Pro Display XDR - Owners Thread

[joevt]

One thing that I don't quite understand is that I believe the cable I use between my PC (with GC-Titan Ridge) and the XDR is a USB-C cable, not a TB3 cable. So the ports on both ends are TB3, and as far as I know the cable itself is USB-C instead of TB3, yet it works fine. 🤔

6K60 can be supported by the XDR using HBR2 with DSC over Thunderbolt or USB-C.
Even if you use a USB-C cable, you may be getting a Thunderbolt connection (but only at 20 Gbps).
To find out if it's Thunderbolt or USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode, check the Device Manager and view devices by connection. If the display adds a USB controller that supports USB 3.0 then the connection is Thunderbolt. If the display adds a USB hub that only support USB 2.0, then the connection is USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode.

The reason why I don't use a TB3 cable from the PC to the XDR is that TB3 cables only get to about 6ft length. The PC is a little further away, and the USB-C cable I use is 10 feet long, I believe. Again, it works without issue. I guess the TB3 controllers are able to negotiate a DP 1.4 signal because at the end of the day, both TB3 and USB-C support that (and with DSC, USB-C has just enough bandwidth for the XDR).

The XDR doesn't support HBR3 except on Macs that connect with Thunderbolt at 40 Gbps and that have GPUs that support HBR3 but not DSC. In that case, macOS will force a dual HBR3 connection over Thunderbolt to get 6K60 10bpc (uses two 3008x3384@60Hz signals).

The XDR also supports a dual HBR2 connection over 40 Gbps Thunderbolt for GPUs that don't support DSC which should work in any OS to achieve 5K60 10bpc (maybe also 6K60 6bpc in Windows?)

 

[- rob -]

Anyone aware of a good Mac app for recording screen frame rate rate of MacOs?

It would be great to be able to compare the capability of the M2 to the Blackmagic and 2018 mini in driving the XDR using a repeated sequence of OS and application transitions.

 

[diego9]

To find out if it's Thunderbolt or USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode, check the Device Manager and view devices by connection. If the display adds a USB controller that supports USB 3.0 then the connection is Thunderbolt. If the display adds a USB hub that only support USB 2.0, then the connection is USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode.

I just checked in Device Manager. The XDR shows as Generic PnP Monitor. It's the only monitor connected, so there's no mistaking it. When viewed "by connection", it has no children. I don't normally use the XDR as a USB hub, but I just tested connecting a USB keyboard to it now and it worked.

If I go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced display settings, it shows as Display 1: ProDisplayXDR. So apparently Windows was able to figure out the model of the display, even though it doesn't show in Device Manager.

So then I went to Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices and scrolled down to Other devices. I see Pro Display XDR and it says "Connected to USB 3.0". There's also a ProDisplayXDR which doesn't say anything about connection (most devices under Other devices are like that). I think perhaps the former is the XDR's USB part, and the latter is the display itself. When I say USB part, I mean the USB client device which contains the brightness controls, orientation sensor, profile selector, etc. Of course the XDR also has a USB hub, but I suspect that the hub itself doesn't show any name like "Apple" or "Pro Display XDR", it's probably just an off-the-shelf generic USB hub.

Settings > System > Display shows Display resolution as 6016 x 3384 (Recommended), and Use HDR is available (not grayed out) and turned on. Installation is "stock", original driver from AMD, not hacked in any way and no special apps installed for custom resolutions, etc. By the way, when HDR is turned on, the brightness controls become unavailable. I think that's just the way Windows works. Brightness is then handled by the OS and the app using HDR. I'm fine with that because it looks awesome for gaming.

To summarize: all is well and I'm happy. 🙂

 

[diego9]

Anyone aware of a good Mac app for recording screen frame rate rate of MacOs?

It would be great to be able to compare the capability of the M2 to the Blackmagic and 2018 mini in driving the XDR using a repeated sequence of OS and application transitions.

FPS (frames per second) is a typical measure for modern 3D games. It's not used for generic 2D apps, i.e. "business and productivity" apps. In the 2D world, I've always seen people use subjective measures to refer to the responsiveness of the computer. In other words, you report how responsive a computer "feels" compared to the previous one you used.

Nevertheless, there used to be benchmark programs which contained code from various commercial applications and performed repeated operations and transitions between them, and reported metrics to that effect. I haven't seen one of those in a long time, but I haven't been looking either, so maybe they're still out there.

