Will MacBook Pro Early 2015 work with Studio Display?

[alex4748]

I have an early 2015 MacBook Pro.

I am thinking about getting the Studio Display and a Mac Mini or Mac Studio (just waiting for M4 models), so I was curious to know if the Studio Display would also work with my early 2015 MacBook Pro, which is running Monterey and can't go any higher.

The specs say it has "Thunderbolt digital video output" so does this mean I can just connect it to the Studio Display with a Thunderbolt cable? And I can shut the laptop lid? And I don't need to use any MacOS settings to use the Studio Display, it's just 'plug and play'?

The Studio Display compatibility specs does not list the early 2015 MacBook Pro, so does that mean it won't work at all?

Thanks!

 

[benwiggy]

The 13-inch model supports the following external resolutions:

• 3840-by-2160 resolution at 30Hz
• 4096-by-2160 resolution at 24Hz

The Apple Studio Display is 5120 × 2880.

Your MBP also uses 'old' Thunderbolt 2 connectors, so you'd need an adaptor, even if it could support the size.

Apple's list of supported Macs is those that can push 5K pixels to an external display, and use USB-C/Thunderbolt.

 

[BeatCrazy]

It will work, just only at 4K. I don’t believe the audio/camera/brightness will work either.

 

[Amethyst1]

The Studio Display compatibility specs does not list the early 2015 MacBook Pro, so does that mean it won't work at all?

It will. You need this adapter and a Thunderbolt 1 or 2 cable and be restricted to 3840×2160@60Hz resolution.

The 13-inch model supports the following external resolutions:

• 3840-by-2160 resolution at 30Hz
• 4096-by-2160 resolution at 24Hz

This only applies to the HDMI 1.4 port. DisplayPort 1.2/Thunderbolt 2 handles 3840×2160@60Hz and 4096×2304@48Hz just fine.

 

[benwiggy]

DisplayPort 1.2/Thunderbolt 2 handles 3840×2160@60Hz and 4096×2304@48Hz just fine.

You need this adapter and a Thunderbolt 1 or 2 cable and be restricted to 3840×2160@60Hz resolution.

So will it handle 4096 x 2304 or not? Apple's spec page only gives 3840 by 2160 for TB.


Either way, that's still not the full 5K.

So would it just drive a portion of the screen, or the whole screen at a lower resolution; as if it were scaled?

 

[turbineseaplane]

You wouldn't want to do this even if it worked

Trust me -- you'd need noise cancelling headphones to drown out the "hairdryer" sound from your MBP cooling fans

 

[Amethyst1]

So will it handle 4096 x 2304 or not

The iGPU will output 4096×2400 according to my tests — but not at 60 Hz because that’s beyond its 540 MHz pixel clock limit.
4096×2304@60Hz requires e.g. 593 MHz (when using CVT-RBv2 timings) or 605 MHz (when using CVT-RB timings).
So the question is, will the Studio Display handle lower-than-60Hz refresh?

So would it just drive a portion of the screen, or the whole screen at a lower resolution; as if it were scaled?

The Studio Display upscales lower-than-native resolutions to fill the screen.

 

[alex4748]

Thanks all for the advice.

Does anyone know how the Studio Display works in terms of switching between devices? For example, if I have a Mac Mini and a Mac Studio and a MacBook Pro all plugged in (if that's possible), will the display just detect whichever computer is turned on? And if multiple devices are turned on, is it easy to switch between them somehow, or would you need to just plug in whatever device you are using?

And do the Magic Keyboard and Magic mouse connect to the computers, or do they connect to the Studio Display? It would be nice to have one keyboard and mouse to use on multiple devices! Or could I just connect the bluetooth devices to each computer, and whichever one is turned on will detect them? Or would I need to keep reconnecting them with each device whenever I use each device?

 

[Amethyst1]

Does anyone know how the Studio Display works in terms of switching between devices? For example, if I have a Mac Mini and a Mac Studio and a MacBook Pro all plugged in (if that's possible) […]

It’s not possible. The Studio Display has only one input.

 

[alex4748]

It’s not possible. The Studio Display has only one input.

Is there any third party solution maybe, like a switch of some sort?

 

[Amethyst1]

Is there any third party solution maybe, like a switch of some sort?

There's a large thread about it here.

 

[etc]

I have an early 2015 MacBook Pro.

I am thinking about getting the Studio Display and a Mac Mini or Mac Studio (just waiting for M4 models), so I was curious to know if the Studio Display would also work with my early 2015 MacBook Pro, which is running Monterey and can't go any higher.

The specs say it has "Thunderbolt digital video output" so does this mean I can just connect it to the Studio Display with a Thunderbolt cable? And I can shut the laptop lid? And I don't need to use any MacOS settings to use the Studio Display, it's just 'plug and play'?

The Studio Display compatibility specs does not list the early 2015 MacBook Pro, so does that mean it won't work at all?

Thanks!

Apple's Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter surprisingly works in both directions, so you can use it to connect LG UltraFine 5K or Studio Display.

I tried it with Late 2014 MBP and UltraFine and got camera and speakers working, but of course no real 5K. I suppose Studio Display will work too including camera and speakers.