Dell P2715Q and P2415Q 4K IPS Displays

[Daekwan]

Just bought a 2015 13" rMBP w/256GB SSD. Fiancee is planning on getting at 2015 rMB w/256GB SSD. In a perfect world, we'd go with Apple Thunderbolt Cinema display.. but as we all know thats a pretty outdated monitor at this point. I've read quite a few sites recommending the Dell P2715Q.. and see that it now priced at $499 from Adorama with free shipping & no tax!

Before I click the buy button, there are two things I was hoping people in this thread could confirm:

1) Does the 2015 13" rMBP support 4K@60hz from the thunderbolt port through a mini-displayport cable to this monitor?

2) What realistic resolution could I expect the 2015 rMB to output through its single USB-C connector or through HDMI using an adapter)?

3) What is the best way to hook up a Apple sourced keyboard & mouse.. along with the monitor to create a docking station. Sure I know bluetooth K&M exist.. but am worried BT will get confused between the two devices and input text/mouse movements on the wrong computer.

4) Is there a better all-in-one monitor solution available? What I like most about the Thunderbolt Cinema display is that its ONE cable from the monitor to the rMBP.. that connects both magsafe power & thunderbolt for display/USB/ethernet/sound/etc. Was hoping to find an elegant 4K solution that does the same.

5) Is there a better 4K@60hz monitor (no all-in-one capability) besides the Dell that I should consider?

 

[lankox]

I've had the p2715q for a few days and I decided to throw my 2cents in.

1) No dead pixels, fairly uniform screen
2) Text quality looks good. I've been going back and forth from the 1440 and 1692 resolutions and the display is not quite up to the quality of my MBPr. A lot better than native 1440 but not as good as Retina.
3) No issues with flicker, waking up, USB hub
4) Also bought the ac511 sound bar which is only marginally better than the MBPr built in speakers
5) There is more lag in animations as compared to the 15" MBPr screen even with the dGPU 750m.
6) The antiglare makes everything a little bit more dull as compared to the apple glossy displays. The AG coating is not as bad as the old Apple cinema displays.
7) Fit and finish is not great but not bad for the price.

----------

I was playing around with the sharpness setting in the menu and noticed there is a big difference between 50 and 60. 50 is too soft and 60 is too sharp. Anyway to select something in between?

 

[Meph]

Can anyone confirm that this display works with the new (early 2015) Macbook Pro with Intel Iris 6100? P2715q is not listed on Apple's official documentation, but I've heard rumors that people have been able to run it.

 

[mango316]

It's so nice, isn't it? Finally being able to see what our Windows brethren can see on their 4k displays! I was in an office in Seattle with my business partner on his older HD displays and found myself getting a headache - the text was so.... fuzzy.

I've had the same debate regarding a TB2 PCIe enclosure - I'm holding off, pass on whether you pull the trigger on one and whether it works or not, and I'll do the same. I'm interested to see whether the pass-through works in reality as well as it does in reality...

Hey, I posted about this first!!!

Addressing your question, I'm running my two displays at 1080x1920 HiDPI in portrait for reading and 2560x1440 HiDPI or 3200x1800 HiDPI in landscape using SwitchResX. The displayed text and graphics are awesome. 4k YouTube videos are pretty sweet too!

Which version is your 15" MBPr 15? Late 2013 or Mid 2014? Because I have a Late 2013 and just want to confirm if it also capable of deliver 4k over 2 of its Thunderbolt ports. Thanks

 

[campyguy]

Which version is your 15" MBPr 15? Late 2013 or Mid 2014? Because I have a Late 2013 and just want to confirm if it also capable of deliver 4k over 2 of its Thunderbolt ports. Thanks

Late 2013. And, I can get 4k in portrait and landscape modes, or a combination of the two modes. I'm still so happy with this!

