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Which should I buy? Apple Thunderbolt Display or 4K@30Hz

Q

qqz

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 7, 2016
6
0
Recently, I am thinking about changing an external monitor for my 13" Retina Macbook Pro (8G/256 late 2013) since the previous 27" 1080 LG is really hurting my eyes. I really need some suggestions on the choice of Apple Thunderbolt Display or a 4K LG monitor (27UD68). I purchased both of them, and need to return one of them by this weekend.

For the LG 27UD68, everything is crystal clear like retina display. However, my macbook can only work with a 4K monitor with a 30Hz fps. Is it really bad? I do feel wired with 30Hz fps because of laggy and stuttering , but I don't know if I can get used to it after some time.

For the ATD, I don't know what to say. It has been 5 years since it launched in 2011. Does it worth to buy it right now?

I have no plan to change my macbook until the applecare expires next year. and I am using this laptop just for studying programming.

Thank you very much for your help.
 
Personally, i'd go with the thunderbolt display. I haven't experienced 30hz 4K, but the thunderbolt display makes sense to me for other reasons - the thunderbolt dock capability.

Yes, it's overpriced at the moment and well overdue for an update, but having a single port to connect to speakers, ethernet, USB, etc. is nice.

I think that the thunderbolt display is "high enough" resolution and the additional benefits are worth it vs. a 4k 30Hz monitor. YMMV though.
 
throAU said:
Personally, i'd go with the thunderbolt display. I haven't experienced 30hz 4K, but the thunderbolt display makes sense to me for other reasons - the thunderbolt dock capability.

Yes, it's overpriced at the moment and well overdue for an update, but having a single port to connect to speakers, ethernet, USB, etc. is nice.

I think that the thunderbolt display is "high enough" resolution and the additional benefits are worth it vs. a 4k 30Hz monitor. YMMV though.
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Thank you very much.
 
I'm not sure I could get used to a 30Hz refresh rate. It's rather distracting.
Unless you plan on upgrading your MacBook in the near future for a model that supports 4k@60Hz, I'd recommend the Apple display.
 
JTToft said:
Return both and get Dell UltraSharp U2715H or U2515H.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your reply.

Can these two dells reach 60Hz with late 2013 13 rmbp?
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whiteonline said:
I'm not sure I could get used to a 30Hz refresh rate. It's rather distracting.
Unless you plan on upgrading your MacBook in the near future for a model that supports 4k@60Hz, I'd recommend the Apple display.
Click to expand...

Yeah. Probably after the applecare expires. It is pretty convenient with applecare.
 
qqz said:
Thanks for your reply.

Can these two dells reach 60Hz with late 2013 13 rmbp?
Click to expand...
- Easily. They're the same resolution as the Thunderbolt Display but higher quality, much much cheaper, and not 5 years old. They also have USB 3.0 hubs. And they support DisplayPort 1.2 daisy chaining so you can daisy chain two together if you wish (though OS X doesn't support it yet).
 
+1 for U2715H, unless the minimalistic setup of the ATD is too much for you to give up.
 
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