Studio Display Outputs At 1440p Resolution When Connected to 4th-Gen iPad Air and iPad Mini 6

[KPOM]

Thank you, but is there a big difference in terms of speed/performance between the 620 and 630?

Not that I am aware. The bigger difference is between the UHD and Iris graphics.

 

[groove-agent]

Wouldn't the iPads output at a different aspect ratio than the display thereby leaving black blocks on the sides? This display would be quite a waste of money for iPads. I wish they would make the iPads output adjust to the aspect ration of the monitor it's connected to like every other OS out there.

 

[opeter]

Like the LG UltraFine 5K, the Apple Studio Display will connect to the Mac mini 2018 using a dual link SST connection - which means two DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2x4 connections over Thunderbolt to achieve 5K 60Hz 10bpc RGB.

I suppose you can try booting Windows and get 5K 60Hz using 6bpc (if that's an option for Intel GPUs) from a single HBR2x4 connection - This mode is supported by the XDR. To force this mode would require a USB-C connection, or a Thunderbolt 20Gbps connection (which you can get with a non-Thunderbolt cable), or a connection to a Thunderbolt 3 host that doesn't support two displays.
https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...titan-ridge-add-in-card.2209947/post-28191609

For single link SST, Apple added support for 5K width in Big Sur for Coffee Lake and Kaby Lake iGPU. macOS doesn't support 6bpc though, so a lower refresh rate is required for 5K 8bpc or 10bpc.
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/intel-graphics-and-5120x1440-testing-in-big-sur.2244174/

For iPads that have USB-C with Thunderbolt, if they support 5K 60Hz on the Studio display, then they'll use HBR2 with DSC to get 10bpc.
For iPads that do have Thunderbolt, I don't know if they will use the single link SST mode or the dual link SST mode.
I don't know if the Studio display supports a single link HBR3 mode for 5K 60Hz 8bpc RGB which would be useful for GPUs that don't go through Thunderbolt and don't support DSC. I believe the XDR doesn't support HBR3 for single SST mode but does support it for dual link SST mode.


Maybe an HDMI to USB-C adapter could work, but like you said, it wouldn't have a USB connection to support the USB features of the display. Current HDMI to USB-C or DisplayPort adapters are limited to 4K width.

Wow, thank you for the detailed analysis and information you have described!

 

[banfiz]

I must say although the monitor looks lovely, there are some things that just don’t make sense. Why no mini LED? Why when there’s an A13 chip in there do we not have face ID as well as a camera? Both of these additions would make the screen a slamdunk at the price

 

[ereddekopp]

I really hope that Apple specifically mentioning iPad compatibility for the Studio Display is a harbinger of better external display support in iPadOS. But I feel like I've become Captain Ahab hunting the white whale on this - iPads have had the technical capability to use external displays for ages now, without any sign of better software support.

It's become like the iPad Pro people hoping for Final Cut Pro (and other Pro apps) on the iPad - it makes a certain amount of a sense, but is this actually Apple's vision for the iPad? Do they really envisage the iPad as a Viticci's modular computer, or do they still imagine it as a much simpler device?

Honestly if their plans are never to introduce such abilities and features to iPadOS, then they should stop calling and selling them as ”Pro” because I am struggling to understand what is “Pro“ about it sans having a Thunderbolt port. Keep in mind, I love my iPad Pro and upgraded when the M1 came out, but was one of the many disheartened after iPadOS 15 was announced and released. It felt like they had been alluding before that the iPads were to become their own computing device. The break off to its own OS name. The intros of the Pros. Mouse and keyboard. Even that commercial with the little girl and “what’s a computer?”…my concern of late has been, they will choose to add these features, but only to a the next version with M2. Ugh. But I feel your pain Ahab, I am hunting the whale with you.

 

[tripleburst]

Wouldn't the iPads output at a different aspect ratio than the display thereby leaving black blocks on the sides? This display would be quite a waste of money for iPads. I wish they would make the iPads output adjust to the aspect ration of the monitor it's connected to like every other OS out there.

No. The apps that *properly* support dual screens will fully utilize both screen's real estate.

 

[king61112]

Anyone know if this will work with Big Sur or do I need to have an up-to-date OS? I can't update my work machine at the moment.

 

[canonical]

Apple has used the same stand design from the 24inch iMac for the new Studio Display. But they botched it with the Studio Display: there is an ugly open space that is visible from the front on the Studio Display (where the power connector plugs in) ... which is correctly NOT visible on the 24 inch iMac. Apple should have either redesigned the stand (so that the gap in the stand is not visible), or lower the monitor so that the gap is not visible.