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What are 13" MBPr owners going to do when 4K monitors become mainstream?

Hieveryone

Hieveryone

macrumors 603
Original poster
Apr 11, 2014
5,632
2,347
USA
Right now 4K monitors aren't popular, and they're also expensive.

But when the price comes down and everyone's getting one, what will us 13" MBPr owners do?
 
By the time 4k becomes the new 1080p I'll have long abandoned this mac. I'll still have it, because I like to keep all the computers I buy (I still break out old computers and boot them up and do some stuff with them for kicks), but this late 2013 rMBP will be retired from daily duty.
 
When (will take years) that happens, hopefully they will have designed software much better than it is today to take advantage of those pixels.
 
I dont even understand the question. Why would you need to do anything?
 
Seems to me that the expected response should be; "Oh shucks. Well, I guess we will all cry and riot in the streets. What an idiot I am to had bought a retina Macbook pro. Please, for the love of all things that get passed up by newer things, DON"T BUY ANYTHING! It will just be poop when the newer thing comes out."

I'm not buying anything else, for the rest of my life, until we run out of resources to make better things. That way, everything I own will be the latest and greatest, FOREVER!
 
Hieveryone said:
But when the price comes down and everyone's getting one, what will us 13" MBPr owners do?
Click to expand...

Buy a 4k monitor if they choose, if not they continue to use and enjoy they 13" rMBP?

I'm not understanding the connection you're making between the 13" rMBP owners. Will it be different then the 15" rMBP owners or MBA owners?
 
maflynn said:
Buy a 4k monitor if they choose, if not they continue to use and enjoy they 13" rMBP?

I'm not understanding the connection you're making between the 13" rMBP owners. Will it be different then the 15" rMBP owners or MBA owners?
Click to expand...

I've read somewhere that the Iris Graphics of the 13" is not cappable of driving an external 4K at 60Hz, it might be for that but don't know if that info is right or a misunderstood. If the Iris Pro of the 15" can drive it at 60Hz, how many 4K monitors can it drive?
 
They already are and cheap.

Hieveryone said:
Right now 4K monitors aren't popular, and they're also expensive.

But when the price comes down and everyone's getting one, what will us 13" MBPr owners do?
Click to expand...


Nothing, I'll still connect mine to my 1080p TV.

If you are someone who NEEDS to work in 4K then you should have bought a 15 inch one anyway, otherwise why would you care.

These are laptops they are designed as laptops with an inbuilt high density diplay (Incidentally it's a higher PPI on the rMBP than a 30 inch 4K screen) they are not designed as a desktop replacement and while they are so good they can fullfil that role that is not their function.

With some fiddling about it is possible to get around 50fps with a 4k display which should be enough for anyone who has bought a 13 inch to work in 4K on (although if thats what they did it was clearly a bad choice and they may want reconsider how good they are at their chosen career).

Finally if you need to go to 4K, then you are in an industry that needs that and you should have a capital replacement budget to upgrade to new equipment when the demands of your industry changes, if you don't then that is your look out...
 
Woochoo said:
I've read somewhere that the Iris Graphics of the 13" is not cappable of driving an external 4K at 60Hz, it might be for that but don't know if that info is right or a misunderstood. If the Iris Pro of the 15" can drive it at 60Hz, how many 4K monitors can it drive?
Click to expand...

That may be, then those who really want or need a 4k monitor can also get a newer laptop :)
 
I personally see almost no difference between the regular iMac and the 5k iMac.
The 4k screens I've seen so far are not impressive. I'd prefer the TB Display from 2011.
If I should ever see a cheap 4k that convinces me, then I might buy it.
My 13" rmbp runs 4k displays at 50Hz.
 
maflynn said:
Buy a 4k monitor if they choose, if not they continue to use and enjoy they 13" rMBP?

I'm not understanding the connection you're making between the 13" rMBP owners. Will it be different then the 15" rMBP owners or MBA owners?
Click to expand...

It's simple- the 13" doesn't support 4k at 60 Hz.
 
Last edited:
Meister said:
I personally see almost no difference between the regular iMac and the 5k iMac.
The 4k screens I've seen so far are not impressive. I'd prefer the TB Display from 2011.
If I should ever see a cheap 4k that convinces me, then I might buy it.
My 13" rmbp runs 4k displays at 50Hz.
Click to expand...


Is there a noticeable difference between 50Hz and 60Hz?

I've heard there is but have never seen it myself.
 
Hieveryone said:
Right now 4K monitors aren't popular, and they're also expensive.

But when the price comes down and everyone's getting one, what will us 13" MBPr owners do?
Click to expand...

I have already moved to 5K on my iMac. I couldn't put the burden of driving such a high-res display on my 13" rMBP, and as a small portable version of the iMac it works great.

Meister said:
I personally see almost no difference between the regular iMac and the 5k iMac.
Click to expand...

No offense but you may want to get your vision checked. The difference is quite noticeable to me.
 
I'll do nothing. I don't use external displays with my rMBP because it's a laptop, and I'm a student :rolleyes: On rare occasions I'll connect it to my 1080p HDTV for movies when I don't have a Blu-ray to put in my PS3.
 
That's a problem for desktop users, I bought a portable MacBook , with a screen ;)
 
I use my laptop mostly as a desktop these days for work and play.

I use it as a laptop maybe twice a week, when I feel like sitting on the couch and putting my feet up.

Right now I have a nice Dell monitor but it's not 4K.
 
You'll just use 1080p or 1440p displays. It will be a while before 4K goes mainstream and even when it does it's not like 1080p and 1440p will vanish.

I'm in the market for a new display and I'm going with 1440p over 4K.
 
KUguardgrl13 said:
I'll do nothing. I don't use external displays with my rMBP because it's a laptop, and I'm a student
Click to expand...

Lol, so what if it's a laptop? Just add an external display and keyboard+mouse and it becomes a desktop. Not yet? Then compare the hardware: the new Mac Mini is a MBAir in a box. The basic basic iMac is a MBAir in a 21" display (and it doesn't have SSD like the Air, in a similar price range).
Your rMBP would probably be even a better desktop than a basic iMac
 
Woochoo said:
Lol, so what if it's a laptop? Just add an external display and keyboard+mouse and it becomes a desktop. Not yet? Then compare the hardware: the new Mac Mini is a MBAir in a box. The basic basic iMac is a MBAir in a 21" display (and it doesn't have SSD like the Air, in a similar price range).
Your rMBP would probably be even a better desktop than a basic iMac
Click to expand...

I'm a student who doesn't like to sit at a desk to study. A desktop setup just wouldn't work for me, personally.
 
KUguardgrl13 said:
I'm a student who doesn't like to sit at a desk to study. A desktop setup just wouldn't work for me, personally.
Click to expand...

Well if you don't like to sit in a desk it's a whole different thing, but just to let you know that a laptop can be more cappable than some desktops. I'm also a student and I always study with the laptop (so I understand you), but in the other hand, once I finish exams I always sit on a desk to work and do the other stuff. That's the great thing of a laptop, it can be both.
 
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