By all accounts, Apple Silicon is very responsive for business and productivity apps - and so is a high-end gaming PC if you want to use it for that. When it comes to 3D graphics though, the performance can be deduced based on the raw floating point capabilities which are published by the manufacturers. For example, my PC's GPU is rated at 23 TFLOPS (trillion floating point operations per second). The performance of Apple Silicon ranges from the base M1 with 2.6 TFLOPS all the way to the M1 Ultra which is ~1.5 years newer than my GPU, and is rated at 21 TFLOPS. The next generation of AMD GPUs (for PCs and eGPUs) is expected this fall with performance about 2x the current generation (that is, up to ~46 TFLOPS at the high end).

So in the future I should be able to upgrade my Intel MBP16 to that level of performance - as long as Apple releases GPU drivers for the next generation of AMD GPUs. Fingers crossed! At the very least, I have the current latest and greatest level of performance available for my MBP16. Whenever I decide to upgrade the GPU on my PC, the 6900 XT card goes in the eGPU chassis. And with a little help from Apple, the roadmap for my MBP16 may include levels of 3D graphics performance which don't even exist yet.

 

[- rob -]

FPS (frames per second) is a typical measure for modern 3D games. It's not used for generic 2D apps, i.e. "business and productivity" apps. In the 2D world, I've always seen people use subjective measures to refer to the responsiveness of the computer. In other words, you report how responsive a computer "feels" compared to the previous one you used.

Nevertheless, there used to be benchmark programs which contained code from various commercial applications and performed repeated operations and transitions between them, and reported metrics to that effect. I haven't seen one of those in a long time, but I haven't been looking either, so maybe they're still out there.

Thanks for the feedback.

I think FPS on XDR resolution (scaled and non-scaled) of MacOS doing 2D is a reasonable metric for responsiveness. There is plenty of transparency and motion. Perhaps a test of just playback of FPS of 4 or 6k video would be good too.

I installed a tool available from Apple called Quartz Debug, which has an FPS monitor. It doesn't have a running log, though.

I've got a fairly beefy intel-based MacBook Pro, my mini with a black magic egpu and will have the M2. It would be cool to have some standard benchmarks for the ability of a machine to drive the XDR at its max FPS of 60.

Edit: I found another forum post that responds to sentiment that MacOS UI FPS measure is only appropriate for 3D gaming.

Presumably, Apple does measure OS UI responsiveness and has its own benchmarking suite to test against.

Especially given the recent hubbub of the new window manager and which machines are strong enough to display it. There must be application / OS window automation in their software and hardware product design QA that includes tests against XDR Pro Display in various resolution and color settings.

 

[joevt]

I just checked in Device Manager. The XDR shows as Generic PnP Monitor. It's the only monitor connected, so there's no mistaking it. When viewed "by connection", it has no children. I don't normally use the XDR as a USB hub, but I just tested connecting a USB keyboard to it now and it worked.

If I go to Settings > System > Display > Advanced display settings, it shows as Display 1: ProDisplayXDR. So apparently Windows was able to figure out the model of the display, even though it doesn't show in Device Manager.

So then I went to Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices and scrolled down to Other devices. I see Pro Display XDR and it says "Connected to USB 3.0". There's also a ProDisplayXDR which doesn't say anything about connection (most devices under Other devices are like that). I think perhaps the former is the XDR's USB part, and the latter is the display itself. When I say USB part, I mean the USB client device which contains the brightness controls, orientation sensor, profile selector, etc. Of course the XDR also has a USB hub, but I suspect that the hub itself doesn't show any name like "Apple" or "Pro Display XDR", it's probably just an off-the-shelf generic USB hub.

Settings > System > Display shows Display resolution as 6016 x 3384 (Recommended), and Use HDR is available (not grayed out) and turned on. Installation is "stock", original driver from AMD, not hacked in any way and no special apps installed for custom resolutions, etc. By the way, when HDR is turned on, the brightness controls become unavailable. I think that's just the way Windows works. Brightness is then handled by the OS and the app using HDR. I'm fine with that because it looks awesome for gaming.

To summarize: all is well and I'm happy. 🙂

If your PC has Thunderbolt ports, then you should have Thunderbolt Control Center software in Windows that lists attached Thunderbolt devices. If the XDR is attached as Thunderbolt then it should be listed in the Thunderbolt Control Center.
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/thunderbolt-control-center/9N6F0JV38PH1?hl=en-us&gl=US
And Device Manager should show additional PCI bridges and devices (a USB controller).

