Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Can the Mac-studio ultra support a 4k 120hz tv ?
- Thread starter highrisk
- Start date
-
- Tags
- 120hz mac studio
- Sort by reaction score
Probably not, because knowing Apple, they probably put a HDMI 2.0 on this thing.
Yes indeed it must be a 2.0 HDMI. but I'm thinking of not using the HDMI and using two of the thunderbolt 4 ports if in any way possible. Probably even if it would be possible theoretically though apple would put a software limitation somewhere...
On my 14" M1Pro base model, even with a known-good type-C to HDMI 2.1 dongle, I couldn't get it to display 4K120Hz to an LG OLED TV. I gave up trying but a short google and someone suggested it is the chipset PCI bandwidth limitation that's in play, or something in macOS that is limiting this in software. I have no idea how true that is, but with M1 Ultra being 4x of what my base M1Pro is I am hopeful this makes the difference.
It is 2.0 as specs say 4K 60hz. For this money in 2022 that is so disappointing.
how about using type-c to hdmi that supports 4k 120hz. I wonder if it'll work, although I saw comments that it didn't for MacBook pros
You need Thunderbolt 4 to support DP1.4 in order to achieve 4k at 120hz. You won't be able to support 4k 120 Hz HDR as the TB4 port offers 40 Gbps and you need 48 Gbps for the full HDMI 2.1 specs.
@ph001bi That's not actually the full picture. You don't need 48GB/s to support 4k @120HZ, even with HDR. DisplayPort for example can do that since DP1.3 with only 30GB/s. The the LG CX and C1 are both limited to 40GB/s regardless of platform over HDMI 2.1 yet they work just fine to do 4K @120Hz HDR, 10 bit with VRR on Windows Machines.
There are other threads that talk about this, but this is entirely a Mac OS limitation since on older Intel Macs, you were able to use the same adapters to get 4K 120Hz over HDMI2.1 (via certain USB-C adapters) in Windows via bootcamp. That's of course not an option on M1, but it shows that the limit was MacOS and not a physical limitation by any stretch.
Just thought It'd leave this bit of info here for someone reading. I don't want to give false hope for people, but it is entirely something that could be patched by Apple. It's unbelievable they haven't done it already to be quite frank and irks me. It makes my LG CX very limited at 60Hz compared to the same experience with my desktop at 120Hz and it's especially jarring since my 14" M1 Pro also has a 120Hz screen.
There are other threads that talk about this, but this is entirely a Mac OS limitation since on older Intel Macs, you were able to use the same adapters to get 4K 120Hz over HDMI2.1 (via certain USB-C adapters) in Windows via bootcamp. That's of course not an option on M1, but it shows that the limit was MacOS and not a physical limitation by any stretch.
Just thought It'd leave this bit of info here for someone reading. I don't want to give false hope for people, but it is entirely something that could be patched by Apple. It's unbelievable they haven't done it already to be quite frank and irks me. It makes my LG CX very limited at 60Hz compared to the same experience with my desktop at 120Hz and it's especially jarring since my 14" M1 Pro also has a 120Hz screen.
I don't have a proper HDMI 2.1 TB adapter so I can't test it, but, I will say that my TB->DisplayPort adapter is working perfectly fine to give me 120hz 4k with VRR on my Acer XV273K display from my Mac Studio. It also worked with my M1 iMac. The OS is obviously happy to support this combination with DisplayPort. I don't see why they would limit it with HDMI assuming your adapter was up to the task (most are just trash though.)
Edit: I guess I should also add that I don't have a display that supports HDMI 2.1 either. There are plenty of 4k 120hz displays out there that have HDMI 2.0 ports and can't do 4k @ 120hz via HDMI regardless of what the computer hooked up to it can do. So the problem can be on either side.
Yes, the limitation is specifically with HDMI 2.1 adapters, and 100% an OS limitation. A monitor that would do 4K 120Hz on an M1 Mac over DisplayPort won't do the same on HDMI regardless of DisplayPort to HDMI adapter. It's unfortunate on LG's OLEDs because they're 10 bit panels that do VRR, 4K 120Hz and are awesome, but Macs are limited to 60Hz.
Has anyone tried this?
www.cablematters.com
The company claims that it is made for MacBooks.
Product Not Found
Cable Matters provides a large selection of innovative cables and accessories, we also educate consumers on the best product offerings. USB4, USB C, Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, VGA, USB, SATA, SAS, Ethernet, Networking, AV, Power, bulk cables, docking stations, power...
The company claims that it is made for MacBooks.
Has anyone tried this?
Product Not Found
Cable Matters provides a large selection of innovative cables and accessories, we also educate consumers on the best product offerings. USB4, USB C, Thunderbolt 5, Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort, HDMI, DVI, VGA, USB, SATA, SAS, Ethernet, Networking, AV, Power, bulk cables, docking stations, power...
The company claims that it is made for MacBooks.
Did you read the “important notes”? They’re important notes after all. 😉
A new solution here, their technicians tell me that this product supports 4k@120hz in MacOS(As long as the device supports DisplayPort Alt Mode ), gonna have a try and will update here.
www.kensington.com
CV4200H USB-C 4K/8K HDMI Adapter | Video Adapters & Cables | 4k Video Adapter | Kensington
Get the most from any HDMI-enabled display. Easily connect to an open USB-C (must support DisplayPort Alt Mode), Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, or USB4 port.
