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I come back to report the experience with 13 tMBP + UltraFind 5K combination:

The short answer

It's not a happy experience using this combination, I have returned the 13' MBP, ordering a 15' with 460 graphics instaed

Fail to play a 4K video so I didn't get it tested

Can you connect the monitor thunderbolt cable to the MacBook Pro ports on the LEFT hand side and re-run these tests?

Thunderbolt ports on right side on this MacBook model has reduced bandwidth.
 
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Can you connect the monitor thunderbolt cable to the MacBook Pro ports on the LEFT hand side and re-run these tests?
No real difference, the mission control is still laggy and the animation on Apple's homepage still drops FPS

006tKfTcgw1fb6kx5bt9gj31kw0hogs6.jpg
 
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Can this be fixed with software/firmware updates?
I can't answer, I think the issue is the Iris 550 graphics computing capacity is not enough to smoothly render animation on a 5K display, if so, no software fix can be applied
 
I can't answer, I think the issue is the Iris 550 graphics computing capacity is not enough to smoothly render animation on a 5K display, if so, no software fix can be applied
What do you mean with animation?
Why does Apple clearly state both new 13" Macbook Pro's are capable to run 5K?
 
I can't answer, I think the issue is the Iris 550 graphics computing capacity is not enough to smoothly render animation on a 5K display, if so, no software fix can be applied

Can you make a video (with your phone for example) so we can see how it performs?
 
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It's quite disappointing to hear there are performance issues with the 13inch machine, I've got the LG 5k on order and really want the portability of the 13inch.

Frustrating that Apple would say it supports it, especially as the 13inch is quoted to support 2 4K displays, which surely is even more pixels than one single 5k display?

I remember when Yosemite came out with the updated UI, there was some performance issues on external displays, so I'm hopeful it's something a software update can help with.
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I come back to report the experience with 13 tMBP + UltraFind 5K combination:

First a simple photo

006tKfTcgw1fb6gyjxt30j31kw16oqjx.jpg

A great look, I don't care the thick edge that much.

This is my tMBP, 2.9GHz i5 + 16GB RAM + 256GB SSD + Iris 550 Graphic
006tKfTcgw1fb6g8cgmqvj31180oc788.jpg


Devices

  • UltraFine 5K connected to MBP
  • Bluetooth connected Magic Keyboard & Touchpad
  • Bluetooth connected iPhone
  • No other devices connected
  • Light up both the 5K display and MBP's internal display
  • On MBP I have 2560x1600 backgrounds around 1MB, on 5K display the background is 5120x2880 images about 1.5MB in size

The short answer

It's not a happy experience using this combination, I have returned the 13' MBP, ordering a 15' with 460 graphics instaed

Daily use

  • Mission control animation is extremely laggy, after a few times it becomes smooth for a while
  • Switching between desktops is also a little laggy

Chrome

Try to open http://www.apple.com/, the animation on the homepage cannot run smoothly, FPS drops

006tKfTcgw1fb6gc0si0aj31aq0i2n59.jpg


Typing

Using the default input method on Sierra, daily input is smooth, however if a Chrome's active tab has some animation, the input experience is VERY VERY laggy - which I cannot bare

High CPU scenario

Try a ffmpeg to exhaust my CPU:

ffmpeg -i input.mkv -vcodec libx264 -acodec aac -crf 18 output.mp4
It runs at 2.1x speed and drain more than 90% of my CPU, I have identical experience in this time, everything formerly smooth is still smooth

Video play

Fail to play a 4K video so I didn't get it tested

Just out of curiosity, what resolution is your Macbook display running at? Is it set to the default (looks like 1440x900) or a notch lower? (1280x800)
 
We'll need to contact LG, Apple weren't really interested:

That sucks, especially as Apple marketed this as their official display.
[doublepost=1482920639][/doublepost]But I am curious if this issue is widespread, as other users would also mention this.

Also, I got the sleep-wake issues even with only the monitor connected, and nothing else plugged in.
 
otakustay, does it get better when the MBP is closed to reduce the amount of pixels?