 

[jmho]

Presumably, Apple does measure OS UI responsiveness and has its own benchmarking suite to test against.

Xcode shows an app's individual FPS when debugging it. Also as you've found, Quartz Debug can show you the frame rate of the entire Quartz system that renders the macOS window system.

Apple (or at least the tools inside Xcode / Instruments) generally measures UI responsiveness in terms of "hangs", because most modern computers are powerful enough that the desktop will have no problem sitting locked at 60 fps for 99% of the time, but occasionally you might have a process that overloads the main UI thread for a couple of frames and causes hitches.

This is the main difference between game fps (where if you drop from 60 to say 40 fps, that's because all of your frames are taking longer), and UI "fps" where you alternate between normal 60 fps and suddenly having a frame that takes 5 frames to complete which causes animations to judder.

Also there is no real need for the UI to update at all when nothing has changed, so unlike a game the macOS UI can skip frames on purpose to save power when no animations are happening, which you've probably seen if you've installed Quartz Debug.

UI hangs are helped massively by single threaded performance (because there is only one UI thread) so I'd assume that the base M2 is probably even better than even the higher end M1 chips at UI responsiveness for most regular apps.

 

[- rob -]

This is the main difference between game fps (where if you drop from 60 to say 40 fps, that's because all of your frames are taking longer), and UI "fps" where you alternate between normal 60 fps and suddenly having a frame that takes 5 frames to complete which causes animations to judder.

Also there is no real need for the UI to update at all when nothing has changed, so unlike a game the macOS UI can skip frames on purpose to save power when no animations are happening, which you've probably seen if you've installed Quartz Debug.

Yes, this was what I noticed is it seemed to idle around 30 fps or less. Moving back and forth between expose, then swiping Spaces would make it jump, but it didn't seem to be a great way to measure high frame rates when they are called for.

UI hangs are helped massively by single threaded performance (because there is only one UI thread) so I'd assume that the base M2 is probably even better than even the higher end M1 chips at UI responsiveness for most regular apps.

Although UI hangs would be helpful to measure during this concept benchmark, I think I'm most interested in when UI thread is unblocked but the target display resolution is causing frames to drop.

I can see in Activity Monitor that `WindowServer` process starts eating up the eGPU when I start repeatedly using the expose effect. And it has been my experience that weak gpus affect UI fluidity on the XDR.

Where, my 2018 mini or especially my 2018 air are on the struggle bus to smoothly animate MacOS using the onboard Intel GPU.

 

[jmho]

I can see in Activity Monitor that `WindowServer` process starts eating up the eGPU when I start repeatedly using the expose effect. And it has been my experience that weak gpus affect UI fluidity on the XDR.

Where, my 2018 mini or especially my 2018 air are on the struggle bus to smoothly animate MacOS using the onboard Intel GPU.

The good thing is that generally window rendering is mostly just blitting large chunks of memory rather than doing any heavy work on the GPU, so it's less about TFLOPs and more about raw memory bandwidth.

This stresses the main weakness of eGPUs where everything has to go through the Thunderbolt bottleneck, but plays into the strengths of Apple Silicon with its shared memory architecture and incredibly high bandwidth.

 

[- rob -]

The good thing is that generally window rendering is mostly just blitting large chunks of memory rather than doing any heavy work on the GPU, so it's less about TFLOPs and more about raw memory bandwidth.

This stresses the main weakness of eGPUs where everything has to go through the Thunderbolt bottleneck, but plays into the strengths of Apple Silicon with its shared memory architecture and incredibly high bandwidth.

i_want_to_believe.jpg

I suspect we're at a tipping point where the need to measure responsiveness of mac performance on XDR is less and less important.

 

[diego9]

If your PC has Thunderbolt ports, then you should have Thunderbolt Control Center software in Windows that lists attached Thunderbolt devices. If the XDR is attached as Thunderbolt then it should be listed in the Thunderbolt Control Center.
https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/thunderbolt-control-center/9N6F0JV38PH1?hl=en-us&gl=US
And Device Manager should show additional PCI bridges and devices (a USB controller).

Yes, I launched the TCC and it shows Apple Inc. Pro Display XDR as an attached Thunderbolt device. This is also consistent with the fact that under Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices it says "Connected to USB 3.0".