A new solution here, their technicians tell me that this product supports 4k@120hz in MacOS(As long as the device supports DisplayPort Alt Mode ), gonna have a try and will update here.
CV4200H USB-C 4K/8K HDMI Adapter | Video Adapters & Cables | 4k Video Adapter | Kensington
Get the most from any HDMI-enabled display. Easily connect to an open USB-C (must support DisplayPort Alt Mode), Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, or USB4 port.
Sorry, found this little line hidden in the Kensington docs: "The maximum resolution on Mac is 4K @ 60Hz."
Once again, Apple is forcing us to buy M2Pro models if you want HDMI 2.1, even with converter/adapter cables, macOS is somehow preventing adapters from working properly. Meanwhile cheap windows laptops can do HDMI 4K120 all day with this adapter.
Right.
So question - what does that mean about the theoretical promotion display that is rumored to be in the near future? Are we to think that no M1P/M machine will be able to drive it? So 2020 MBP and 2022 Studio are excluded from potential buyers of the device? I'm pretty perplexed by this one.
Apple's 27-inch ProMotion display may launch early next year
External mini-LED display coming in first quarter of 2023, according to new report, after twice being pushed back from planned launches in 2022.
www.macworld.com
And this is my biggest concern with getting the Studio over the Mini. I use an LG OLED as my main display and I'm NOT going back to 60hz. It hurts my head now.
Yeah it's killing me that I can't get the Studio if I want 4K120 as the M2Pro Mini is a worse value than a discounted Mac Studio.
This is a super confusing topic.
If I read your comment correctly, you want 4K at a high refresh rate (120 Hz or higher). Check out this thread and read posts #125 and #133. This isn’t inconsistent with the specs that Apple provides for the Studio (and M1x MBPs). They say a 5K display at 60Hz via TB4 but make no comment on 4K via TB4.
Your comment is all about thunderbolt which is different.
I have a 42” OLED monitor, which only has hdmi inputs. This means that there is no way to get 120hz output from the Mac Studio. This is the only thing that has kept me from buying (returned one when released over this issue). I’m hoping a thunderbolt to hdmi adapter will allow for 120hz at 4k. The Mac mini m2 has this feature. Maybe the Studio M2 will follow suite.
Ahh. Thanks for the clarification. Didn't realize you were discussing a TV that doesn't have any inputs other than HDMI. I think you are right that an M2M Studio will almost surely have an HDMI 2.1 port. It's pretty lame that the current one doesn't.
This limitation is for us crazy people who like using 42/48/55/Or bigger hehe LG OLED TVs on our desks as monitors. The biggest issue with them is they only have HDMI 2.1 inputs. If they accepted DP or TB inputs, we wouldn't have this debate as even the M1 MBA supports 4K120 using a USB-C to DP 1.4 adapter. MacOS has some weird limitation on gimping any kind of USB-C to HDMI dongle. Even USB-C to DP to HDMI doesn't work nor will TB3/TB4 to HDMI work.
I say it's a MacOS limitation as when I plug in my 2019 Intel MBP 16 to a TB3 eGPU enclosure with a AMD 6600XT video card that has HDMI 2.1 ports, I'm still locked at 4K60. Even a DP 1.4 to HDMI 2.1 dongle is still locked.
As soon as I run Win11 boot camp on my MBP 16, I'm able to get 4K120 out of the same HDMI port on the eGPU.
It's infuriating!
I say it's a MacOS limitation as when I plug in my 2019 Intel MBP 16 to a TB3 eGPU enclosure with a AMD 6600XT video card that has HDMI 2.1 ports, I'm still locked at 4K60. Even a DP 1.4 to HDMI 2.1 dongle is still locked.
As soon as I run Win11 boot camp on my MBP 16, I'm able to get 4K120 out of the same HDMI port on the eGPU.
It's infuriating!
Anybody knows the maximum at 4K for M1 MAX Studio using a USB-C connection to the monitor?
4K@144, 4K@240,..?
A bit late but finally made progress!
4k@120 RGB 10bit works with the Cable Matters adapter with the VMM6100
Works on my C9 on my M1 Macbook Air and Mac Studio Ultra
4k@120 RGB 10bit works with the Cable Matters adapter with the VMM6100
Cable Matters 48Gbps USB C to HDMI 2.1 Adapter, Support 8K 60Hz / 4K 240Hz HDR, Thunderbolt 4 to HDMI 2.1, HDMI 2.1 to USB C Adapter, Compatible with iPhone 16/15 - Max Resolution on Mac is 4K@60Hz
Cable Matters 48Gbps USB C to HDMI 2.1 Adapter, Support 8K 60Hz / 4K 240Hz HDR, Thunderbolt 4 to HDMI 2.1, HDMI 2.1 to USB C Adapter, Compatible with iPhone 16/15 - Max Resolution on Mac is 4K@60Hz
www.amazon.com
Works on my C9 on my M1 Macbook Air and Mac Studio Ultra