MacBook Pro 13" mid 2014 at 60hz 1440p scaled with Dell P2715Q

I have the same Dell P2715Q monitor, and was also hoping for a Retina-like display at 2560x1440. But after the same amount of fiddling and tweaking that you just went through, I realized that I had a math problem. Both my MBPR and the monitor were behaving exactly as designed.

A so-called Retina display is one whose native DPI resolution is halved in both horizontal and vertical dimensions to provide an effective resolution. This allows four pixels to take the place of one pixel on a comparable non-Retina display, which greatly increases the sharpness and detail of text and images.

Thus, my 15" MBPR's built-in monitor has a native DPI resolution of 2880x1800, but is used at an effective resolution of 1440x900. You can see that 2880 ÷ 2 = 1440 and 1800 ÷ 2 is 900.

So, working backwards from our desired effective resolution of 2560x1440, we would need a monitor whose native DPI resolution is 5120x2880, double the numbers in both dimensions of our desired resolution. You will recognize 5120x2880 as the native resolution of the 5K iMac. The bottom line is that to get a Retina res of 2560x1440, we will need a 5K monitor. As you know, Dell does make a 5K monitor, but it's over $2000 and it needs two Thunderbolt ports to get it connected. Yikes.

So, what do we do with our Dell P2715Q monitors? Their native DPI is 3840x2160. Halving both dimensions, you will be chagrined to notice that it can be pixel-doubled only at an effective resolution of 1920x1080. Which does seem like a waste of 27 inches of screen space, but there it is. The bottom line is that we can choose between:

• 2560x1440 scaled, non-Retina resolution.
• One of the other scaled, non-Retina resolutions, including 3200x1800, 3008x1692, 2304x1296, and 2048x1152.
• Full native DPI resolution of 3840x2160.
• 1920x1080 Retina resolution.

The native res is, of course, impossible for human eyes to use. Unless you're Ant-Man. I found all of the scaled resolutions slightly murky compared to full native and Retina resolutions. I was tempted to run the monitor at my desired resolution of 2560x1440, but then it's just like a non-Retina 27" monitor -- in fact, that's the same as the native res of the Thunderbolt display (which I also own and is right next to the P2715Q). I figured why did I buy a Retina-capable display to then run it with a non-Retina resolution?

So I ended up using the 1920x1080 Retina resolution. I get the sharpness and clarity I paid for, at the cost of the screen room I thought I was going to get. Back when I failed to do some simple math before buying. My fault entirely.

My future plans include a 5K iMac, and I will initially use this 4K P2715Q next to it as a second monitor. I hope that Apple is working on a Thunderbolt 3 5K iMac and a Thunderbolt 3 5K Thunderbolt monitor that doesn't cost an arm and a leg. That is the holy grail of two 5K Retina monitors that I have talked myself into wanting.

>> Now if I was to buy a 2560 x 1440 monitor will I expect a similarly blurry resolution?

No. Clarity is available in two cases:

• With a pixel-doubled resolution as described above, or
• When the effective resolution exactly matches the native DPI resolution.

Thus, any good quality native 2560x1440 monitor run at its native res will look clean and sharp next to your 5K iMac -- just not quite as clean and sharp as that amazing 5K Retina screen I crave.

There are lots of good 27" monitors with native 2560x1440 resolution, including the current Apple Thunderbolt display and Dell U2713H and U2715H. Curiously, all of these have higher prices than the 4K P2715Q we bought.

Dell even has two strange new beasts, the U2515H that squeezes 2560x1440 into a 25" monitor, and a P2416D that squeezes that res into a 24" monitor. I don't know what they're thinking with these two, which seem to me to be going backwards in design. Unless they're designed for 20-somethings with perfect vision, or for Ant-Man. I am substantially older, and am way larger than Ant Man, and do not enjoy using a magnifying glass to read what's on my monitors. So I suppose these new beasts are for a different market than mine.

Hi dino355, which display did you finally buy? What resolution are you using with your macbook 13" mid-2014? I was planning to buy the p2715h but seems that it doesn't work properly with our macbooks.

Thanks in advance!

I have a Macbook Pro Retina 13" 2015 and I'm searching for an external monitor to use with it.

Until now I tried two external monitors: DELL UltraSharp U2515H (25") and Dell P2415Q-C (24").

The first one (U2515H) is 4K monitor and is amazing. A lot. But, there is a but.

The monitor is not sharp (retina, splendid, beautiful) like the second one, the P2415Q that I tried.

