If you own a Mac Pro or even want to buy one, you won’t find any 5K monitors in new condition that can be connected.
Well we must be more precise: which could be connected and operated at full resolution. Of course, there is currently the LG 5K Ultrafine monitor and the cheaper iiyama ProLite XB2779QQS-S1, both of which can be connected to the Mac Pro via an adapter. However, neither of them can run in full resolution.
This is due to the fact that the graphics output of the Mac Pro is still done via Thunderbolt 2 ports with DisplayPort 1.2. In practice, this means that each port only delivers a maximum of 4K resolution. Apple states that the Mac Pro can either run 6 Thunderbolt displays or three 5K displays or three 4K displays.
But here’s the problem: the 5K monitors must be able to use dual cables, so that one part of the signal runs over one cable and the other part over the other. In the monitor, the signals are then combined to form a single image. Remember: 5K is almost twice as many pixels as 4K, so it’s a lot of data.
For example, 5K monitors that could be connected with a dual cable were
Since the Mac Pro is from 2013 and 5K resolution is now possible via one cable (Thunderbolt 3 or DisplayPort 1.4), the monitors with double cable input are extinct. So there is currently no monitor that you can buy new and that runs on the Mac Pro with full 5K resolution (if you know of one send us a mail, we are still looking).
Mac Pro? Rather take a 4K Monitor.
Since there are adapters that translate from Thunderbolt 3 to two times 4K DisplayPort, we thought, maybe there is a model that takes two DisplayPort 1.2 signals and combines it to one DisplayPort 1.4 signal. But we haven’t found anything yet. Perhaps a nice gap in the market for adapter manufacturers.
So the Mac Pro currently only offers the possibility to purchase one of the above mentioned used monitors or to use a great 4K monitor. If you plan to upgrade your Mac in the future, you can of course buy a 5K monitor now an run it for the time being with a smaller resolution.
Buy on Amazon: 4K Monitor
