M1 MBP & LG 34 inch ultra wide 5K2K

[flapflapflap]

Hi All! Noob here. I've read the new M1 MBP can drive and support 6K display. Does anyone know if it will be able to support LG's 34 inch 5K2K ultra wide display (5120 x 2160)? It has far less pixels than the Pro Display XDR though I know the number of pixels is not dispositive by any means.

thanks in advance!

 

[JtheLemur]

I'm grabbing a Mini and have this screen. Should be able to run it no problem. Keeping the receipt on hand just in case though. ;D

 

[lightfire]

Will it charge the Mac through the single cable?

 

[flapflapflap]

I'm grabbing a Mini and have this screen. Should be able to run it no problem. Keeping the receipt on hand just in case though. ;D

Let me know how it goes!

 

[nicnic77]

Watching this thread. So many complaints about ultrawide + mac + blurry screens or lag...

 

[flapflapflap]

Watching this thread. So many complaints about ultrawide + mac + blurry screens or lag...

I have a 34BK connected to my 5K iMac. no issues. need to scale accordingly for the resolution that is best for you but I can confirm that I have the option for full 5K resolution though it makes everything comically small on your screen. I should be getting my Mac mini m1 tomorrow and will test

 

[nicnic77]

I have a 34BK connected to my 5K iMac. no issues. need to scale accordingly for the resolution that is best for you but I can confirm that I have the option for full 5K resolution though it makes everything comically small on your screen. I should be getting my Mac mini m1 tomorrow and will test

Any chance you could screenshot what scaling settings you are using? And a screenshot of what you actually see? I've seen lots of reports that you can't even select the correct resolution, and text looks blurry! I'm a programmer, so I need fonts to be as sharp as they can be.

Also, what's your exact model?

 

[JoshVic]

Hello to all. I can confirm that the new Mac M1s have problems with handling ultra-wide displays. I have a LG 5K 34WK95U (max resolution 5120x2160) and it doesn't work well. The maximum resolution I have is 3440x1440.Obviously the user interface is bad, everything is blurry. The same display with a 2016 MacBook Pro touchbar works flawlessly using Big Sur.
I tried to use software like SwitchResX or RDM to create a custom resolution but they do not work with the new Mac M1 because the level protection of the system data is changed, so it's not possible for the moment to replace the display profiles.
In conclusion it is not a problem of the Big Sur but of the new M1.
Instead with an external 4k display (16:9) it's working perfectly in HiDPI.

 

[bill-p]

If you have the 34WK95U and M1, set the display to DisplayPort 1.2. It'll be able to use full native resolution without a hitch then.

I'm very happy with performance on this display, by the way. The M1 is comparable to my 16" while running much cooler overall.

P.S.: pics or it didn't happen:

 

[JoshVic]

If you have the 34WK95U and M1, set the display to DisplayPort 1.2. It'll be able to use full native resolution without a hitch then.

I'm very happy with performance on this display, by the way. The M1 is comparable to my 16" while running much cooler overall.

P.S.: pics or it didn't happen:

Wow that's a good news!
At the moment I am using a thunderbolt cable to connect my Mac mini M1 to the LG 5k ultra wide display.
So you confirm me if I use the DisplayPort and not the thunderbolt port, I can have the max resolution as you?

 

[bill-p]

You can set to DisplayPort 1.2 with both Thunderbolt and DisplayPort connectors, actually. I'm using Thunderbolt.

 

[JoshVic]

Thank you. I changed to Displayport 1.2 as you reported and the display is now working perfectly in HiDPI!
But.... I see that the max resolution we can have in HiDPI it's 3008x1269. With my "old" MacBook Pro 13" 2016 Touch Bar with intel iris graphics 550, I can have 5120x2160 scaled to 6720x2834 with "UI Looks Like" = 3360x1417 in HiDPI mode. I think it's because the Mac M1 can only support max 6k and probably the resolution of 6720x2834 scaled, exceed the 6k.
what a pity! working space is lost as there are fewer pixels.
we will have to be satisfied

 

[bill-p]

Yeah, I guess that's the one limitation we'll have to live with.

3008x1269 is quite usable to me. At least better than 2560x1080.

 

[nicnic77]

So the M1 + 34WK95U seems to work, albeit at limited res. Do owners like the experience? Any scrolling or blurryness?

 

[bill-p]

No, it works at native res. The "limited" part is just for scaled resolutions. There's only one: 3008x1269 (it's 6016x2538 internally).

Maybe when SwitchResX finally works properly, we'll be able to unlock the other scaled resolutions.

But on that note, it's faster and smoother than even my 16" MacBook Pro. There's absolutely zero scrolling or blurriness, and all full screen animations are fast and responsive.

