4K vs 5K display?

[Rene Ritchie]

4K display or 5K display for Mac, and why? (Ports vs pixels, fight!)

I love the 5K display, but it doesn't work right is a docking station because of the band with limitations. 4K is smaller, but would give more and more variety of ports.

What do you folks
think?

 

[Jude526]

4K display or 5K display for Mac, and why? (Ports vs pixels, fight!)

I love the 5K display, but it doesn't work right is a docking station because of the band with limitations. 4K is smaller, but would give more and more variety of ports.

What do you folks
think?

I prefer 4K. I need ports because now devices are lacking SD card. Having just moved over to Apple this would be helpful

 

[mundo472]

4K display or 5K display for Mac, and why? (Ports vs pixels, fight!)

I love the 5K display, but it doesn't work right is a docking station because of the band with limitations. 4K is smaller, but would give more and more variety of ports.

What do you folks
think?

Not a Mac guy , but it seems like Apple has driven so many of these changes just on sheer mass of owners. One question for me is that of the inevitability of 5k. If so do you want to be one of the driving factors by buying one of these and suck up the current deficits in that interest. Or, do you think Apple is asking too much of the industry with this switch, and you will be stuck with a beautiful but less functional system?
I may just hold off for my holograph-producing brain implant.

 

[metllicamilitia]

It's really the same issue as before right? Not too many things can really take advantage of a 5K screen. Honestly, for myself, if I needed a 4K or 5K screen for work, I'd probably just AirPlay to my Apple TV since it's hooked up to my 4K TV. All ports free, plus a 55" display. If I had the money though, me being me, I'd go with 5K, because 5K.

 

[Just_Me_D]

To be honest, I haven't had the time to really experiment with either, but I'm in agreement with metllicamilitia in that I don't think there are enough things can take advantage of either.

 

[Matty]

For me, i would invest in 4k. Use that for 6 years and then upgrade to 8k! ^_^ 4k is definitely the winner for me. 5k just seems like the odd child. It requires a lot of bandwidth and you don't really see much difference. Thy both super clear. Its like having 512GB storage or 500GB storage. There is a difference, but its neither here nor there for me.

 

[Not Quite Right]

Get the 5K ... when buying K's always get the most K's you can afford ...

 

[rap1]

Not a mac person either but I definitely prefer functionality (ports) over display. Need to get stuff done. 4k is already of such great quality anyway.

 

[fury]

A lot of content is coming out for 4K, and to watch that on a 5K display in full screen mode, it gets upscaled and a little fuzzy as a result. It's the same problem I have with "720p" TVs which are not actually 1280x720 but 1366x768.

 

[TonyCart]

Just want to point out that the newly formatted forum page display in Safari has no spacing on the left side. Also, there's a fair bit of overlapping text. Running macOS 10.12.3 on a mid 2015 27"iMac.

 

[TonyCart]

 

[James Falconer]

Just want to point out that the newly formatted forum page display in Safari has no spacing on the left side. Also, there's a fair bit of overlapping text. Running macOS 10.12.3 on a mid 2015 27"iMac.

Appreciate the feedback. In the future if you notice anything out of whack you can submit your feedback right here. We're working hard on polishing up the new design!! Can't do it without your help!

 

[mavsguy842]

I know this is an old post, but the iMore forums aren't exactly hopping so I'm hoping to revive this one. I'm looking to purchase a new Mac in 2018. I'll end up with 27" monitors regardless if I buy a Macbook Pro or an iMac. Why aren't the LG 4K monitors available as a 27"?

How would a 5K iMac work with 4K monitors? If I end up with an iMac I think I'd go for one additional 5K monitor, though flanking 27" 4K monitors might be ideal.

 

[Raptor007]

I have a late 2016 MBP and dual LG 5k 27" Ultra Fine displays. I noticed on the current iMac there are two Thunderbolt 3/USB ports so you would plug in your 24" displays to those ports and then use the expanded ports on teh back of the LG's.

I had originally purchased the 4k 21.5" displays and returned them. They were too small for my taste and preferred having 27" displays.

Right now I am considering selling my MBP and 1 display and getting the base iMac Pro with 2TB SSD that will be plenty for me to grow into for many video/photo needs in the future.

You can use the 4k's no issue there, just check to see how many you connect, my MBP would support (4) 21.5" 4k and or (2) 27" 5k's.

 

[bakron1]

I have both a 27” 5 K and a 21.5 4K unit and both screens have excellent resolution.

I prefer the 27” because I do a lot of desktop publishing and I can open two documents and still have plenty of screen space left.

The 21.5 4K unit is great for 90% of what the average person uses their desktop for and I bought one to use as a spare workstation for my brother who loves the unit.

As always say the same when it comes to selecting the right desktop for your application, go to the Apple store and demo both units.

Also it’s about the cost of the unit and if you have the financial resources to get the 27” model, go for it. But, if not you will not be disappointed with the 21.5 4K unit.