So as you said, even with a USB-C cable, a TB3 connection is possible. I thought a USB-C cable was limited to 10gbps, but surely more than that is passing through because I have Windows running at 6016x3384 60Hz with HDR (presumably that's 10 bpp). By my calculations that's 36+ gbps without DCC, or half as much, ~18 gbps with DCC. The latter (DCC) surely is the case with my USB-C cable, as I can't imagine 36gbps passing through this cheap 10-foot long USB-C cable.

Hopefully this information is useful for somebody else who wants to use the XDR with Windows, or someone who needs more than the 6 feet typically allowed by most TB3 cables (other than the super-expensive fiber optic ones).

EDIT: I searched my Amazon history and found the cable. It turns out the cable support 20gbps. Here's the product name.

USB C to USB C 3.2 Cable 10Ft - 20 Gbps, ANDNOVA USB C 3.2 Gen 2×2 Cable for HDR Video Output, 5A 100W Fast Charging

So I believe the support for 20 gbps comes from the "3.2" part. It's a USB-C cable supporting the USB 3.2 spec, which allows for 20gbps.

Thanks.

 

[joevt]

Yes, I launched the TCC and it shows Apple Inc. Pro Display XDR as an attached Thunderbolt device. This is also consistent with the fact that under Settings > Devices > Bluetooth & other devices it says "Connected to USB 3.0".

So as you said, even with a USB-C cable, a TB3 connection is possible. I thought a USB-C cable was limited to 10gbps, but surely more than that is passing through because I have Windows running at 6016x3384 60Hz with HDR (presumably that's 10 bpp). By my calculations that's 36+ gbps without DCC, or half as much, ~18 gbps with DCC. The latter (DCC) surely is the case with my USB-C cable, as I can't imagine 36gbps passing through this cheap 10-foot long USB-C cable.

Hopefully this information is useful for somebody else who wants to use the XDR with Windows, or someone who needs more than the 6 feet typically allowed by most TB3 cables (other than the super-expensive fiber optic ones).

EDIT: I searched my Amazon history and found the cable. It turns out the cable support 20gbps. Here's the product name.

USB C to USB C 3.2 Cable 10Ft - 20 Gbps, ANDNOVA USB C 3.2 Gen 2×2 Cable for HDR Video Output, 5A 100W Fast Charging

So I believe the support for 20 gbps comes from the "3.2" part. It's a USB-C cable supporting the USB 3.2 spec, which allows for 20gbps.

The "3.2" part is just a version number of the spec which includes Gen 1 speed (5 Gbps). Support for 20 Gbps mostly comes from the "Gen 2" part (10 Gbps). The "x2" part means there's two lines for each direction transmit and receive instead of just one line per direction. You can't make a USB-C cable that only supports x1 because then the cable could only be inserted in one direction. Therefore, a USB 10 Gbps cable automatically supports USB 20 Gbps (unless they're evil and are trying to pass off a 5 Gbps cable as 10 Gbps just because it can support USB 3.2 gen 1x2...)

USB-C cable (USB or Thunderbolt) contains 4 super speed lines (2 wires per line because each line uses differential signalling) and two high speed lines for USB 2.0 (also 2 wires per line; only one line gets uses - depending on the orientation of the cable - since the cable can be inserted upside down).

1) USB 3.0 (5 Gbps), USB 3.1 gen 1 (5 Gbps), USB 3.1 gen 2 (10 Gbps), USB 3.2 gen 1x1 (10 Gbps) use two super speed lines (one for receive and one for transmit).

2) USB 3.2 gen 1x2 (5 Gbps x 2 = 10 Gbps), USB 3.2 gen 2x2 (10 Gbps x 2 = 20 Gbps) use all four super speed lines (two for receive and two for transmit).

3) DisplayPort 1.1 RBR (1.62 Gbps), HBR (2.7 Gbps per lane), DisplayPort 1.2 HBR2 (5.4 Gbps per lane), DisplayPort 1.3/1.4 HBR3 (8.1 Gbps per lane), DisplayPort 2.0 UHBR 10 (10 Gbps per lane), UHBR 13.5 (13.5 Gbps per lane), UHBR 20 (20 Gbps per lane) can use one, two, or four super speed lines (each line is called a lane) for transmit. If two or less lines are used for DisplayPort, then two lines can be used for USB 3.x.

