this is a thunderbolt only monitor, doesnt support usb-c video output. And last time i check thunderbolt is still a Intel technology. Does this mean we will loose support for LG ultrafine 5k on the upcoming ARM Macs?
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What about the ultrafine 5k display?
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Interesting question. What is the legal agreement between Intel and Apple re: thunderbolt? It was developed jointly on Mac Hardware and Apple named it.
en.wikipedia.org
Thunderbolt (interface) - Wikipedia
Makes me wonder if the ARM Macs will debut with USB4, as the 1.0 spec was ratified in 2019.
I take it you still own the older version of the LG Ultrafine 5K (pre USB-C)? I do too and I can confirm it’s not supported by my iPad Pro 11 inch, so it won’t run on ARM Macs either.
I'm very sure that we'll be seeing thunderbolt ports on the new Macs. Apple can and will license thunderbolt from Intel, just like any other motherboard maker, i.e., there are AMD systems that run thunderbolt.
Maybe Apple can sell an adapter for $500 if you want to keep using your monitor.
Well the display might come with Display ports because the iPad Pro has been able to drive some monitors!
What will be interesting is how well the Apple Silicon works with Thunderbolt. I think Max Tech ran some tests comparing the base 2020 13” Pro (with the 8th gen chip) to the Ice Lake model, and the latter performed significantly better with an eGPU than the base model. They believe it might be because the Ice Lake chip set has integrated TB3 support, while the base model relies on a separate chip set.
Of course, if Apple does a good job with its own GPUs, then fewer people will actually need eGPUs.
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The 2019 revision to the LG UltraFine monitors added support for USB-C (though that tops out at 4K).
I hope so! I was wondering because the Developer Kit (Mac mini with A12Z) does not support Thunderbolt.
And it's not just the LG Ultrafine 5K display either... their are a lot of people out there who have invested a LOT of money into Thunderbolt devices (raid arrays, eGPU enclosures, docks, etc.).
I am torn on the whole transition to custom processors. I think they can blow Intel out of the water on the low end, but what about that new Mac Pro that came out last year? I'll be somewhat surprised if they have a A-series chip that can do the sort of work professional grade Xeon chips make possible for serious professionals.
I'll be shocked if they screw over studios that invested tens of thousands of dollars in new Mac Pros thinking they'd be able to upgrade the towers for years to come.
Apple used Pro Display XDRs in the WWDC 2020 demo to show off the new ARM Macs so I really feel like this won't be an issue.
The problem is all those motherboard needs an Intel controller chip, and Intel is integrating the controller into their next gen CPUs. Not sure how this might work with ARM platform.
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Yes. Not only the first gen, it’s the first batch shipped.
its a shame, it’s a really great monitor.
It doesn’t have TB3 so why would it be?
No
The original LG 4K was USB-C as well
That's basically the point of it - it's no different for TB3 - Intel decided to allow it to be built into the USB 4 spec to unifi everything - and Apple are on the board of the USB 4 spec - so there's absolutely no chance in my eyes they release the budget 13-inch MBP without USB 4 (and if it's just slightly too early for that, which it isn't, they'll just license a TB3 controller for it, it's not going to go backwards)
My only external displays now are the first gen UltraFine 5Ks. So no USB-C, just TB3. I’ll see what happens when my DTK arrives. I may have to find a temporary display to use.
Thunderbolt 3 was made an open standard by intel recently. So just like any manufacturer can make a usb controller chip, anybody can make a thunderbolt controller now, which means that apple will shoehorn it into their cpu. Next gen intel cpus will also have the controller built into the cpu so no need to buy separate thunderbolt chipsets.
Optionally, yes.
As I understand it, it is up to the implementor whether they support the 20Gbps-per-channel speed - which is based on Thunderbolt - and - even if they do that - there are a couple of odd "legacy" bitrates needed for full Thunderbolt backwards compatibility.
If/when Apple implement USB4, it would be madness not to include Thunderbolt compatibility.
However, if there's one thing that we can rely on the USB Implementors Forum for, it is that they will stop at nothing to maximise confusion, e.g. by re-branding old-style USB 3.1 as USB4x1b^42mediocrespeed and specifying a type of cable that only works on Tuesdays. After all, we're talking about the people who managed to design a USB A cable that defied Euclidian geometry by needing to be rotated by 540º before it would fit in a socket
I was slightly bemused by how Apple were managing to run 6K XDR displays from (apparently) A12Z chips with no Thunderbolt (does the XDR support lower resolutions using DisplayPort-over-USB-C?) but then this was in Apple's labs so they probably made an interface from Unicorn horns and fairy dust.
I would have expected this also... but why did Apple not include a TB3 port on the Mac mini dev kit? One would think that it strongly implies they are not supporting devs in testing their apps which require such an interface.
The dev kit represents what Apple can easily make yesterday in large enough quantities to supply to every developer with a Mac application. The best Apple Silicon that they have in quantity is the A12Z chip out of an iPad. If it doesn't have Thunderbolt then that's likely because it is impossible/difficult/expensive to include Thunderbolt/USB4 in an A12Z machine - hardly surprising since the A12 was designed for the iPad and pre-dates USB4.
It's just speculation, but makes perfect sense, that the answer to "Thunderbolt" is to have USB4 built in to the real "Mac Silicon" - and it wouldn't be a great surprise if Apple were the first company to launch a USB4 product. Very little software actually accesses Thunderbolt "directly" (much TB hardware only needs MacOS's built-in drivers) and, where it does, there's little to be gained from testing on some temporary kludge that doesn't resemble the real thing.
The A12Z dev system isn't the alpha and omega of the Apple Silicon testing program. If you re-watch the WWDC announcement, there's a lot more than just the hardware - including "lab access" - and that's just the publicly announced version. You can be sure that Adobe, Avid, Red, BlackMagic etc. are on the VIP program with executive lounge access, complementary drinks and (maybe) access to the other lab - you know: the one you get to by crossing the ornamental bridge over the piranha tank... If the first true ARM Macs are due for launch this year then you can be sure that Apple have pretty advanced prototypes available to anybody who knows their software well enough to test it with a black bag over their head...
Yes, but those XDRs were at what resolution? The LG 5K and the Pro Display XDR will always work with a Mac, but may or may not work at native resolution depending on which model of Mac and/or eGPU it's connected to.
I didn't pay a small fortune for a Pro Display XDR to then use it at 4K or 5K resolution. If Apple silicon doesn't run it at native 6K, that's a deal breaker for me.