MBP 2011 and screen resolution of 3440x1440.

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MBP 2011 and screen resolution of 3440x1440.

Hello!

I am planning to buy a new monitor for my mac which has a resolution of 3440x1440. Apple says that my Mac supports a maximum resolution of 2560x1600, however multiple users have reported that the monitor will work with my Mac. Does anyone have similar specs to mine and are able to run this monitor at full resolution? Link to monitor: AOC_3440x1440

Would setting my Mac in clamshell mode and reducing the amount of Hz make me able to run this monitor?

I will use this monitor mainly for working in pages and keynote and reading articles on the web. For games and graphic intensive games I will lower the resolution.

Will the AOC monitor work, or am I better off buying a monitor with a resolution of 2560x1440?

Mac specs (link: MacBook Pro (15-inch, Early 2011) - Technical Specifications)

Model: MacBook Pro 15-inch, Early 2011.

CPU: i7 2.0 GHz

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6490m (256mb vram) and Intel HD 3000 (512mb vram)

RAM: 8GB

512 GB SSD

OS X 10.10.4

MacBook Pro (15-inch Early 2011), OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Jul 2, 2015 2:38 AM

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Answer 1

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Molekyl Author

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1 points

Jul 7, 2015 8:56 AM in response to Molekyl

Update:

I ordered the 3440x1440 monitor a few days ago and it arrived today. My MacBook Pro 2011 with AMD 6490m GPU is able to drive this screen at 3440x1440 at 30Hz without using any 3rd party program! It simply displays the resolution in System Preferences!

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Answer 2

Sidane

Level 1

9 points

Feb 16, 2016 3:08 PM in response to Molekyl

Thanks for asking (and answering!) this question Molekyl. I'm in the exact same situation: identical MB Pro specs, early 2011, AMD Radeon HD 6490m 256mb vram and considering buying a 3440x1440 monitor.

Running at 30hz sounds less than ideal however. Have you been able to find a way of running at 60hz? If not, how do you find working with the monitor at 30hz?

Are you using a Thunderbolt cable or mini-DisplayPort => DisplayPort to connect to the monitor? (I'm not sure if that makes a difference).

Thanks!

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Answer 3

Molekyl Author

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1 points

Feb 22, 2016 9:07 AM in response to Sidane

My MacBook Pro is able to run the monitor at full resolution (3440x1440) 30Hz with no problems. My experiences with the setup is great, and it works well. 30Hz is far from ideal, and the computer might feel slow at times, but you get used to it. I feel that the beautiful screen is worth the 30Hz, actually I am just glad that the MBP is able to run it! After having the display for 6 months, there is no way I am going back to a 16:9 monitor, the 21:9 is absolutely stunning.

I have not found a way to get 50/60Hz. However, I feel that the MacBook Pro has a lot more of processing power that it could use to drive the screen at 60/50Hz. I therefore think there has to be solution to force the MBP to utilize all its processing power for 50/60Hz. I have not found a method to do so, but I intend to find it in the future, as 30Hz is a pain at times. I have not spent much time trying to find a way, but I am going to do so in the near future. I will of course update this thread if I find a method!

My recommendations:

If you are ok with 30Hz, and are willing to spend the money, buy the monitor right away! The monitor is absolutely stunning. You can't get anything better than excellent image quality and 21:9! If you can't live with 30Hz, buy a monitor with 2560x1600 resolution.

The setup:

The monitor (link in original post) is connected to the MBP with a Mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable. (http://sgcdn.startech.com/005329/media/products/gallery_large/MDP2DPMMX.main.jpg)

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Answer 4

Sidane

Level 1

9 points

Feb 22, 2016 10:00 AM in response to Molekyl

Hi Molekyl, thanks for taking the time to reply.

I was actually able to test my macbook pro on a colleague's a 3440x1440 display (the LG 34UC97 - http://www.lg.com/uk/monitors/lg-34UC97).

It was able to drive the monitor at 60hz, full resolution, using a thunderbolt cable. I was surprised it worked, but very happy that it did. I have since ordered the same display for myself.

Interestingly, the laptop was able to drive the external display and it's own display at the same time (i.e. extended desktop). So there appears to be plenty of headroom for displaying all that video data @ 60hz.

I don't know if your limitation to 30hz is related to the display you are using but given the specs of our MacBook Pros are identical, perhaps try a thunderbolt cable instead of the mini-displayport to displayport?

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Answer 5

Molekyl Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 22, 2016 9:57 AM in response to Sidane

Thanks for the reply! I just understood why I won't get 60Hz. My AOC monitor uses DisplayPort, while your LG monitor uses Thunderbolt. The DisplayPort has a lower maximum transfer rate than Thunderbolt. The DisplayPort interface is what limits my refresh rate 30Hz.

I did some calculation, and found out that the DisplayPort version in our MBPs can't run 60Hz, but should run 50Hz with no problems. I just need a way to force the MBP to run at 50H. As you said, it has enough processing power to give 60Hz!

If I knew this a half year ago, I would spend the extra dollars and get the LG with Thunderbolt. I am now considering to sell my current AOC and buy the LG instead 😉.

Thanks a lot for helping me clear out this problem!

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Answer 6

Molekyl Author

Level 1

1 points

Feb 25, 2016 6:39 AM in response to Molekyl

I now have 50Hz on the monitor. The solution was to re-install SwitchResX, and then create a custom resolution. My mac is able to run this settings with no problems.

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Answer 7

Sidane

Level 1

9 points

Feb 25, 2016 6:43 AM in response to Molekyl

Nice. 50hz is more than decent.

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