (not scaled-down).

Hmmm... have you gone to an Apple Store (or place that sells Macs) and taken a good, long look at a 5k iMac...? I think that's the display you really want...

You are right the 5k iMac display IS the one that I want... but it’s not portable so no go.

But thats exactly my confusion - these displays ARE scaled. Since retina 2x and higher was introduced, these displays ARE scaled, aren’t they!? The UI on a MacBook or iMac isn’t 5x or 4x smaller, is it? Something is done to correct the display back to a normal size.. or so I understand?

Which sort of brings me back to the Thunderbolt Display.... does it automatically understand how to correct itself to normal UI scaling, or is it simply half the size!?