Dell U4919DW / MacBook pro 5k issue

I wasted 2+ hours of my life with Apple "Support" and I use the term support lightly because they don't know anything. I emphatically told the "support" person I was talking to the only fix that the developers or engineers can provide is giving me a modification to a display overlay, so to make this monitor work.

Long story short and after an exhaustive exchange she said this was "expected behavior" because Apple only supports 5k resolution with dual displays. For the time being I'm using switchResX which, which makes the text look very blurry. I'd be willing to try the 2 cable route of someone would tell me how.

Apple support is garbage. Always has been always will be. People complain about Dell support but at least Dell makes working products. B/w this monitor and my laptop I've spent over $6k, which would get me an insanely high end system on the Dell / Windows end. Instead I'm dealing with non-functioning technology and Apple is to blame.

Mine is a Mac Mini 2018. I remember it took a few trials until it worked for me. I also used SwitchResX, but it seemed more like a problem of acknowledgement - after a while, SwitchResX displayed the 2560x1440 as one of the "native resolutions". Since that time, I can switch on or off the PbP feature, and 2560x1440 comes back automatically.

Please keep in mind that you also have to switch of the "multiple spaces" feature in Mission Control to display windows over both virtual monitors. Otherwise windows will be cut off left or right when they cross the middle of the screen.

I'm sorry when you say, 'you also have to switch of [sic] the "multiple spaces" feature in Mission control', do you mean uncheck the box for "Displays have separate Spaces", or are you talking about the Dashboard drop down?

JeanLuc7 wrote:

Mine is a Mac Mini 2018. I remember it took a few trials until it worked for me. I also used SwitchResX, but it seemed more like a problem of acknowledgement - after a while, SwitchResX displayed the 2560x1440 as one of the "native resolutions". Since that time, I can switch on or off the PbP feature, and 2560x1440 comes back automatically.

Please keep in mind that you also have to switch of the "multiple spaces" feature in Mission Control to display windows over both virtual monitors. Otherwise windows will be cut off left or right when they cross the middle of the screen.

My MacBook Air still has the problem even with the fix script. (https://gist.github.com/ejdyksen/8302862)

When using bootcamp there is no problem with the resolution of 5120x1440 on the Dell U4919DW. Did Apple gave any feedback or is there some kind of offical bug tool where I can report it?

I installed the trial version of switchresx app on my MacBook Pro 2019 15 inches, and it seemed working to raise the resolution level to 5440 for my 49 inches monitor. I am going to purchase a license for this app.

Any comments for this? Thanks

Just upgraded to Catalina and now my egpu won't do 5120x1440. It was working in Mojave. Running a 2019 Mac mini. Didn't want to do the picture-by-picture thing so I bought a Blackmagic egpu Radeon 580. I have the Philips 499P9H but it's the equivalent of the Dell U4919DW. I was hoping Catalina might have removed the need for the egpu. Now not only is it not available natively, but the 5120x1440 resolution is not available via the gpu and the picture-by-picture method isn't available either because there isn't even a 2560x1440 resolution available, with or without the egpu connected. Anyone having similar issues on Catalina?

BTW, I also tried switchresx but it doesn't run on Catalina yet.

Take a look at your desktop, you'll find a folder with files the OS couldn't move while upgrading it.

Inside there will be the file that switchresx created when adding any custom resolutions.

If you move that file back to its original location it'll work again. I had to do this to get 4096x1440@75hz to work after upgrading due to switchresx still not being compatible.

I also have the Phillips.

For my MacBook Air it is still the same problem even in the system report. The notebook thinks the Dell monitor just supports 3840x1080 instead of 5120x1440. If I am using bootcamp and Windows everything works flawlessly. So why can't apple fix the resolution problem?

@martin243

Apologies, there is another thread like this one that is specifically for the Mac Mini. However, it does help very much if you specify the device pertaining to your findings.

There is a considerable difference with user experience b/w MBP 15" and 13". I find with some effort you most certainly can achieve native resolution 5120x1440 on a MBP 15" / 16", however, I am unaware of anyone having success getting the native resolution with MBP 13 / Mac Mini.

Great, you solved the problem with Intel graphics by not using Intel graphics...

Any eGPU with an AMD card would have worked.

The Blackmagic eGPU is kind of sad. It uses an AMD GPU that can support 6 displays but it only expose 3 of the outputs (4 on the Pro version). On both eGPUs, two displays (or one dual-link SST Thunderbolt display) can be connected via the Thunderbolt 3 port. While the Thunderbolt 3 port supports two DisplayPort 1.4 signals, both DisplayPort signals cannot use full DisplayPort 1.4 bandwidth because Thunderbolt 3 doesn't have enough bandwidth for that.

SwitchResX is just a utility for modifying the system override files and some preferences. That could be done manually. But it is much more convenient and has other features (that I don't use) and it might be necessary as a display resolution picker if the normal Display preferences doesn't show the mode you want (even after you hold Option key and click Scaled.

@frederickrehl That's what I read in this topic as well. But my personal experience is different. And I didn't use SwitchResX or other extra software at all. As I wrote, it worked ootb for my Macbook Pro 15'' 2017 (OS X 10.15.2).

@c7aea Couldn't confirm the OS X issue. For me it looks like it is fixed with 10.15.2.

Again, if anyone needs information for fixing the EDID issue (if it persists), feel free to ask!

Please READ this topic first. Of course, your 15" is fully working. The 15" graphics chip supports the 5120x1440 resolution. But the 13" MBP and the Mac Mini does not. That is what this topic is about.

According to these two posts (below), it seems like 10.15.2 resolved the issue for the LG. Only one contributor to this forum has confirmed it though.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8641919?answerId=251773036022#251773036022

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8641919?answerId=251773036022#251773036022

The MacBook Air has Intel graphics (pre Ice Lake) so it won't support display timing widths greater than 4K wide in macOS. If it supports 5K in Windows, then you should complain that macOS should allow the same.

If you're a developer then there's the Feedback Assistant.

https://feedbackassistant.apple.com/welcome

If you're not a developer then you can use the Feedback Assistant to provide feedback on public beta versions.

https://developer.apple.com/bug-reporting/

The public beta for 10.15.4 hasn't started yet. I think the developer beta has started.

Apple Engineering Movers and Shakers do NOT troll the forums looking for issues, You should assume that the only people reading your postings here are other users like you, looking for solutions. Apple does not know there is an issue unless Many people with the issue contact them.

If your problem is not solved, be sure to use the Contact Support link at the top of every forum page, or another method if that is more convenient for you. Also, be certain that the person you talk with files a Bug Report and agrees that your problem is NOT solved -- if you are passive, they will assume their contact with you resulted in a Solution, which does not help push the issue forward.