FWIW I recommend using the supplied Dell cables or finding DP 1.2/1.2a-compatible cables - using my TB or DP 1.1a cables, the displays seem to be a bit "laggy" even though I can still get decent results. I had a couple of mDP cables that are DP 1.2 and they worked great but they went with one of my employees into the field, swapped out a couple of DP 1.1a cables and could tell the difference right away so am now using the Dell-supplied mDP-DP cables (which I like anyway since they "lock" into the display's port). Just saying…

 

[mango316]

Late 2013. And, I can get 4k in portrait and landscape modes, or a combination of the two modes. I'm still so happy with this!

FWIW I recommend using the supplied Dell cables or finding DP 1.2/1.2a-compatible cables - using my TB or DP 1.1a cables, the displays seem to be a bit "laggy" even though I can still get decent results. I had a couple of mDP cables that are DP 1.2 and they worked great but they went with one of my employees into the field, swapped out a couple of DP 1.1a cables and could tell the difference right away so am now using the Dell-supplied mDP-DP cables (which I like anyway since they "lock" into the display's port). Just saying…

Thanks a lot for the information and suggestion!

 

[JJsnyder]

Sound Issue

Hello. I been happy with monitor till today. I hope someone can help me with this or tell me if am doing something wrong. I got a pair of USB speakers Kanto YU2 and want to hook them up to the monitor. I have the Dell P2715q and connected by DisplayPort. When I connect the Usb speaker to my early 2015 Macbook pro no issues at all.

The issues is when i try to connect them by USB to the monitor. When I go to sound output my only option is Internal speaker and Dell P2715q. I don't get the USB DAC.

Am I do something wrong or was I told the wrong info that this would work? Thanks.

 

[JTToft]

Hello. I been happy with monitor till today. I hope someone can help me with this or tell me if am doing something wrong. I got a pair of USB speakers Kanto YU2 and want to hook them up to the monitor. I have the Dell P2715q and connected by DisplayPort. When I connect the Usb speaker to my early 2015 Macbook pro no issues at all.

The issues is when i try to connect them by USB to the monitor. When I go to sound output my only option is Internal speaker and Dell P2715q. I don't get the USB DAC.

Am I do something wrong or was I told the wrong info that this would work? Thanks.

- Is the cable for the monitor's USB hub connected to your MBP?
I don't think the monitor can output sound that is received through DP over its USB ports.

 

[mosher]

Hello. I been happy with monitor till today. I hope someone can help me with this or tell me if am doing something wrong. I got a pair of USB speakers Kanto YU2 and want to hook them up to the monitor. I have the Dell P2715q and connected by DisplayPort. When I connect the Usb speaker to my early 2015 Macbook pro no issues at all.

The issues is when i try to connect them by USB to the monitor. When I go to sound output my only option is Internal speaker and Dell P2715q. I don't get the USB DAC.

Am I do something wrong or was I told the wrong info that this would work? Thanks.

Audio output to Usb Speakers is going to happen only if you connect usb hub of the monitor to your MBP

 

[hfg]

Hello. I been happy with monitor till today. I hope someone can help me with this or tell me if am doing something wrong. I got a pair of USB speakers Kanto YU2 and want to hook them up to the monitor. I have the Dell P2715q and connected by DisplayPort. When I connect the Usb speaker to my early 2015 Macbook pro no issues at all.

The issues is when i try to connect them by USB to the monitor. When I go to sound output my only option is Internal speaker and Dell P2715q. I don't get the USB DAC.

Am I do something wrong or was I told the wrong info that this would work? Thanks.

You do need to connect the USB uplink cable between the monitor and your computer ... then the monitor USB ports will be active. I have the DELL sound bar mounted on my P2715Q which plugs into a USB port on the monitor and it is working fine when the Dell Sound Bar is selected as the output device in System Preferences.

 

[JJsnyder]

You do need to connect the USB uplink cable between the monitor and your computer ... then the monitor USB ports will be active. I have the DELL sound bar mounted on my P2715Q which plugs into a USB port on the monitor and it is working fine when the Dell Sound Bar is selected as the output device in System Preferences.