4) Thunderbolt (10.3125 Gbps per line or 20.625 Gbps per line) can use two or 4 super speed lines, half of the lines used for receive, half of the lines used for transmit (a pair of lines for receive and transmit is a lane). A cable that can't support 2 lines per direction is probably broken so you probably won't ever see this mode.

5) USB4 is similar to Thunderbolt (10 Gbps per line or 20 Gbps per line).

So a 10 Gbps USB-C cable can do 20 Gbps (each direction) USB 3.2 gen 2x2, 20 Gbps (each direction) Thunderbolt / USB4, 6.48/10.8/21.6/32.4/40 Gbps (one direction) DisplayPort.

A USB-C cable for charging might only contain the USB 2.0 high speed lines.

A Thunderbolt 3 or Thunderbolt 4 or USB4 cable is necessary for higher speeds such as 40 Gbps Thunderbolt/USB4 or DisplayPort 2.0 UHBR 13.5 (54 Gbps) or UHBR 20 (80 Gbps).

 

[Sleepybear]

Hi Apple Pro Display XDR owners,

I cannot find the root cause of the issue therefore I come here for help if anyone faced the similar issue.

I've owned XDR display under 2 years now and I have been using it as extended monitor with my 2019 MBP and have been satisfied without issue until last week. The thunderbolt usb-c connectivity to my MBP start intermittently dropping (charging/discharging alternatively) and the display cannot be turned on successfully.

I've tried numerous attempts and troubleshooting myself, still cannot resolve the issue.

Here are the attempts.
1. Replaced thunderbolt usb-c cable, issue still reproducible .
2. Connected to other MBPs (M1, 2019), issue still reproducible.
3. Can connect to iPad, iMac successfully with display on, no issue observed.
4. Reset MBP SMC, issue still reproducible.
5. unplug power cord and wait 30 secs, issue still reproducible.
6. Tried different power outlet, issue still reproducible.
7. Checked display firmware and thunderbolt firmware, all looks fine and up to date .

Updated 08/04/2022

I bring my monitor to Apple retail store Genius bar for them to look into it. I end up very disappointed, because they say they are not able to troubleshoot the issue due to not much use cases for them to start with. Instead, they quote me a out-of-warranty replacement $2499, and I rejected and said would think about it.
In the store, I tried to reproduce the issue with the apple person, he can connect to MBA without issue and I also tried my MBP M1, and both can turn on without issue. Now I'm really disappointed, frustrated and clueless about the issue. What is going on with my display !!

Does anyone faced this connectivity issue before?

---

MBP 2019 and MBP M1
MacOS : Monterey 12.5

Thunderbolt/USB4
Firmware Version: 55.2
Link Controller Firmware Version: 1.41.0

Pro Display XDR:
Display Firmware Version: 4.2.37

 

[Seiko4169]

doesnt the

Hi Apple Pro Display XDR owners,

I cannot find the root cause of the issue therefore I come here for help if anyone faced the similar issue.

I've owned XDR display under 2 years now and I have been using it as extended monitor with my 2019 MBP and have been satisfied without issue until last week. The thunderbolt usb-c connectivity to my MBP start intermittently dropping (charging/discharging alternatively) and the display cannot be turned on successfully.

I've tried numerous attempts and troubleshooting myself, still cannot resolve the issue.

Here are the attempts.
1. Replaced thunderbolt usb-c cable, issue still reproducible .
2. Connected to other MBPs (M1, 2019), issue still reproducible.
3. Can connect to iPad, iMac successfully with display on, no issue observed.
4. Reset MBP SMC, issue still reproducible.
5. unplug power cord and wait 30 secs, issue still reproducible.
6. Tried different power outlet, issue still reproducible.
7. Checked display firmware and thunderbolt firmware, all looks fine and up to date .

Updated 08/04/2022

I bring my monitor to Apple retail store Genius bar for them to look into it. I end up very disappointed, because they say they are not able to troubleshoot the issue due to not much use cases for them to start with. Instead, they quote me a out-of-warranty replacement $2499, and I rejected and said would think about it.
In the store, I tried to reproduce the issue with the apple person, he can connect to MBA without issue and I also tried my MBP M1, and both can turn on without issue. Now I'm really disappointed, frustrated and clueless about the issue. What is going on with my display !!

Does anyone faced this connectivity issue before?

