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What version DisplayPort is supported by Studio Max? Also, DP-Alt?
- Thread starter Ladd
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Yes, Apple and some other manufacturers use DisplayPort Alternate Mode over USB-C thus there is no display port version only the Thunderbolt version.
FWIW, I'm using USB-C with both of my monitors, and assume they're running via DisplayPort-Alt mode. I haven't had any issues. Both run at 144Hz, etc. The monitor's USB hubs also work with just the USB-C cable hooked up.
Apple Silicon Macs can do DisplayPort 1.4, HBR3 link rate, x4 link width (lanes), and DSC (Display Stream Compression).
USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode is supported from all the Thunderbolt ports. DisplayPort Alt Mode is two lanes + USB 3.x or four lanes + USB 2.0. Link rate in either case is up to HBR3 of course.
Apple Silicon might be able to use MST but not for multiple displays. I think Apple broke support for 4K MST displays (old 4K displays such as the ASUS PQ321 that use an MST stream for each 1920x2016 half of the dual tile display) on Apple Silicon. The only features of MST that Apple supports is mirroring and maybe link rate/link width conversion (but this might be sketchy). I'm not sure about DSC decompression from MST.
Although they support HBR3 link rate and DSC and dual tile displays, they might not support 8K resolutions or timings (single tile or dual tile). I haven't seen anyone report success with 8K with Apple Silicon; I think the number of people that tried is not very large - I would like to see more reports of attempts. Even on Intel Macs, 8K may be broken though Apple did recently add an .mtdd file in macOS 12.3 to support dual tile 8K60 for the Dell UP3218K but I haven't seen anyone try it on Intel Mac - one person said it didn't work with M1 but I don't know if that means all Apple Silicon or just M1. I've seen reports on Intel Macs of successful 8K30 RGB 8bpc and 8K60 4:2:0. I haven't seen 8K60 RGB (requires DSC) from DisplayPort to HDMI 2.1 adapters yet.
Every Apple Silicon Thunderbolt port can do two DisplayPort connections (two HBR2, or one HBR3 and one HBR, whatever can fit inside the 40 Gbps limit of Thunderbolt). However, on M1 and M2 Macs (not Max or Pro or Ultra), the second DislplayPort connection of a Thunderbolt port can only be used for the second half of a dual link SST display such as the LG UltraFine 5K or Dell UP2715K which are dual tile displays where each tile is 2560x2880.
USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode is supported from all the Thunderbolt ports. DisplayPort Alt Mode is two lanes + USB 3.x or four lanes + USB 2.0. Link rate in either case is up to HBR3 of course.
Apple Silicon might be able to use MST but not for multiple displays. I think Apple broke support for 4K MST displays (old 4K displays such as the ASUS PQ321 that use an MST stream for each 1920x2016 half of the dual tile display) on Apple Silicon. The only features of MST that Apple supports is mirroring and maybe link rate/link width conversion (but this might be sketchy). I'm not sure about DSC decompression from MST.
Although they support HBR3 link rate and DSC and dual tile displays, they might not support 8K resolutions or timings (single tile or dual tile). I haven't seen anyone report success with 8K with Apple Silicon; I think the number of people that tried is not very large - I would like to see more reports of attempts. Even on Intel Macs, 8K may be broken though Apple did recently add an .mtdd file in macOS 12.3 to support dual tile 8K60 for the Dell UP3218K but I haven't seen anyone try it on Intel Mac - one person said it didn't work with M1 but I don't know if that means all Apple Silicon or just M1. I've seen reports on Intel Macs of successful 8K30 RGB 8bpc and 8K60 4:2:0. I haven't seen 8K60 RGB (requires DSC) from DisplayPort to HDMI 2.1 adapters yet.
Every Apple Silicon Thunderbolt port can do two DisplayPort connections (two HBR2, or one HBR3 and one HBR, whatever can fit inside the 40 Gbps limit of Thunderbolt). However, on M1 and M2 Macs (not Max or Pro or Ultra), the second DislplayPort connection of a Thunderbolt port can only be used for the second half of a dual link SST display such as the LG UltraFine 5K or Dell UP2715K which are dual tile displays where each tile is 2560x2880.
Great information in this thread, thanks! Have the 2023’s MBP 14s with M2 Max chips changed much from this? I’m curious if I can get DisplayPort 2.0/2.1 out of this thing? Trying to drive a G95NC Samsung G9 monitor via DP.