Thanks. I got it working now. So 3 cables connected to my Macbook Pro now.

 

[Vikash2]

We are having issues getting the 27inch monitor to run at 4K and 60HZ.

We have a 5K Retina iMac and the display is connected through Dell's miniDP to Displayport cable that came with the display. All is great, but the minute we plug in our second display, a 1080p television, through a belkin thunderbolt to HDMI the monitor turns very ugly. The only way to get 4K back is to switch on MST, but then the display switches to 30hz..

How can we get the display to run at 60Hz and 4K while the TV is also connected? Surely this must be possible?

Thanks!

 

[alasota7]

Quick question, will the P2715Q display work at 2560 x 1440 on a Mid 2009 Macbook Pro 17" (it has the additional 512mb Geforce 9600M gt) through the mini display port?

I know that audio will not work through the port, but I am not sure if the mini display port which I believe is version 1.1 will work with this display with 1.2 displayport. Main reason I am asking is that in the future I would like to use this display on a 5K iMac.

 

[expntly]

compatibility with new macbook 12"

I bought the Dell P2715Q and also managed to get my hands on the new MacBook 12" 1.2Ghz.

I have not been able to make it fully work like I wanted.

3840x2160 works but at 30hz, not 60hz. Everything is super slow and uncomfortable.

I'd like to be able to use a resolution >3000x* @ 60hz in HiDPI (or anything not blurry).

Does the new MacBook 12" support 60hz at full resolution? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856 isn't clear

I also posted here: https://discussions.apple.com/message/28140580#28140580

Anyone else with the new MacBook 12" and this screen here? Or actually any other 4k screen?

 

[JTToft]

3840x2160 works but at 30hz, not 60hz. Everything is super slow and uncomfortable.

Does the new MacBook 12" support 60hz at full resolution? https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202856 isn't clear

- It does not, no. 30Hz is the maximum for 4K. If you see the lists with supported machines for 60Hz in the Apple support document, you'll see the MacBook isn't listed.
Ars Technica also established that 30Hz is the maximum.

 

[expntly]

- It does not, no. 30Hz is the maximum for 4K. If you see the lists with supported machines for 60Hz in the Apple support document, you'll see the MacBook isn't listed.
Ars Technica also established that 30Hz is the maximum.

Is this because of the hardware or software? The GC seems to support 60hz according to Intel.

 

[JTToft]

Is this because of the hardware or software? The GC seems to support 60hz according to Intel.

- Yes, but Intel also recommends active cooling for 60Hz operation, which the MacBook doesn't have. So I'd say it's probably a hardware limitation, but I can't be sure.

 

[siqueiros]

Unfortunatly, as i assumed, my out of box dell cable is turn out to be bad working, it is start picture flickering. When i am moving the cable a little bit picture to start flickering.
Anyway, i am to decide to buy Apple Thunderbolt cablehttp://store.apple.com/us/product/MD862LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-cable-05-m, does anybody to know will it work with Dell monitor?

 

[JTToft]

Unfortunatly, as i assumed, my out of box dell cable is turn out to be bad working, it is start picture flickering. When i am moving the cable a little bit picture to start flickering.
Anyway, i am to decide to buy Apple Thunderbolt cablehttp://store.apple.com/us/product/MD862LL/A/apple-thunderbolt-cable-05-m, does anybody to know will it work with Dell monitor?

- I think it should work. But why not just get a (cheaper) DisplayPort cable?
Also, if the product you purchased doesn't work, you really should RMA it with the seller, not just accept it and purchase another.

 

[siqueiros]

- I think it should work. But why not just get a (cheaper) DisplayPort cable?
Also, if the product you purchased doesn't work, you really should RMA it with the seller, not just accept it and purchase another.

Just go out and bought miniDP to miniDP good one, the cable is white not black color like out of box was, but it is more qualitative, the cable is hard now, default Dells miniDPtoDP cable was weak, like ethernet patch cord to the touch. It is may be fine for permanent connected computer like MacMini or MacPro, but for frequent every day connected and disconnected devices like MacBooks the dell cable will have short time life i think. But may be mine was defect one.

