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MacBook Pro late 2008 + 4k monitor?

Does anyone have experience of using an older unibody 15" MBP (late 2008) with 4k monitors? Does Yosemite support these older graphics to display 4k on external monitors?


I bought a Dell P2815Q 4k monitor last year. Although I knew I couldn't get the full 4k with my late 2013 13" MBA, I hoped there was a possibility with my late 2008 unibody 15" MBP 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, as it has dedicated graphics - NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics processor; 256MB of GDDR3 memory, Apple specs makes no claim that 4k monitors will work with either laptop.

Well - the MBP with it's upgraded 8gb of ram (still running Lion OS X), connected from mini displayport to displayport, did work! Great news! It was not perfect though, not surprisingly for the age of machine and OS. The display preferences and options available in Lion OS X as far less refined than in Yosemite for 4k displays - I have left the text size as it is on the 4k screen - which means it is very small due to the pixel count. it's ok for me though. The main point of 4k was for my photo editing and it works very well indeed for that. The 4k video... not so great yet. The .MOV codec straight from my GoPro plays, but is jerky and jumpy. Turns out any kind of 4k, even streamed from Vimeo, does not play smoothly. It seems even many codecs don't play 1080P very well with this set up. Less compressed 1080P video direct from my DSLR is fine though. My HDD is only 5400rpm, so I will upgrade that to an SSD next, to see if that helps. However, unfortunately the Dell monitor reverted to only giving me 1080P ratio max, when I updated Lion with some security fixes recommended by Apple and 4k pixel count was no longer available. Admittedly, it did play 1080P video from all sources, perfectly now. Could this be because the refresh rate went from 30Hertz to 60? I was still on Lion, so I did a full restore from my Time Machine backup and 4k resolution is available once more (at 30Hertz). Are Apple are playing games with owners of older models regarding 4k support, or think they know what's best for us?

Does anyone else have an older MBP unibody that works well with 4k monitors using Yosemite with all the latest updates? I'm wondering whether to risk upgrading my OS X to Yosemite - I presume I can go back to my last backup running OS X Lion if Apple are blocking older hardware from accessing 4k within Yosemite, but not entirely sure.


I could see very few threads on the subject of connectivity with my MBA or MBP at the time purchasing the Dell last year and certainly none that were clear - I was hoping to at least get 2k on the MBA (running latest OS X with all updates), as 2k is offically supported & apparently is plug & play with an Apple thunderbolt display. But the best it can do with my Dell monitor is 1080P. Disappointing. Some threads seem to be saying that Dell and Apple blame each other for non-compatibility type issues like this.

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.5)

Posted on Jul 27, 2015 6:24 AM

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Posted on Aug 26, 2017 5:40 AM

I have a 2008 MBP I run 4k at 30hz by using a resolution package such as Resolutionator - but do find it a bit flakey at times on my KN321 Sharp display



I am also currently running Sierra / Sierra High Top (on my 2008 MBP) this might also have a factor in the flakyness

3 replies

Jul 28, 2015 3:46 AM in response to OGELTHORPE

Thank you for noticing my question, but I don't think you read what I've written. It's not helpful to give a reply when you obviously don't have experience in the area I'm asking about. I had already stated that Apple does not officially support 4k on my 2008 MBP - yet I can get 4k.

I'm sure your intentions are good, but restating some of what I've written and answering for the sake of it might give others the impression my question is answered, thus missing out on potentially helpful and informative answers. Regards.

MacBook Pro late 2008 + 4k monitor?

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