How is the performance with the Radeon 460 and Dual 5K? IIRC someone here has this setup already. That's going to be my setup as well (once Apple gets their stuff together for us Swiss customers) and I think that it will be quite taxing for the GPU as well.
 
Apologies if this has been asked before, couldn't find the info.

Can you daisy-chain the usb-c 4K monitor from the back of the 5K monitor? Does anybody know / has anybody tried this?
 
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Can you make a video (with your phone for example) so we can see how it performs?
Recording screen causes worse performance, I will try to capture a video via my iPhone later
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Just out of curiosity, what resolution is your Macbook display running at? Is it set to the default (looks like 1440x900) or a notch lower? (1280x800)
My MBP runs at default resolution (1440x900)
 
Recording screen causes worse performance, I will try to capture a video via my iPhone later
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My MBP runs at default resolution (1440x900)

Could you test something for me? I know with the newer Macbooks, the default resolution is actually a scaled resolution (the native resolution for a 13inch is 1280x800), I've also read that scaled resolutions can affect performance... would you mind setting your macbook pro display to 1280x800 (down a notch from default) to see if that has any effect?
 
Can you make a video (with your phone for example) so we can see how it performs?
I have created some videos to demonstrate how it looks on 5K display

This is how webpage animation looks on 5K display

Compare with how it works when not connected to the 5K display

This is the mission control performance

And here comes the worst case, typing laggy when animation starts (please focus on the text editor)
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Could you test something for me? I know with the newer Macbooks, the default resolution is actually a scaled resolution (the native resolution for a 13inch is 1280x800), I've also read that scaled resolutions can affect performance... would you mind setting your macbook pro display to 1280x800 (down a notch from default) to see if that has any effect?
Changing resolution to 1280x800 does not take effects, even closing the MBP's internal display does not make a performance boost
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Why does Apple clearly state both new 13" Macbook Pro's are capable to run 5K?
In fact 13' MBP **CAN** drive this display, you can see every pixel clearly, it is only inconvenience when we have some animations (mission control / css animation on webpage), for static images its perfect (but this is not the case of our daily use)
 
I have created some videos to demonstrate how it looks on 5K display

This is how webpage animation looks on 5K display

Compare with how it works when not connected to the 5K display

This is the mission control performance

And here comes the worst case, typing laggy when animation starts (please focus on the text editor)
[doublepost=1482933842][/doublepost]
Changing resolution to 1280x800 does not take effects, even closing the MBP's internal display does not make a performance boost
[doublepost=1482934039][/doublepost]
In fact 13' MBP **CAN** drive this display, you can see every pixel clearly, it is only inconvenience when we have some animations (mission control / css animation on webpage), for static images its perfect (but this is not the case of our daily use)

Thanks for your help :) I wonder if this is a browser issue then? If it can't handle displaying CSS animations, how would it cope with playing 4k video, which is surely more intensive? And if it can't handle 4k video, it clearly doesn't do what it's advertised at doing.

Would love to know if there are performance problems on the 13inch running 2 4k screens (which should challenge the GPU more than a single 5k display)
 
Wait, you're using Google Chrome... it's probably not optimized. I see it also causes the stutter in Mission Control. Try Safari.

The keyboard delay are css animations in Chrome blocking the main thread.
 
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Wait, you're using Google Chrome... it's probably not optimized. I see it also causes the stutter in Mission Control. Try Safari.
Safari does it a little better, but still have a noticeable lag when typing over web animation
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Thanks for your help :) I wonder if this is a browser issue then? If it can't handle displaying CSS animations, how would it cope with playing 4k video, which is surely more intensive? And if it can't handle 4k video, it clearly doesn't do what it's advertised at doing.
I'm a frontend engineer, as I know web animations are way more performance hitting than compacted x264 videos, Chrome utilize more GPU and CPU resources to performance "smooth" in most cases however when GPU and CPU are out of capacity it becomes extremely laggy, Safari can give a better result but in my case it still have some FPS drops
 
Yikes, this is not smooth at all. Reminiscent of a windows laptop :>
Can others chime in if the 5k is too much for the poor 13 incher?

