Apple's new MacBook Pro with Retina Display can power 3 external monitors
With its two Thunderbolt ports and an integrated HDMI port, Apple's new Retina Display-equipped 15-inch MacBook Pro can power up to three external monitors for an impressive total of four screens.
Other World Computing put the new flagship professional-level laptop through its paces by hooking it up to two iMacs in display mode via Thunderbolt and an LG monitor via HDMI while setting the machine's own display settings to "Best for Retina."
Even with all four displays active, the new MacBook Pro did not appear to have any performance issues. "Moving images and media didn?t create any lag and we were able to play video on all four displays simultaneously," OWC wrote in a blog post about the experiment.
Counting the full resolution of the MacBook Pro's display, OWC's four-screen setup shows the laptop powering a whopping 14.86 million pixels.
Apple's own technical specifications for the MacBook Pro with Retina Display only detail support for two external displays at 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, plus the built-in display. The laptop's graphics are powered by NVIDIA's GeForce GT 650M GPU and Intel's integrated HD Graphics 4000.
The new MacBook Pro has received gushing reviews, with most noting the $2,200 price as the only major downside.
In addition to the Retina Display, the new MacBook Pro features a thinner form factor, SSD storage, USB 3.0 and Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors. A recent teardown of the laptop's display called Apple's design, which removed a layer of glass, an "engineering marvel."
Other World Computing put the new flagship professional-level laptop through its paces by hooking it up to two iMacs in display mode via Thunderbolt and an LG monitor via HDMI while setting the machine's own display settings to "Best for Retina."
Even with all four displays active, the new MacBook Pro did not appear to have any performance issues. "Moving images and media didn?t create any lag and we were able to play video on all four displays simultaneously," OWC wrote in a blog post about the experiment.
Counting the full resolution of the MacBook Pro's display, OWC's four-screen setup shows the laptop powering a whopping 14.86 million pixels.
Apple's own technical specifications for the MacBook Pro with Retina Display only detail support for two external displays at 2,560 by 1,600 pixels, plus the built-in display. The laptop's graphics are powered by NVIDIA's GeForce GT 650M GPU and Intel's integrated HD Graphics 4000.
The new MacBook Pro has received gushing reviews, with most noting the $2,200 price as the only major downside.
In addition to the Retina Display, the new MacBook Pro features a thinner form factor, SSD storage, USB 3.0 and Intel's new Ivy Bridge processors. A recent teardown of the laptop's display called Apple's design, which removed a layer of glass, an "engineering marvel."
Comments
Impressive!
It does not power them.
Is it simply mirrored or can you have the desktop extend to all 4 displays? I'm guessing it's the latter, but I wanted to make sure as it sounds too good to be true.
As the folders aren't showing up on any of the externals… Latter.
Yikes, is the uniformity of these new retina panels really as bad as in the picture? There's a clear red->green shift from top to bottom. Approximately 50% of the 10 or so Cinema/Thunderbolt displays I've used have similar issues (either vertically or horizontally, it's par for the course with IPS LCDs) but it seems especially bad here. Guess I'll have to head over to the Apple store and pull up lagom's tests on them.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bluevoid
Yikes, is the uniformity of these new retina panels really as bad as in the picture? There's a clear red->green shift from top to bottom. Approximately 50% of the 10 or so Cinema/Thunderbolt displays I've used have similar issues (either vertically or horizontally, it's par for the course with IPS LCDs) but it seems especially bad here. Guess I'll have to head over to the Apple store and pull up lagom's tests on them.
I don't have this problem with my late 2009 27" iMac. Still, it's the only large display that I've spent time on. Were those 10 displays all later model, Thunderbolt models?
While the MS world is all a twitter over the surface, Apple quietly goes about shifting the goal posts yet again. Oh - and about the surface, why oh why would one build in a stand that prevents equal functionality under all modes of orientation that any proper tablet would surely be capable of supporting? Unless of course the whole thing is a ruse!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris_CA
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Actually, it can drive video to 3 external monitors.
It does not power them.
I doubt that anyone here will have missed that slip! What I'd like to do is use first gen iPads as external displays. This would be exquisitely cool. However, I guess that the data transfer rate through the dock connector just wouldn't cut it.
The is an app for that, its call "air display"
Quote:
Originally Posted by MissionGrey
The is an app for that, its call "air display"
Thanks for pointing that out. Have you seen the reviews? Don't know if buyers were expecting too much, however, better to give it a miss for now.
All the best.
Every time I see a keynote, I wonder "that's what I thought a Mac could do."
Really, I like the new features. Seriously!
But two or three screens... Denim my friends. That's all. Just denim...
Full screen is useless if you use more than one screen. Why can't it 'full screen' on each monitor?
Anyway, my big draw back. I'm sure I'm a 'special case!'. I've been told as much!
now racing games can be even more realistic
underspec'd and overpriced....takes troll hat off and puts reality hat on.....frickin impressive!!!
It's the perfect notebook for VJ's. Wow.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vadania
....
Full screen is useless if you use more than one screen. Why can't it 'full screen' on each monitor?
Anyway, my big draw back. I'm sure I'm a 'special case!'. I've been told as much!
Don't worry, mate. Search for mac full screen mode dual monitors on google and you'll see that you're not the only one.
There are even some tricks there to kind of make use of the blank screens. Check it out.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton
Pfft. I used to have a Macintosh IIcx with five (count 'em) FIVE monitors attached to it. NuBus slots rocked.
Errrr. Didn't the cx and ci each have only 3 nubus slots?
Quote:
Originally Posted by IQatEdo
...Oh - and about the surface, why oh why would one build in a stand that prevents equal functionality under all modes of orientation that any proper tablet would surely be capable of supporting? Unless of course the whole thing is a ruse!
And that's why (for example) on Nokia phones, kickstands came and went; they tend to only be good in one orientation and usually, the chosen orientation is landscape. You have to admit, though, that if you always use landscape orientation, the idea of the kickstand + the keyboard cover is a nice one (albeit a logical evolution from some 3rd party iPad cases). I wonder if the keyboard is any good?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Vadania
Confirmed. However, when Apple finally allows 'Full Screen' to actually work on ONE screen at a time, that's when I'll sit up and take notice. I have three screens running right now on my iMac, but 'full screen' literally blanks two out. Denim guys, just denim.
Every time I see a keynote, I wonder "that's what I thought a Mac could do."
Really, I like the new features. Seriously!
But two or three screens... Denim my friends. That's all. Just denim...
Full screen is useless if you use more than one screen. Why can't it 'full screen' on each monitor?
Anyway, my big draw back. I'm sure I'm a 'special case!'. I've been told as much!
Why am I suddenly reminded of "Cinerama"?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinerama
(No, not the punnily-named Xinerama!)