iMac Pro Works With Apple's New Pro Display XDR, But Limited to 5K Resolution

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.

apple pro display xdr roundup header
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.


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 Forums: Mac Accessories, iMac

Top Rated Comments

tevion5 Avatar
57 months ago

Apple has some explaining to do to iMac Pro customers.
"the iMac Pro uses Intel's older "Alpine Ridge" Thunderbolt 3 controller without enough bandwidth to drive a 6K display."

So I guess the explaining would be technology improves over time?
Score: 14 Votes (Like | Disagree)
jclardy Avatar
57 months ago
That sucks. I wonder if Apple will release a "normal" 5k display that would pair nicely with the iMac Pro/iMac and the mac mini.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nexusrule Avatar
57 months ago

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.
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.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Canada420 Avatar
57 months ago
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.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
retta283 Avatar
57 months ago

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.
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.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
adamjackson Avatar
57 months ago
No one expected Apple to update its iMac Pro often but I do think Apple's "Pro" iMac should be able to drive their "Pro" display. They really should update it with new GPU & CPU options by Spring if they can. I would also love to see a "baby XDR" put into the iMac Pro. Further differentiate the iMac Pro from the iMac by sticking with 5K resolution but adopting some of the XDR's backlighting & anti-reflective finish on the iMac Pro.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

iOS 18 Siri Integrated Feature

iOS 18 Rumored to Add These 10 New Features to Your iPhone

Wednesday April 24, 2024 2:05 pm PDT by
Apple is set to unveil iOS 18 during its WWDC keynote on June 10, so the software update is a little over six weeks away from being announced. Below, we recap rumored features and changes planned for the iPhone with iOS 18. iOS 18 will reportedly be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history, with new ChatGPT-inspired generative AI features, a more customizable Home Screen, and much more....
Apple Silicon AI Optimized Feature Siri

Apple Releases Open Source AI Models That Run On-Device

Wednesday April 24, 2024 3:39 pm PDT by
Apple today released several open source large language models (LLMs) that are designed to run on-device rather than through cloud servers. Called OpenELM (Open-source Efficient Language Models), the LLMs are available on the Hugging Face Hub, a community for sharing AI code. As outlined in a white paper [PDF], there are eight total OpenELM models, four of which were pre-trained using the...
maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
apple id account

Apple ID Accounts Logging Out Users and Requiring Password Reset

Saturday April 27, 2024 12:41 am PDT by
There are widespread reports of Apple users being locked out of their Apple ID overnight for no apparent reason, requiring a password reset before they can log in again. Users say the sudden inexplicable Apple ID sign-out is occurring across multiple devices. When they attempt to sign in again they are locked out of their account and asked to reset their password in order to regain access. ...
macbook pro purple february

Best Buy Introduces Record Low Prices on Apple's M3 MacBook Pro for Members

Thursday April 25, 2024 7:41 am PDT by
Best Buy is discounting a collection of M3 MacBook Pro computers today, this time focusing on the 14-inch version of the laptop. Every deal in this sale requires you to have a My Best Buy Plus or Total membership, although non-members can still get solid second-best prices on these MacBook Pro models. Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Best Buy. When you click a link and make a...
macos sonoma feature purple green

Apple's Regular Mac Base RAM Boosts Ended When Tim Cook Took Over

Friday April 26, 2024 6:34 am PDT by
Apple used to regularly increase the base memory of its Macs up until 2011, the same year Tim Cook was appointed CEO, charts posted on Mastodon by David Schaub show. Earlier this year, Schaub generated two charts: One showing the base memory capacities of Apple's all-in-one Macs from 1984 onwards, and a second depicting Apple's consumer laptop base RAM from 1999 onwards. Both charts were...