If the performance is that poor then I'm not going to get the 5k. By the way, does Intel state that its GPU supports 5k?
 
Wait, you're using Google Chrome... it's probably not optimized. I see it also causes the stutter in Mission Control. Try Safari.

The keyboard delay are css animations in Chrome blocking the main thread.
I quit Chrome and use Safari to reproduce these cases

More smooth animation but randomly laggy

Better typing experience but still a noticeable delay when animation is in play
 
Kind of looks like unoptimized software to me. The Intel 550 can push around 850 gigaflops, while the Radeon 450 in the 15" is just 150 gigaflops more at 1 teraflops. If it were inadequate hardware, what does running two 5K's look like then.

For comparison, the high end desktop Nvidia GTX 1080 performs at 9 teraflops.
 
I have created some videos to demonstrate how it looks on 5K display
Thank you so much for these videos! I'm from China too. So glad that I got the 15-inch one in the first place. Using a 5K display with a laptop is all I've wanted since the 2014 5K iMac, and that's practically the only reason I bought a new Mac.

Just so you know, these monitors are called "UltraFine" not "UltraFind".
 
Kind of looks like unoptimized software to me. The Intel 550 can push around 850 gigaflops, while the Radeon 450 in the 15" is just 150 gigaflops more at 1 teraflops. If it were inadequate hardware, what does running two 5K's look like then.

For comparison, the high end desktop Nvidia GTX 1080 performs at 9 teraflops.
It could be good news if only related to software, but when could it be fixed, I remember the first version of Yosemite is intolerably slow and I waited 3-4 months for it to be fixed...
 
Ordering one of these displays in the next couple of days.

Currently running the 2016 TB MBP with the Radeon Pro 455.

Would returning this and upgrading to the 460 make a significant difference in running the occasional game (nothing TOO taxing - but obviously it's a lot of pixels) on the 27"?

It's obviously not a huge cost increase, but just wondering if it's worth the hassle of returning and being without a decent laptop for 2 weeks or so.

Cheers
 
Ordering one of these displays in the next couple of days.

Currently running the 2016 TB MBP with the Radeon Pro 455.

Would returning this and upgrading to the 460 make a significant difference in running the occasional game (nothing TOO taxing - but obviously it's a lot of pixels) on the 27"?

It's obviously not a huge cost increase, but just wondering if it's worth the hassle of returning and being without a decent laptop for 2 weeks or so.

Cheers

This video showcases gaming on the 460 (there are a few I think on Youtube), and the performance isn't anything special on the native panel, so I doubt you'd be hitting anywhere close to that at 5k, so probably not worth the hassle?

 
This video showcases gaming on the 460 (there are a few I think on Youtube), and the performance isn't anything special on the native panel, so I doubt you'd be hitting anywhere close to that at 5k, so probably not worth the hassle?

The only game I really play is Football Manager (whose 3D match engine is significantly simpler than those games highlighted there), so wondering whether the upgrade might be the difference between decent and stuttery performance on the LG. Gaming obviously isn't the primary reason for purchasing the monitor

So far as I can tell there's a decent bump in "oomph" between the 455 and 460?
 
The only game I really play is Football Manager (whose 3D match engine is significantly simpler than those games highlighted there), so wondering whether the upgrade might be the difference between decent and stuttery performance on the LG. Gaming obviously isn't the primary reason for purchasing the monitor

So far as I can tell there's a decent bump in "oomph" between the 455 and 460?

Can't imagine football manager taxing a graphics card too much, there is a thread here (https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/radeon-pro-450-2gb-vs-460-4gb.2010986/page-8) that seems to have a ton of info in about the different cards, probably worth a read.

The long shot I guess, is if you can afford it and don't mind being without a laptop for a few weeks, having a better card is always gonna be better for graphics intensive apps, but it might impact the battery life and thermal performance of the laptop.

Mine is due around 10th January, I'll give FM a go using my 13inch and see how it performs for you :)
 
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