---

MBP 2019 and MBP M1
MacOS : Monterey 12.5

Thunderbolt/USB4
Firmware Version: 55.2
Link Controller Firmware Version: 1.41.0

Pro Display XDR:
Display Firmware Version: 4.2.37

View attachment 2038917

Doesn't the results suggest you may simply have a problem with the MBP2019? I saw you had tried a few things but the fact that the XDR seems fine with other devices types suggests it might be the MBP itself? I know you said you tried some others and they did show the issue but the fact you went into store and tried a wider range of devices there and could not recreate might suggest MBP?

 

[Sleepybear]

doesnt the

Doesn't the results suggest you may simply have a problem with the MBP2019? I saw you had tried a few things but the fact that the XDR seems fine with other devices types suggests it might be the MBP itself? I know you said you tried some others and they did show the issue but the fact you went into store and tried a wider range of devices there and could not recreate might suggest MBP?

The problem not only with the MBP 2019, but also went into same issue with MBP M1. Also I've tried with my girlfriend's MBP as well, all can reproduce the issue.

The issue seems not reproduced when I first connect to MBP M1 , but after one day, it start appearing. I really can't tell.

I've also bring my MBP 2019 to office and connect to other external monitor without showing the issue.

Cant find the root cause, i originally suspect its firmware version issue, but now I suspect if it could be power adaptor issue, but it all cant work seamlessly with my iMac and iPad when connecting. Now I'm clueless 😔

 

[fgengineer]

The problem not only with the MBP 2019, but also went into same issue with MBP M1. Also I've tried with my girlfriend's MBP as well, all can reproduce the issue.

The issue seems not reproduced when I first connect to MBP M1 , but after one day, it start appearing. I really can't tell.

I've also bring my MBP 2019 to office and connect to other external monitor without showing the issue.

Cant find the root cause, i originally suspect its firmware version issue, but now I suspect if it could be power adaptor issue, but it all cant work seamlessly with my iMac and iPad when connecting. Now I'm clueless 😔

This a long shot, but have you tried using a usb-c cable, not a thunderbolt cable to force a usb connection instead of a thunderbolt one. It could the thunderbolt controller is going bad. The bad thing about using usb is that you would be limited to usb2 speeds if you connect the display to peripherals.

 

[Sleepybear]

This a long shot, but have you tried using a usb-c cable, not a thunderbolt cable to force a usb connection instead of a thunderbolt one. It could the thunderbolt controller is going bad. The bad thing about using usb is that you would be limited to usb2 speeds if you connect the display to peripherals.

I tried using usb-c cable and port only, issue still exists

 

[Sleepybear]

UPDATED 08/13/2022
My pro display cannot connect to my MBP 16 consistently, even restarting the laptop doesn't help.
I suspect its because firmware version on Display has some conflict with new OS, but I cannot be sure. I'm waiting for next firmware update hope it helps.

 

[etc]

Hi there!
Just got XDR display. I'm trying to get 6K in macOS using Titan-Ridge and RX580 card.

I get only 5K60 if I use two DP links and only 4K if it's a single link. I understand that RX580 does not support DSC, so if I buy something like RX6xxxx card, will it work at 6K?

I also tried connecting XDR to RTX 2080 Ti through Titan-Ridge, but it works only with a single DP link or sometimes with two, but in this case you won't see display settings anywhere (no displays in nvidia control panel and resolution popup is greyed out in Windows settings). And I get only 5K.

BUT! If I connect XDR to USB-C VirtualLink of 2080 Ti using USB-C cable from LG UltraFine 5K, I get full 6K res! So there's a problem with Titan-Ridge? I suppose even if I buy RX6xxxx card, I won't get 6K through Titan-Ridge, right?

 

[joevt]

Just got XDR display. I'm trying to get 6K in macOS using Titan-Ridge and RX580 card.

I get only 5K60 if I use two DP links and only 4K if it's a single link. I understand that RX580 does not support DSC, so if I buy something like RX6xxxx card, will it work at 6K?

I also tried connecting XDR to RTX 2080 Ti through Titan-Ridge, but it works only with a single DP link or sometimes with two, but in this case you won't see display settings anywhere (no displays in nvidia control panel and resolution popup is greyed out in Windows settings). And I get only 5K.

BUT! If I connect XDR to USB-C VirtualLink of 2080 Ti using USB-C cable from LG UltraFine 5K, I get full 6K res! So there's a problem with Titan-Ridge? I suppose even if I buy RX6xxxx card, I won't get 6K through Titan-Ridge, right?

