External Monitor For Macbook Pro Retina Late 2013

[alex.e]

Hi,

I have a 13" Macbook Pro Retina Late 2013 and I really like the picture quality of its screen and crispness of the text. It is really good to avoid eye strain. But the screen size is too small for some of my tasks and I am considering to buy an external monitor.

I wanted to buy a 4k model but my device only supports 4k at 30hz which is not ideal. So I am looking for 1440p models. I feel 27" models are a bit too big for my need. But maybe I can get used to it.

When I look up I found these options:

BenQ PD2500Q http://t.ly/PWvqw

Dell Ultrasharp U2518D http://t.ly/e3vqn

Dell S2417DG https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dell-S2417DG-23-8-inch-Widescreen-Anti-Glare/dp/B01KZIOSSQ

I can pay up to 400£ / 500$. My priority is lower eye fatigue. I do not care about IPS or TN. Can I have this doubled pixel experience on these monitors above? Do you have any experience or suggestions?

Thanks in advance

 

[barbu]

I have always liked the UltraSharp line, these are/were very similar to Apple's own Cinema displays.

 

[idktbh]

The only way you can replicate the double pixel "retina" on a 1440p monitor is to use 1280x720 HiDPI mode (1440/2). I've done a lot of experiments with external monitors, Catalina completily eliminated the sub-pixel rendering all over the system. The results are pretty bad on all non 4K+ screens (even on 4K screens with low DPI!) I recommend you try both 1440p and 1080p monitors. I find the text too small on 1440p and harder to read without the sub pixel rendering (you can try the 720p HiDPI), on 1080p it still bad but at least it is a little bit easier to read due the size of the font.

 

[alex.e]

I finally bought this monitor: UltraSharp 25 USB-C Monitor: U2520D https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/ult...20d/apd/210-avbf/monitors-monitor-accessories

I am using with mini display port to HDMI cable. I tried 1440p and 1080p. Picture quality is ok but the text is blurry which is a disappointment for me. I ordered mini dp to dp cable. I am going to try with that one too.

 

[robvas]

I have that Dell and it's great. Using HDMI output won't always get you 2560x1440 as you have found out

 

[alex.e]

Update: Dell U2520D with display port.

For Windows, thanks to %125 scale option, the text is quite easy to read. But MacOS does not offer this kind of feature for external display. The text is too small. If I change the resolution the text is blurry.

 

[Venus Oh]

may I ask what kind of cables should I use to connect macbook pro 2018 to Dell U2520D? I've tried USB-C to HDMI cable - the text is blurry...

 

[alex.e]

may I ask what kind of cables should I use to connect macbook pro 2018 to Dell U2520D? I've tried USB-C to HDMI cable - the text is blurry...

For me HDMI provided maximum resolution of 1080P. I use a mini display port to display port cable. I could get 1440p resolution but the text is too small to read. For 1080p text is readable sizewise but blurry.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

It looks like the display you have runs at a native 1440p resolution (2550x1440).

That's the resolution you want to use, because a display always looks best when running at native resolution (this statement doesn't apply to 4k displays, which yours is not).

You tell us that text displayed at 1440p is "too small".
Please elaborate:
WHICH text is too small?
Text in the finder?
Or in a specific app?

You can make text display larger, if you know what to do.

 

[alex.e]

You tell us that text displayed at 1440p is "too small".
Please elaborate:
WHICH text is too small?
Text in the finder?
Or in a specific app?

You can make text display larger, if you know what to do.

Please check the images attached.

All the text is too small. I barely can read. There is not text size option like in built-in display.

 

[kohlson]

Have you tried (in System-Prefs-Display):
>>>

1. Press and hold the Option key while you click Scaled to see additional resolutions for the second display.

 

[alex.e]

Have you tried (in System-Prefs-Display):
>>>

1. Press and hold the Option key while you click Scaled to see additional resolutions for the second display.

The problem is not the missing resolution option. The problem is there is not an option for text sizing.

