Are you happy with the performance of the MBP w/ LG 5K?

[fpenta]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share my opinion as a photographer using the MacBook Pro 2016 15" maxed out together with the LG Ultrafine 5K.

The monitor is so great but I'm not happy at all with the performance I get when I use Lightroom. Not to mention how hot the MacBook Pro gets 2 minutes later.
I always need to scale down the resolution with SwitchResX to 2560x1400 to have fluid performance when using this program.
I don't have many problems using Photoshop except when I need to use Color Effex Pro which is insanely slow when showing previews.

It looks like the Graphics of the MacBook Pro are not there yet to push such big resolutions for more intensive tasks.

What do you think? Do you have such problems with the 2017 model or other programs?

 

[Samuelsan2001]

Hey guys,

I just wanted to share my opinion as a photographer using the MacBook Pro 2016 15" maxed out together with the LG Ultrafine 5K.

The monitor is so great but I'm not happy at all with the performance I get when I use Lightroom. Not to mention how hot the MacBook Pro gets 2 minutes later.
I always need to scale down the resolution with SwitchResX to 2560x1400 to have fluid performance when using this program.
I don't have many problems using Photoshop except when I need to use Color Effex Pro which is insanely slow when showing previews.

It looks like the Graphics of the MacBook Pro are not there yet to push such big resolutions for more intensive tasks.

What do you think? Do you have such problems with the 2017 model or other programs?

You have got a laptop pushing a 5K screen something most desktops will struggle with, why would you be surprised, the surprising thing is that it runs it at all. Even the 5K imac runs at a scaled 1440p resolution, the screen has 40% more pixels to push than a 4k.

Your best bet would be to run a 4K screen instead and use that for your photoshop.

 

[bandrews]

You have got a laptop pushing a 5K screen something most desktops will struggle with, why would you be surprised, the surprising thing is that it runs it at all. Even the 5K imac runs at a scaled 1440p resolution, the screen has 40% more pixels to push than a 4k.

Your best bet would be to run a 4K screen instead and use that for your photoshop.

To be fair, the Apple website specifically states the 5k monitor as

Perfect for photo and video editing, the UltraFine 5K Display gives you plenty of room for a multitude of tools and windows

and

Connect the UltraFine 5K Display to your MacBook Pro via an included Thunderbolt 3 cable

So no, it's not surprising it runs at all. It's what it is supposedly designed for.

 

[caramelpolice]

Even the 5K imac runs at a scaled 1440p resolution

That's not how that works. The 5K iMac runs at 5K, the same as an MBP plugged into a 5K monitor. It renders "like 2560x1440" because it's rendering at 5120x2880 but everything is rendered with 2x Retina assets.

 

[fpenta]

That's not how that works. The 5K iMac runs at 5K, the same as an MBP plugged into a 5K monitor. It renders "like 2560x1440" because it's rendering at 5120x2880 but everything is rendered with 2x Retina assets.

Exactly.

You have got a laptop pushing a 5K screen something most desktops will struggle with, why would you be surprised, the surprising thing is that it runs it at all. Even the 5K imac runs at a scaled 1440p resolution, the screen has 40% more pixels to push than a 4k.

Your best bet would be to run a 4K screen instead and use that for your photoshop.

Yeah man it's not like this that it works. The 5k are scaled just like the iMac. Apple states that it can run two LG 5K for video and photo editing, so yes I'm surprised!

 

[c0ppo]

I'm using mbp 15, 2017 with lg 5K + Dell u2515 for the last two weeks. Mostly use it running Unity3D, Xcode, Visual Studio Code. And works like a charm. No hiccups or any problems. MBP gets a little hot, but just a little. And that is to be expected. But nothing that should concern anyone.

Fans don't ramp up at all, expect when I'm building a solution. But then again, fans spin up on almost any computer/laptop I use when building, and they spin up even without any monitor attached.

I have a lot to complain about new MBP, but so far it's really quite and pretty well cooled. In that aspect, this is the best MBP ever.

 

[FrozenDarkness]

I don't know what resolution you are running it at. I ran 5K monintor on my 13" 2016 rmbp and it ran fine scaled down to 2560x1440. But I'm not a photographer and I guess depending on the resolution for the native image, it can run pretty slow.

I actually recently returned the 5K display becuase I feel like every vibration causes the screen to wobble. I guess that comes with the territory of a display that's adjustable, but very very annoying to me.

 

[bhatiak]

I have a 1080p with my nTB and its generally between 50-60C so fans aren't too noticeable. But if I start streaming twitch and multi-tasking, it definitely gets very loud and hot. Not what I expected.

 

[c0ppo]

I have a 1080p with my nTB and its generally between 50-60C so fans aren't too noticeable. But if I start streaming twitch and multi-tasking, it definitely gets very loud and hot. Not what I expected.

nTB has just one fan. Ridiculous decision by Apple. That one gets noisy quite easy and quite fast.

 

[theitsage]

I had doubts at the Hello Again event when Phil showed this 15" MBP + dual 5K Ultrafine setup. All the posts about 5K Ultrafine performance or lack thereof can be used to pursue a chargeback. You know what else not funny? Intel baked the Thunderbolt 3 firmware on all external enclosures to cap data bandwidth at 22Gbps in order to ensure the DisplayPort connection gets enough juice for 5K display. The culprit is the Radeon Pro dGPU in the 15" MBP.

 

[Miltz]

My 2016 MBP 15" gets when warm I use my 4K display, but never hot. Do you close it and use it clam shell mode or do you use both screens?