Yesterday I got Dell P2715Q. I have MBP early 2011 2.2 i7, 16 GB, Intel HD Graphics 3000 and AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB
First connect - nothing. MBP detected this monitor, but I can't see anything - can't open menu (only signal input selection). I think that cable may fail, but with other cable still black screen.
I'm thinking about send back this unit.
Trying to click everything, turn on and off monitor and MBP... nothing - black screen (MBP detect P2715Q, refresh screen and send all windows to Dell, but Dell only enable backlight and I see only black screen).
After 5 min decided to connect DVD via HDMI - it works fine! I can finally open menu! Changed DDC/CI to disabled. I don't know why I can't access to this menu without signal - what's wrong with Dell?! It should have some auto-detect mode (maybe in feature release?).
Then I try my mom MBA 2014 - works fine. In Dell menu I changed MST to secondary, I don't know if it helps or not. So I connect MBP and it works! Finally! Jeej! All cables works fine.
So, MBP 2011:
Full resolution 3840x2160 works ok, but only @30 Hz
1920x1080 hidpi looks amazing - again only @30 Hz; everything is so beautiful, but little too big (after 10 minutes I feel sick, because of low 30 Hz)
I'm trying to find 2560x1440 hidpi, but I don't have that resolution, so changed to 2560x1440 (low resolution) @60 Hz and it works ok.
If you thinking about working @30Hz - don't think about that and don't buy this unit.
I have second monitor - Eizo EV2736W (native 2560x1440). I can connect it to Dell and it works via MST mode (daisy chain). I get 2 mirrored monitors (works only with lid closed). Only mirrored option works - I can't change this.
After some time I can tell that in Dell (with scaled 2560x1440 resolution) everything is blur, Eizo have beautiful text, Dell not.
You can see some photos (little bad colors pics from my phone, but you can see difference it in 2560x1440)
I miss light sensor, but Eizo 4K is too expensive, I can buy 2x Dell 4K. If you want work only on 2560x1440 - buy Eizo.
PS. No, I didn't buy it to run with MBP. I read this thread, somebody say that I can run 2560x1440 hidpi with nMP ...so waiting for the delivery.
Thanks for that post, really appreciate it. I've read hundreds of comments from this thread (probably over a 1000 now), watched 10s of YouTube reviews, read heaps of blog reviews (
http://ryanclouser.com/?p=518 http://markdunkley.com/p2715q-review/ + many more), and even visited retail stores to test out a vast range of resolutions using SwitchResX on the 27" 5k iMac since last Saturday (5 days now - Australia).
I'm running a
13" rMBP (late 2013), so it only has
Intel Iris 5100 integrated graphics, which means it can either support a max of
1080p HiDPI @ 51Hz (via mDP/TB2 -> DP?) or
2160p @ 30 Hz (via HDMI). Seeing as how 2160p (native) is just an
outright uncomfortably tiny resolution and some would consider unusable (and it relatively is for every day use on a screen < 40", unless you totally love straining your eyes and want glasses much sooner in life) and also 30Hz just looks and sounds horrid by everything I've
seen and heard, although
this video doesn't make 30Hz to be all that bad if you're only performing GUI tasks and non-60fps videos.
I'm also in love with high pixel density displays, but want more screen real-estate than 1080p. (Since my previous external was normal 1080p and my in-built 13.3" res is usually at 1050p HiDPI [1.5x scaled] and I often find myself running out of resolution room when heavily browsing the web or having lots of concurrent programs open. E.g. Android Studio w/ emulator while browsing the web or simply just heavily browsing the web).
So my options are either to jump the gun and go with the 4k
Dell P2415Q (185ppi) [decided against the P2715Q after days of much thought since 27" seems physically too big (
like what this OP said), and for 1080 HiDPI I may as well just go 24" for slightly higher pixel density, 1440p will probably look slightly more vibrant on the 24" opposed to the 27" too due to 30ppi more - 24" on left versus 27" on right taken from this thread:
https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=519175&d=1418371341 https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=519176&d=1418371578 https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=519177&d=1418371578] and run it at 1080p HiDPI for now until I can upgrade my rMBP to an early 2015 or later refresh so it can handle 1440p or higher HiDPI. (I'm also in need of 16GB RAM, since my 8GB RAM usually gets eaten up rather quickly by concurrent programs / VMs or Chrome memory leaks/heavy tabbed browsing, 2.4GHz dual core CPU is also easily stressed out during HTML5 videos and lots of Flash/shockwave content - I read that some people in this thread were having excessive heat/CPU/GPU processing related issues when connecting 4k displays, perhaps why Apple disabled 4k @ 51Hz SiwtchResX tweak on the late 2013 13" in Yosemite?) (1080p HiDPI is bearable in terms of resolution space, but there are times where I wish I had more resolution space, no doubt the 2x scaling will make everything ultra smooth though - I sometimes run 2x scaling [1280x800] on my 13.3" screen for prolonged reading because it makes text and everything thing else bigger and more liquid clear by default without having to always zoom in on each page in browsers).