 

[JoshVic]

Yes, I confirm. M1 supports the native resolution of 5120x2160.
Obviously using this display in this resolution is not so nice, the whole UI is very small and the texts too.
This is why we usually use the feature that makes Apple available on some displays like this, namely the HiDPI.
The maximum resolution that this display has with M1 in HiDPI is 3008x1269 (scaled to 6016x2538).
It is not the best but for the moment it can also be good. Maybe when SwitchResX is fully compatible with M1 we could unlock a higher HiDPI resolution.
That said, the system is very fluid indeed. Safari has been optimized really well. There are even some web pages that open much faster than an intel macbook pro and are much smoother too. A really nice step forward!
Another thing I like is that you can install pretty much any iOS app. I have installed the Outlook app and receive notifications of emails arriving even if the app is not open, just like in iOS, really cool!

 

[nicnic77]

Getting tempted by the LG 5k2k... Would love to see photos / videos of it up and running!

 

[strangeengine]

I am seeing this with my UltraFine 5K connected via TB3 using an Apple cable. I'm getting a longer Apple Pro TB3 cable today ($129!!) so we'll see if that changes anything.

 

[dangermuffin]

So the M1 + 34WK95U seems to work, albeit at limited res. Do owners like the experience? Any scrolling or blurryness?

this is my issue with my 34 ultrawide (alienware). when scrolling in web pages text is blurry / jagged.

It's similar on my 16:9 dell 2k monitor though so, I'm not sure what's going on here. I just want a monitor that isn't blurry when I'm scrolling around websites as I'm using it for school mostly!

 

[Puonti]

@JoshVic If you Option+click the Scaled setting, do you get any additional / better scaled resolution options?

 

[bill-p]

@JoshVic If you Option+click the Scaled setting, do you get any additional / better scaled resolution options?

Nope. I'm fairly certain he's seeing the same options that I'm seeing. It's 3008 x 1269, then the only other resolution listed above that is 5120 x 2160.

The same display connected to my 16" MacBook Pro shows 3360 x something. That's what both he and I are looking for, and it doesn't seem to be available on the M1.

 

[itsphilgeorge]

Nope. I'm fairly certain he's seeing the same options that I'm seeing. It's 3008 x 1269, then the only other resolution listed above that is 5120 x 2160.

The same display connected to my 16" MacBook Pro shows 3360 x something. That's what both he and I are looking for, and it doesn't seem to be available on the M1.

I have the same setup. I am using the LG 34" with the Apple MacBook Air 16GB/1TB (so same GPU as Macbook Pro).

I purchased it because I was hoping it would replace my 2020 Intel Macbook Pro i7 with eGPU that was needed to drive this display at what I think it the optimum resolution: 3840x1620.

This setting wasn't available by default, even in Big Sur so I previously used SwitchResX to generate a custom resolution. (See attached screenshots).

I have downloaded the current beta of SwitchResX but there is seemingly no way to add custom resolutions at this stage. I have been unsuccessful attempting to disable the Protected Mode so far as I get system errors both in Recovery Mode and booted into Big Sur.

If anyone knows how to insert custom plist files into Big Sur and disable the new SIP then please let me know!

Aside from that, the machine drives the display noticably better than even the eGPU (AMD RX5700XT in Razor Core X) which Big Sur has never liked and punished me with endless system crashes and failures to disconnect.

I think the machine could comfortably drive the display at these higher resolutions and I don't think there is a hardware limitation. I think the default support for 3rd party monitors is probably lacking and hopefully will get better in time.

For those considering this monitor, I cannot recommend it more strongly despite these issues. It is the only display that isn't the XDR 6K which comes close to the internal displays that is this size and colour accuracy.

Let's hope someone figures it out soon!

 

[JoshVic]

Nope. I'm fairly certain he's seeing the same options that I'm seeing. It's 3008 x 1269, then the only other resolution listed above that is 5120 x 2160.

The same display connected to my 16" MacBook Pro shows 3360 x something. That's what both he and I are looking for, and it doesn't seem to be available on the M1.

Yes, the same for me. With a macbook pro with intel graphics, I have more options. Anyway at least we have a display with a good definition and not blurry like others ultrawide displays.

 

[flapflapflap]

Hello. I purchased the LG 5K 34BK95U model two weeks ago. Confirming it is part of the latest batch from the manufacturer. I have it connected to my Mac mini and also see the same resolution one level down from 5K2K --- 3008 x 1269. It looks look to be a software issue. I will hold onto this setup for another two weeks. The display is otherwise fantastic and works really well with this Mac mini.

 

[nicnic77]

Hello. I purchased the LG 5K 34BK95U model two weeks ago. Confirming it is part of the latest batch from the manufacturer. I have it connected to my Mac mini and also see the same resolution one level down from 5K2K --- 3008 x 1269. It looks look to be a software issue. I will hold onto this setup for another two weeks. The display is otherwise fantastic and works really well with this Mac mini.

How’s it looking at 3008x1269?