Hello, I read that Apple may offer a 5K monitor this fall. Not sure if I should wait. I saw some 4K monitors in store. They are quite good. What are the pros and cons of 5K monitor? Is the different in image quality noticeable? I guess at 5K, it may be even more difficult to read the letters as they become even smaller. Given that iPhone can only shoot 4K video, what is the point of getting 5K monitor?
What are the pros and cons of 5K monitor?
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keysofanxiety
macrumors G3
The busy bees at MR have written a guide: https://www.macrumors.com/guide/4k-5k-displays-buyers-guide-mac/
Moonjumper
macrumors 68030
I have a 27" 2560x1440 monitor. It provides a good working area with content at a good size. A 5K monitor of that size would exactly double the number of pixels in each direction, so perfect for a retina set up. It would provide a good working area with content at a good size, and exceptional clarity. I would love one. My late 2013 15" retina MacBook Pro might have a bit of trouble running it though.
Just look at the retina 27" iMac. It has a 5K screen and has all the attributes I mentioned above. A nice piece of kit, but a standalone monitor has more flexibility (although an Apple monitor might not have the height adjustment that is needed for good ergonomics).
Just look at the retina 27" iMac. It has a 5K screen and has all the attributes I mentioned above. A nice piece of kit, but a standalone monitor has more flexibility (although an Apple monitor might not have the height adjustment that is needed for good ergonomics).
Samuelsan2001
macrumors 604
Pros,
Very sharp and exactly double the pixels in both directions of the 1440 X 2560 screen found in the old iMac so it's easy for OS X to scale to the screen and keep that sharpness.
Text is brilliant like reading print.
The extra space means you can edit 4K video in full one to one and still have space for editing tools on screen.
Cons,
Very expensive with very few options to buy.
Unless you have a TB3 you need to connect using 2 cables and 2 thunderbolt ports.
Driving all those pixels takes its toll on your graphics card and CPU.
Some software is not optimised to run very well on such high def screens.
All but the most modern computers with the best graphics are incapable of running them smoothly at all and laptops suitable are few and far between Apple only make one.
Very sharp and exactly double the pixels in both directions of the 1440 X 2560 screen found in the old iMac so it's easy for OS X to scale to the screen and keep that sharpness.
Text is brilliant like reading print.
The extra space means you can edit 4K video in full one to one and still have space for editing tools on screen.
Cons,
Very expensive with very few options to buy.
Unless you have a TB3 you need to connect using 2 cables and 2 thunderbolt ports.
Driving all those pixels takes its toll on your graphics card and CPU.
Some software is not optimised to run very well on such high def screens.
All but the most modern computers with the best graphics are incapable of running them smoothly at all and laptops suitable are few and far between Apple only make one.
Thanks for the lists. How about 4K monitors? How many percentage of software are optimised to run well in 4K? Are Mac OS and Windows 7 work equally well with 4K monitors?