 

[fgp]

The problem is not the missing resolution option. The problem is there is not an option for text sizing.

I was thinking about buying the very same monitor to use with a 2020 Macbook Air. I was disappointed to hear the macOS seems to support 1440p monitors so badly, but after googling a bit it seems that there may be a way to get HiDPI mode (i.e. text scaling as you call it) to work on these displays after all. Here is what I found:

A blog post about to get HiDPI modes to work in macOS for another 1440p monitor (a Dell U2515H)

Another macrumors thread about HiDPI which contains step-by-step instructions how to get UI scaling (by 125% in that guy's case) to work

one-key-hidpi seems to be a script that enables HiDPI mode on external non-Apple displays

Enable-HiDPI-OSX seems to be another (less automated?) way of enabling HiDPI mode

My current external monitor doesn't even support 1080p so I obviously can't test any of this before buying a higher-resolution monitor like the U2520D myself. So should you decide to try this I'd be very interested to hear how well it works and how good the picture looks.

 

[kohlson]

I was disappointed to hear the macOS seems to support 1440p monitors so badly,

I have a Dell U2715Q usually connected to my late-2013 15-MBP. 95% of the time it's set to 1440p. Sharp as a tack. Other times it's connected to my cMP with an RX580. Still sharp.

 

[alex.e]

I was thinking about buying the very same monitor to use with a 2020 Macbook Air. I was disappointed to hear the macOS seems to support 1440p monitors so badly, but after googling a bit it seems that there may be a way to get HiDPI mode (i.e. text scaling as you call it) to work on these displays after all. Here is what I found:

A blog post about to get HiDPI modes to work in macOS for another 1440p monitor (a Dell U2515H)

Another macrumors thread about HiDPI which contains step-by-step instructions how to get UI scaling (by 125% in that guy's case) to work

one-key-hidpi seems to be a script that enables HiDPI mode on external non-Apple displays

Enable-HiDPI-OSX seems to be another (less automated?) way of enabling HiDPI mode

My current external monitor doesn't even support 1080p so I obviously can't test any of this before buying a higher-resolution monitor like the U2520D myself. So should you decide to try this I'd be very interested to hear how well it works and how good the picture looks.

This hidpi things did not work for me. 1440 works perfectly but text size is too small to read. Please check the images I attached before.

 

[alex.e]

I have a Dell U2715Q usually connected to my late-2013 15-MBP. 95% of the time it's set to 1440p. Sharp as a tack. Other times it's connected to my cMP with an RX580. Still sharp.

There is not a sharpness problem when the resolution is 1440p. The problem is text size. Since yours is 27" maybe that 2" helped you to read the text better.

 

[Fishrrman]

OP:

Assuming you're reading this message right now, what happens if you hold down the command key, and then hit the "+" key a few times...?

 

[sau93]

Hello everyone!

My father has Macbook Pro Retina Late 2013 and I'm considering to buy him an external monitor. He works on Windows, so I can't buy new MBP13 on M1 and a new 5K monitor until it supports Bootcamp and Citrix.

What could you recommend me to do? Bearing in mind that we would like to update MBP later on?

 

[alex.e]

Hello everyone!

My father has Macbook Pro Retina Late 2013 and I'm considering to buy him an external monitor. He works on Windows, so I can't buy new MBP13 on M1 and a new 5K monitor until it supports Bootcamp and Citrix.

What could you recommend me to do? Bearing in mind that we would like to update MBP later on?

Just keep in mind that your device does not support 4k displays.

New devices wont perform well under 4k.

 

[afrojazz]

I have a Dell U2715Q usually connected to my late-2013 15-MBP. 95% of the time it's set to 1440p. Sharp as a tack. Other times it's connected to my cMP with an RX580. Still sharp.

oh this is exciting news as i was wondering about 27 inch display for my 2013 late MBP! thanks