Shortly after the Pro Display XDR became available to order this week, Stephen Hackett of Relay FM noted that the iMac Pro was not included in the list of Mac models compatible with the display on Apple's website.
Fortunately, video editor Thomas Grove Carter has since demonstrated that the iMac Pro can in fact drive the Pro Display XDR, but only at a 5K resolution. This is likely because the iMac Pro uses Intel's older "Alpine Ridge" Thunderbolt 3 controller without enough bandwidth to drive a 6K display.
Confirmation that the #iMacPro does drive the #ProDisplayXDR 🧐
At 5k. Not 6k. pic.twitter.com/3k91J00IzY
— Thomas Grove Carter ✂️ (@thomasgcarter) December 13, 2019
To use the Pro Display XDR at its full 6K resolution, the display must be connected to the new Mac Pro with MPX Module GPUs, a 2018 or later 15-inch MacBook Pro, a 16-inch MacBook Pro, or a 2019 iMac. To our best knowledge, all of these models are equipped with Intel's newer "Titan Ridge" Thunderbolt 3 controller.
The Pro Display XDR also works at full 6K resolution with any Mac with Thunderbolt 3 ports paired with a Blackmagic eGPU or Blackmagic eGPU Pro. Those external GPUs are equipped with the "Titan Ridge" controller as well.
The Pro Display XDR is aimed at professional users, with a 1,000,000:1 contrast ratio and a peak brightness of 1,600 nits. It is priced at $4,999 and up.
(Hat tip to Myke Hurley!)
Related Roundups: Apple Pro Display XDR, iMac Pro
Buyer's Guide: iMac Pro (Caution)
Top Stories
Leaker Claims New 13-inch MacBook Pro Coming as Soon as Next Month
Apple will announce a new 13-inch MacBook Pro in May with the codename J223, according to a rumor shared by YouTuber and leaker Jon Prosser. Note: it’s a refresh to the current 13” So the bigger 14” display upgrade is a big possibility— Jon Prosser (@jon_prosser) April 4, 2020 Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said Apple plans to release new MacBook Pro and MacBook Air models with scissor keyboards ...
'Leaked' Images Allegedly Show iPhone 12 With Smaller Notch, Rear Camera Redesign, and Home Screen Widgets
Two images shared on social media this morning are currently stoking speculation about possible hardware redesigns coming to the iPhone 12 and the potential introduction of Home screen widgets in iOS 14.
Shared by Twitter user Fudge (choco_bit), the images depict a front and rear graphical representation of a smartphone with interface elements on the screen, suggesting it came out of a...
Apple Releases iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1 With Fix for FaceTime Bug
Apple today released iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1, minor updates that come two weeks after the release of iOS and iPadOS 13.4, major updates that introduced iCloud Folder Sharing, a new Mail toolbar, trackpad support for the iPad, and more.
The iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1 updates are available on all eligible devices over-the-air in the Settings app. To access the updates, go to Settings > General...
More References to Apple's Upcoming Low-Cost iPhone Appear Online
Further references to Apple's upcoming low-cost iPhone have appeared online, one on a Chinese e-commerce website and another on Verizon's smartphone trade-in page.
Spotted by tech blog MySmartPrice, Chinese retailer JD.com has published a placeholder for Apple's so-called "iPhone 9" that includes a teaser image of a veiled smartphone, but other than that it lacks any particularly revealing...
Apple Reportedly Targeting WWDC for Over-Ear Headphones Launch, New 'AirPods X' Later in the Year
Rumors of Apple-branded over-ear headphones have been circulating for quite some time, while more recent rumors have mentioned an "AirPods Pro Lite" that could also be in the works, and Twitter leaker Jon Prosser's recent foray into Apple rumors provides a bit more detail on what we might able to expect for these products.
Current Beats Studio3 Wireless and BeatsX On the over-ear side,...
Facebook Launches 'Tuned' Messaging App for Couples
Facebook has quietly released Tuned, a new messaging app designed to provide a "private space" for couples to connect, reports The Information.
Designed by NPE, an experimental group within the company that was established last year, the app encourages couples to share messages, notes, cards, voice memos, photos and Spotify songs with each other, thereby creating a "digital scrapbook" of...
Apple Shares Assembly and Use Instructions for New Face Shields, Shipping 1 Million Per Week to Medical Workers
Following this weekend's news from Tim Cook that Apple is working with its supply chain to produce a million face shields per week for medical workers, the company has shared a support document outlining how to assemble and adjust the shields.
The document includes a series of images and animations showing how the simple three-piece product can be assembled for either a regular fit or with...
Some Users Experiencing System Crashes on macOS 10.15.4, Especially During Large File Transfers
A sizeable number of Mac users are experiencing occasional system crashes after updating to macOS Catalina version 10.15.4, released a few weeks ago.
The crashing issue appears to be most prominent when users attempt to make large file transfers. In a forum post, SoftRAID described the issue as a bug and said that it is working with Apple engineers on a fix for macOS 10.15.5, or a...
2020 iPad Pro Confirmed to Lack a U1 Ultra Wideband Chip
Last week, we laid out evidence suggesting that the just-released iPad Pro models do not contain a U1 Ultra Wideband chip, including the lack of any mention of the chip in tech specs or Apple's press materials, the absence of software support for U1 features, and more. Most tellingly, iFixit was unable to find the chip or related antennas in the device.
Daring Fireball's John Gruber has follo...
The New York Times, IFTTT, Medium, and Other Apps Adopt Sign in With Apple Ahead of June 30 Deadline
Apps with sign-in functionality, including The New York Times, IFTTT, Medium, and more, have continued to adopt Apple's secure Sign in with Apple feature ahead of a deadline of June 30. The deadline for these apps to support the feature was recently extended from April 30.
Sign in with Apple, first introduced in iOS 13, allows users to create accounts for apps and websites using an Apple ID. ...
Top Rated Comments
(View all)
"the iMac Pro uses Intel's older "Alpine Ridge" Thunderbolt 3 controller without enough bandwidth to drive a 6K display."Apple has some explaining to do to iMac Pro customers.
So I guess the explaining would be technology improves over time?
Or maybe you should understand how technology works before talking about it. iMac Pro customers bought a product that by its own spec is able to drive displays up to 5k, so I really doubt they expected it to drive a 6k display. Hardware specs are fixed, they don’t magically auto update when a new product it’s released. I don’t expect my MacBook Pro model 2015 to drive a 5k display just because now there are 5k display on sale.Nope. Working in a degraded state from its peak performance is not best described as simply "working". That the iMac Pro can't push any flavor of 6k to their own external Pro display, just a huge flop and egg on Tims face.
Keep in mind the 16" MBP can drive the full 6K. Apple has some explaining to do to iMac Pro customers.
Keep in mind the 16" MBP can drive the full 6K. Apple has some explaining to do to iMac Pro customers.
There's not really any explaining needed. The Thunderbolt spec for 6K wasn't included on the iMac Pro, so it wasn't possible. Not a scam or anything. They will need to update it in the next model, I am certain it will support the 6k display if they release a new model.Nope. Working in a degraded state from its peak performance is not best described as simply "working". That the iMac Pro can't push any flavor of 6k to their own external Pro display, just a huge flop and egg on Tims face.
Keep in mind the 16" MBP can drive the full 6K. Apple has some explaining to do to iMac Pro customers.