The second one has 185 PPI (pixel density: 3840x2160 on 23.8") that make this monitor amazing, beautiful, excellent, LIKE A RETINA DISPLAY!

But, another but.

My Apple Macbook Pro Retina 13" 2015 (yes, the last one, the one with 8Gb of RAM) is crappy and lag a lot using Chrome, Safari and other software in any resolution, INCREDIBLY!!! except the last one (3840x2160). I think because my Mac at the 3840 (4k) resolution doesn't have to manipulate and recalculate any pixel and so it is fast and usable. In other resolutions, also in the Full HD (1920x1080), it is crappy and unusable like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EBgLMls-f6I

I hope this is not a fail of my own Mac, of my own graphic card. Because if just a my problem I have to fix this. Can you confirm this is not just a my problem? Just my pc makes like this? Can you post a scroll on a website with your 13 rMBP?

So, for this reasons, now I'm looking for an external monitor to use with my Macbook Pro Retina 13" 2015 which is at least 21" (max 22!!!) and Full HD (so my mac have just to be a division by two: from 3840/2=1920 and 2160/2=1080, and it will suffer less that a mathematical operation with height like 1440p or 1600p) but the monitor have to be an UHD one, at least high resolution like DELL P2415Q which have 185 PPI.

There is something like this? Thanks in advance.

I'll just say that I am returning my P2715Q because I can't stand the blurry 2560x1440 and the native 1920x1080 just doesn't give me the screen real estate I was looking for in a 27" monitor. My office happens to have an apple 27" display and when I plugged into that, I got what I wanted: very crisp 2560x1440.

So, I would say the solution is out there, you just need to pay $$$ for it, unfortunately.

Thanks Glenalbyn for a very clear description of the problem.

After reading & watching videos about the dell p2715q on almost every google result I could find, over almost the past year, your response has been by far the most helpful in explaining how to best use this display with a Macbook. THANK YOU so much! I'm personally not too concerned with "screen real-estate" and more concerned with display sharpness and detail.

Thanks again for your clear explanation!

Howdy,

I would like to use the P2415Q and use 1920x1080 Retina resolution mode.

I'm curious what specs do you have on your Mid 2014 Macbook Pro? I have the base model with integrated graphics, I'm not sure if it can handle this without a a discrete graphics card on board.

I'm really glad I found this post! I've been struggling all day with the same issue.

I actually don't mind using the 1080 retina resolution but on my 2014 MBPR, it only supports 30 hertz - unacceptable really.

So now I guess I need to either stick with this monitor @ 30hz or go for the U2713H and run 2560x1440 @ 60hz but no retina quality.

Tough decision.

This has to be the best post describing the use of rMBP + Dell P2715Q!

I'm currently sitting with a 15" MBP Mid-2010, connected to a Apple Cinema Display 24" (1080p), and I'm waiting for the new rMBP 2016 models to come out (WWDC is 13-17 June).

I'm on the lookout for a 13" rMBP and a 27" IPS monitor, and had actually decided to get the P2715Q, but now I'm looking for a 1140p monitor instead, to get the native 1140p resolution instead of a suboptimal scaled resolution.

Is P2715H the comparable model/alternative to P2715Q, but with native 1440p resolution?

Thanks!!!

Correction:

I'm on the lookout for a 13" rMBP and a 27" IPS monitor, and had actually decided to get the P2715Q, but now I'm looking for a 1140p monitor instead, to get the native 1440p resolution instead of a suboptimal scaled resolution.

Is U2715H the comparable model/alternative to P2715Q

So your problem was solely by buying a 4k monitor? I posted a question myself just a minute ago (MacBook Pro with 1440p monitor) regarding going to move to 2k monitor, but then I saw your question and got scared.

So if I buy for example this monitor, http://www.amazon.com/BenQ-BL2710PT-Professional-Creative-Monitor/dp/B00D7IG5N8 I should get a nice retina-like experience at 30 or 60hz?

Thanks

I do find your answer helpful, but using SwitchResX, I can get 2560 x 1440 working in HiDPI (Retina resolution), no problem. The only caveat is, that the refresh rate is at 30Hz, which is unbearable. This means that the pixels are there. I also know that the refresh rate is possible from both the display as well as the new rMBP I'm using.

In another forum, I saw someone being able to get 1440 x 2560 to work at 60Hz in HiDPI (portrait mode), natively. Why is it that I can't get 2560 x 1440 px at 60Hz with HiDPI enabled to work?