I guess macOS on Hackintosh doesn't know how to do dual HBR3 mode for 6K. Did you flash the Titan Ridge with a Mac firmware?

A 5000 or 6000 series card should support DSC. Some of them have a USB-C port in case Thunderbolt doesn't work. Or you can use a Belkin Charge and Sync cable.

 

[etc]

I guess macOS on Hackintosh doesn't know how to do dual HBR3 mode for 6K. Did you flash the Titan Ridge with a Mac firmware?

A 5000 or 6000 series card should support DSC. Some of them have a USB-C port in case Thunderbolt doesn't work. Or you can use a Belkin Charge and Sync cable.

No, it's not flashed. Previously I used LG UltraFine 5K and non-flashed AIC worked much better, but I had to disconnect second DP cable to be able to boot the machine. Otherwise I got "vga error" signal.

With XDR I can keep both DP cables connected (but it's worth to say that one or two times I got "vga error" on boot) till the end of boot, but then have to reconnect second DP to get 5K. It seems during boot it uses a single link and keeps using it further.

I'm considering now different options, go for TB or try USB-C. Till then I can try flashing Titan Ridge again.

UPD:
Flashing doesn't work at all. I'm getting "vga error" on boot no matter how many DP connections I use, the TB card is not present in Device Manager. It seems to be a road to nowhere. Or something is wrong with modified firmware, I don't know.

What actually I want to get? A single machine which can be used for work (macOS) and games (windows). I don't want to swap video cards to use a specific OS, so it should use a single card (AMD obviously), which is powerful enough to run modern titles with raytracing/hdr and can drive XDR at full 6K resolution in both systems.

The best candidate here I see 6950 XT with USB-C port or Belkin Charge & Sync cable. Maybe 7xxx series will be supported too.

 

[diego9]

I understand that RX580 does not support DSC, so if I buy something like RX6xxxx card, will it work at 6K?

I have extensively used my Windows PC with a 6900 XT and Titan Ridge card, and I can confirm that it works with the Pro Display XDR at 6K60 HDR with brightness controls through Boot Camp Assistant. I used a USB-C cable. I have sometimes used the cable between the Titan Ridge and the display, and also at times between the USB-C port on the 6900 XT and the display.

 

[diego9]

The best candidate here I see 6950 XT with USB-C port or Belkin Charge & Sync cable. Maybe 7xxx series will be supported too.

BEWARE that not all Radeon 6xxx cards are equally supported by macOS. In particular, my ASUS 6900 ROG Strix LC (liquid cooled) didn't work when I tried to put it in the eGPU chassis to try to use it with my MBPs. After some research, I found that the 6900 has two variants, an XTX and an XTXH, and only the XTX is supported with macOS as an eGPU. My GPU is the XTXH variant, and therefore it doesn't work at all when I try to use it as eGPU with my MBPs. If it doesn't work as an eGPU for a real Intel Mac, I bet it wouldn't work either as an internally installed GPU in a hackintosh configuration.

Although I'm no hackintosh expert, I would recommend the following. When choosing your new hackintosh GPU, carefully read the main Apple KB article for eGPUs, and stick to the supported models.

Use an external graphics processor with your Mac - Apple Support

Learn how to access additional graphics performance by connecting to an external graphics processor.

support.apple.com

 

[diego9]

Hello all. I have an update on my life with Pro Display XDR (Windows+Mac). After a long time of thorough enjoyment, suddenly there's trouble in paradise.

On the Mac front everything is fine, and nothing changed. However on the separate PC front, I have decided to upgrade my machine's GPU from an AMD Radeon 6900 XT to an NVIDIA RTX 4090 (the "MSI Trio" model). With that, I can no longer get 6K60 with a TB3 or USB-C cable. If I connect such cables between the Titan Ridge and the display, Windows gives me 5K maximum. I have 2 miniDP to DP cables connected in loopback fashion between the Titan Ridge and the new GPU, just as I did with the old GPU. I tried changing those cables around from port to port, and I also upgraded the firmware of my Titan Ridge card to the latest, and the issue persists.

There is a workaround, which is to use the Belkin cable, bypassing the Titan Ridge and giving me 6K60 HDR with brightness control on the PC. But I don't like that my whole setup has to depend on a specific cable, a cable which is sort of rare and hard to find.