 

[aviduser2]

i have one really annoying problem using this screen. I use the screen together with rMBP.

I have previously used other screens and never had this problem before, so it's not the computer.

Anyhow, sometimes when i use the screen the internet dies. Usually i disable/enable wifi and sometimes it can take up to 10 minutes before it works proper..... Its very random and freaking annoying.

I never have any problems when i use the built in screen / other screens so i wonder if anyone has had the same problem?

 

[siqueiros]

i have one really annoying problem using this screen. I use the screen together with rMBP.

I have previously used other screens and never had this problem before, so it's not the computer.

Anyhow, sometimes when i use the screen the internet dies. Usually i disable/enable wifi and sometimes it can take up to 10 minutes before it works proper..... Its very random and freaking annoying.

I never have any problems when i use the built in screen / other screens so i wonder if anyone has had the same problem?

I have Apple TV3 and sometimes use tv set connected to the apple tv from my rMBP and use TV as my second or third display as a extended screen and this is happened to me, internet stop working, until i reconnect wifi.

 

[expntly]

- Yes, but Intel also recommends active cooling for 60Hz operation, which the MacBook doesn't have. So I'd say it's probably a hardware limitation, but I can't be sure.

OK, sounds like I'm going to try the new MBP13.

Other questions.

Apple specifies here http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook “2304-by-1440 resolution at 226 pixels per inch”. However when I look at the system prefs, I see:
- looks like 1024x640
- looks like 1152x720
- looks like 1280x800 (default)
- looks like 1440x900

Isn’t there a discrepancy here? My understanding is that 2304x1440 as advertised would be used as 1152x720 — 4 real hardware pixels on the screen used to represent one software pixel (sorry for the poor wording) — which is not the default. Seems like the default in the system prefs is 2560x1600 instead?

On that same note, what is really a retina display? I feel like it’s more of a software thing than a display/hardware thing. If a software thing, then I can pretty much take any 4k display and use it in “retina” mode (HiDPI?) as long as the OS supports it — it’s just scaling. Am I missing something?

 

[JTToft]

Anyhow, sometimes when i use the screen the internet dies. Usually i disable/enable wifi and sometimes it can take up to 10 minutes before it works proper..... Its very random and freaking annoying.

- https://www.google.com/search?clien...-8&oe=UTF-8&gws_rd=cr&ei=Ro4-VYJMx6ayAa-YgOgI
Perhaps?

Isn’t there a discrepancy here?

- Not really, no. Apple has just chosen to use another scaled option than the 1:4 mapping you describe (they do use 1:4 on rMBPs by default, though). I guess it's to make it appear to have more screen real estate.

On that same note, what is really a retina display?

- It's really just a marketing term invented by Apple to describe displays of such high pixel density that individual pixels can't be distinguished by the eye at normal viewing distances (hence why the "Retina" description requires different densities for iPhones and Macs).
You could achieve the same with a third party 4K or 5K monitor, yes - as indeed many members on this forum are.

 

[expntly]

- It's really just a marketing term invented by Apple to describe displays of such high pixel density that individual pixels can't be distinguished by the eye at normal viewing distances (hence why the "Retina" description requires different densities for iPhones and Macs).
You could achieve the same with a third party 4K or 5K monitor, yes - as indeed many members on this forum are.

Interesting.

So on this Dell P2715Q, any idea why in SST mode all resolutions are blurry, and why in MST mode only some resolutions work fine? For instance 1920x1080 @ 30hz shows retina style quality on the Dell (but it's too big), anything higher I try (2048x1152, 3200x1800) says "(low resolution)" and it's all blurry again (except for the max 3840x2160).

Ideally I'd like something like 3008x1692 @ 60hz. Is the new MacBook Pro 13" going to help?

Thanks again, learning a lot!