OR I could just go for a recently released standard 24" 1440p (122ppi)
Dell P2416D, but I'm not really fond of this option, since it means logical : physical pixel mapping would be 1:1 and hence would lose the dense pixel density the U2415Q would display. Dell's U2515Q also looked pretty fine, but apparently it's not being sold on their AU site any more and many
AU people have ordered it here and are still waiting even though it's not advertised on their site anymore (I heard there were black screen issues too). It has a mighty fine bezel, but one thing you have to remember with 1440p displays is that you're getting a million colours display versus billions on a 4k panel (which translates to crispiness and vibrant colours when running either HiDPI and native 4k resolutions). I could almost run
two 1440p displays for the price of one 24/27" 4k display, but I have a strong feeling I'd have deep regret for the 185 - 122ppi = 63 missing ppi on the U2415Q.
I'm in the same situation as what this guy was in.
https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=20738252#post20738252
I also made an
FB thread here about my situation if anyone wants to relate. Hah.
Also I've read comments in this thread about TB -> miniDisplayPort not working on this Dell due to lack of TB controller on the Dell...but the Samsung seems to support it
here, allowing 4k native at 52Hz from a 13" rMBP (late/Oct 2013).
MiniDP seems to work for 1080p HiDPI at 52Hz though. So confusing, I thought the 13" rMBP (late 2013) could push 1080 HiDPI @ 60Hz with just HDMI, but I guess not since it's effectively physically doubling the resolution to 2160p and then downsampling it to look like 1080p. Seems like
Yosemite introduced issues with SwitchResX, god dammit Apple.
Seems like Apple is doing this on purpose so we buy their screens instead (Their TB display is only normal 1440p lol and it's May 2015 *me hints new 4k TB display on the verge*).
Any ways, I could write a lot more, but these are enough thoughts and links as it is. I've waited over a year for a new QHD or UHD display, mainly for Retina popping (pixel dense) visuals, but also I could do with add real-estate at the same time.
Anything will be better than my standard 23.4" 1080p 93ppi monitor. Just how much better will a 1440p at 122ppi be pixel dense wise? I haven't been able to see one face to face, but I know for a fact that any res 1 : 1 will lose pixel density as it's just 1 logical pixel to one physical pixel. (I tried it by forcing 2560x1600 on my 13.3" rMBP in-built display, and it loses all the smoothness of a HiDPI res). Time to sleep, I've lost nights of sleep on this stupid issue. It's 4:47AM in Sydney Australia atm. :/
Also, curious, another thing I couldn't quite wrap my head around though is how the
15" early 2015 rMBP model can only support '2560 by 1600' for two externals and yet it has way more powerful discrete GPU options (Iris Pro w/ 128MB DDR3 VRAM and/or GT 750M w/ 2GB GDDR5 VRAM) than the
13" early 2015 rMBP which just has integrated Iris 6100 (shares system RAM), but can
support '3840 by 2160 pixels on up to two external displays'. Website publishing error/typo on AU site? :/
https://www.apple.com/au/macbook-pro/specs-retina/
EDIT: Found out that only 13" rMBPs and Airs were refreshed with Broadwell CPUs/GPUs. 15" rMBPs due out for a mid-2015 upgrade (from Haswell), hence why 13" support 4k @ 60Hz out of the box.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/03/apple-announces-new-macbook-airs-with-better-specs-same-displays/
tl;dr:
U2415Q at 1080p HiDPI AUD $739
or (potentially dual, one first though)
1440p native P2416D AUD $459 (Pricing is off Dell's AU site, sadly no discounts that I can see yet). U2415Q is about AUD $667 (incl. shipping) off Amazon, but I'd rather not risk it, seems much easier to go through Dell, 1-3 day shipping (opposed to 7-12+ with Amazon, Service Tag for 3 year warranty from Date of Purchase not date manufactured (
guy on Amazon reviews complained about that) and the electrical cable will be right for AU and it's only a AUD $72 difference. (Because of 10% GST tax). There are also a tonne of 1440p v 4k threads out there now, but it really depends on the audience, e.g. (budget) Gamer versus hardcore PC Enthusiast Gamer, versus non-gamer.
EDIT 2: Just came across this 24" 1440p ASUS. Looks pretty snazzy, has the thin bezel of Dell's 25" 1440p (U2515Q) too, but the stand is limited.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXDuiAztJYk
