How to connect monitor to MacBook

[apple fan23]

I've got a MacBook Pro 13" (2020, 4 thunderbolt ports, Intel chip) and am considering the new Studio display. I've never had an external display and not sure how this would work.... it seems like it's just a simple usb-c cable and you're good to go. I don't want two screens, I want the MacBook to just function as 'the tower' (closed) and the display to work as if I've got an iMac.... Does it work like that? How do I make sure the desktop from the MacBook does not show really small (after all smaller screen, much less pixels) on the much larger display? Will it not get blurry and magnified (or stay small)?? Do I just need a thunderbolt-thunderbolt cable? Will it make properly use of the 5K qualities of the display (will want to watch Netflix on it too in 4K) or do I need to buy a Mac mini/Studio for this? I'd really appreciate some advice. Many thanks in advance.

 

[Arctic Moose]

You need a Thunderbolt cable, not a simple USB-C cable.

Something like this will work:

Plugable Thunderbolt 4 Cable [Thunderbolt Certified] 6.6ft USB4 Cable with 100W Charging, Single 8K or Dual 4K Displays, 40Gbps Data Transfer, Compatible with Thunderbolt, USB4, USB-C - Driverless

The Plugable Active 2M (6.6ft) Thunderbolt 4 and USB4 cable is built with an Intel chipset to deliver a true Thunderbolt experience. Even at two massive meters, get 100W Power Delivery, 40Gbps data transfer speeds, and support for two 4K screens or one 8K screen with no loss in performance. And b...

www.amazon.com

It does work as you'd expect. I do this now with HP Z27 monitors. There are some issues with laptop and monitor sleep, but I expect these issues will not exist with an Apple-branded display.

You can scale the display to any resolution you wish up to the maximum that the display supports. In your case you will be able to run 5K at 60 Hz.

Netflix will be scaled up to fill your 5K display from whatever resolution the source material has, usually either 4K or 1080p.

 

[apple fan23]

Thanks so much - really appreciated. The Studio display does come with a 1m Thunderbolt cable, so surely that one would work for connecting it to a MacBook? So, 'scaling the display' would not result in blown up, fuzzy effects but it would properly work like a a 5k iMac screen? That would be cool, thanks for helping out.

 

[Amethyst1]

So, 'scaling the display' would not result in blown up, fuzzy effects but it would properly work like a a 5k iMac screen?

Even "proper scaling", i.e. the way macOS handles scaling on 4K or higher resolution external monitors, incurs some blurriness that some people, like me, can immediately see. But it's still a lot better than feeding the monitor a lower-than-native resolution signal and having the monitor upscale it to fill the screen.

 

[apple fan23]

Even "proper scaling", i.e. the way macOS handles scaling on 4K or higher resolution external monitors, incurs some blurriness that some people, like me, can immediately see. But it's still a lot better than feeding the monitor a lower-than-native resolution signal and having the monitor upscale it to fill the screen.

Interesting, thank you for commenting! A super beautiful monitor is the reason to go for this display (Netflix, Photoshop, Lightroom, some light video editing) so I'd want it to perform at its best. Would this scaling not happen with a Mac mini/Studio (as there is no monitor to scale it from)? I'll read up on the link you gave, thank you.

 

[Amethyst1]

Would this scaling not happen with a Mac mini/Studio (as there is no monitor to scale it from)?

If you choose a scaled resolution that is not a quarter of the native resolution, scaling of the framebuffer will happen regardless of the monitor or Mac it's connected to.
So, for a 5120×2880 ("5K") monitor, the sharpest setting is "Looks like 2560×1440" because (5120×2880) / 4 = (2560×1440). Choosing any other setting will incur some blurriness. The questions, then, are (1) can you see the blurriness? and (2) does it bother you?

 

[apple fan23]

Not sure I follow, sorry, am not that techie, but I am quite particular with high-res good quality imagery. A 2017 5K iMac looks gorgeous. I want my monitor to be at that level (looks great in Lightroom) or higher (with HDR and 4K video streaming which the older iMacs don't support). Am not sure if using my MacBook Pro with the new Studio Display is going to give me that? Should I wait for them to bring out a new iMac (if ever)....

 

[Arctic Moose]

Not sure I follow, sorry, am not that techie, but I am quite particular with high-res good quality imagery. A 2017 5K iMac looks gorgeous. I want my monitor to be at that level (looks great in Lightroom) or higher (with HDR and 4K video streaming which the older iMacs don't support). Am not sure if using my MacBook Pro with the new Studio Display is going to give me that? Should I wait for them to bring out a new iMac (if ever)....

It is the same panel, and will look exactly the same as an iMac 5K that has the same settings.

As noted by @Amethyst1, if you set both the iMac 5K and your MacBook Pro connected to a Studio Display to the ideal settings of "looks like 2560×1440" you will have the highest possible image quality on both, and they should be practically indistinguishable.

Thanks so much - really appreciated. The Studio display does come with a 1m Thunderbolt cable, so surely that one would work for connecting it to a MacBook?

Yes, it will most certainly work. The only reason you would require a different cable is if you need a longer one.

 

[apple fan23]

Thank you! Should be good then and I could take the jump and buy the Studio Display (gulp!)