To complicate the situation, the new 4090 GPU doesn't have a USB-C port like the old 6900 did. From what I can tell, such ports on GPUs were basically a fad, and can't be found on new GPUs, which is unfortunate for us Pro Display XDR owners.

One interesting datapoint is that the same setup works just fine with my LG Ultrafine 5K monitor. My understanding is that the Ultrafine 5K is harder to please than the Pro Display XDR when it comes to signals and connectivity, so I found it surprising that the Ultrafine 5K works at native resolution through the Titan Ridge, while the Pro Display XDR can only negotiate 5K at maximum.

Has anybody been able to get full 6K resolution with one of these new Nvidia 4090 GPUs + Titan Ridge? Any advice on what I can do to troubleshoot this issue between my PC and Pro Display XDR? Thanks in advance!

 

[etc]

I have extensively used my Windows PC with a 6900 XT and Titan Ridge card, and I can confirm that it works with the Pro Display XDR at 6K60 HDR with brightness controls through Boot Camp Assistant. I used a USB-C cable. I have sometimes used the cable between the Titan Ridge and the display, and also at times between the USB-C port on the 6900 XT and the display.

Did you get 6K while using Titan Ridge? I have RTX2080Ti with USB-C and it works well when I use USB-C. But I can't get 6K through Titan-Ridge, no matter how do I connect.

BEWARE that not all Radeon 6xxx cards are equally supported by macOS. In particular, my ASUS 6900 ROG Strix LC (liquid cooled) didn't work when I tried to put it in the eGPU chassis to try to use it with my MBPs. After some research, I found that the 6900 has two variants, an XTX and an XTXH, and only the XTX is supported with macOS as an eGPU. My GPU is the XTXH variant, and therefore it doesn't work at all when I try to use it as eGPU with my MBPs. If it doesn't work as an eGPU for a real Intel Mac, I bet it wouldn't work either as an internally installed GPU in a hackintosh configuration.

Although I'm no hackintosh expert, I would recommend the following. When choosing your new hackintosh GPU, carefully read the main Apple KB article for eGPUs, and stick to the supported models.

Use an external graphics processor with your Mac - Apple Support

Learn how to access additional graphics performance by connecting to an external graphics processor.

support.apple.com

Great, thank you! BTW I'm still think about a single GPU for macOS and Windows (for games) and 6xxx series cards do not look appealing.

Hello all. I have an update on my life with Pro Display XDR (Windows+Mac). After a long time of thorough enjoyment, suddenly there's trouble in paradise.

On the Mac front everything is fine, and nothing changed. However on the separate PC front, I have decided to upgrade my machine's GPU from an AMD Radeon 6900 XT to an NVIDIA RTX 4090 (the "MSI Trio" model). With that, I can no longer get 6K60 with a TB3 or USB-C cable. If I connect such cables between the Titan Ridge and the display, Windows gives me 5K maximum. I have 2 miniDP to DP cables connected in loopback fashion between the Titan Ridge and the new GPU, just as I did with the old GPU. I tried changing those cables around from port to port, and I also upgraded the firmware of my Titan Ridge card to the latest, and the issue persists.

There is a workaround, which is to use the Belkin cable, bypassing the Titan Ridge and giving me 6K60 HDR with brightness control on the PC. But I don't like that my whole setup has to depend on a specific cable, a cable which is sort of rare and hard to find.

To complicate the situation, the new 4090 GPU doesn't have a USB-C port like the old 6900 did. From what I can tell, such ports on GPUs were basically a fad, and can't be found on new GPUs, which is unfortunate for us Pro Display XDR owners.

One interesting datapoint is that the same setup works just fine with my LG Ultrafine 5K monitor. My understanding is that the Ultrafine 5K is harder to please than the Pro Display XDR when it comes to signals and connectivity, so I found it surprising that the Ultrafine 5K works at native resolution through the Titan Ridge, while the Pro Display XDR can only negotiate 5K at maximum.

Has anybody been able to get full 6K resolution with one of these new Nvidia 4090 GPUs + Titan Ridge? Any advice on what I can do to troubleshoot this issue between my PC and Pro Display XDR? Thanks in advance!

That's exacly the same problem I have now. UltraFine 5K works with Titan-Ridge just fine at full 5K res. I also have Moshi USB-C cable and it works with XDR at 6K, though I can't control brightness obviously. So I still sticked to RTX 2080 Ti with USB-C port. RX7000 series cards have this port too, if it could be interesting for you.

Does Belkin cable work with macOS?