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Comment by ROFISH | Hacker News Reader

16GB RAM max, DP1.2 (so no 5k display support), worthless Touch Bar when I use my current MBP dual monitor with the lid closed. Pass.

Sadly I really wanted something better since I'm on an old 2012 MBP that badly needs an upgrade but I'm not dropping $1500+ for something that doesn't support 32GB and 5k displays.

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Thunderbolt 3 supports 5K at 60hz, it was even part of the keynote. https://thunderbolttechnology.net/tech/faq

Thanks to Thunderbolt3 it supports 1 5k display or 2 4k displays..

https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/

> One display with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz [...] > Up to two displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz [...]

Not only does it have 5k display support, but it supports two of them in addition to the internal display:

-- Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:

Up to two displays with 5120-by-2880 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors Up to four displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz at over a billion colors --

[1]http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/specs/

Only if you buy specific Thunderbolt supporting 5k displays. If you already own one that only does DP1.4 or some other cable, it won't work. :/

Nope, thunderbolt 3 natively supports DisplayPort so you just need the cabling.

I'm a bit confused. I thought the event showcased a setup with two 5k displays attached to one 15" macbook pro.

They did.

My guess is those are Thunderbolt-connected displays

According to the spec:

One 4K display (4096 x 2160) 30-bit @ 120 Hz

One 5K display (5120 x 2880) 30-bit @ 60 Hz

Two 4K displays each (4096 x 2160) 30-bit @ 60 Hz

Correct, but why would you use 3 screens when you can use just 2? And anyway I use external keyboard with numeric keys and a magic mouse instead of the trackpad. So why should I keep my Mac open anyway?

> Correct, but why would you use 3 screens when you can use just 2.

If you can use two 5k displays at the same time, you can probably use just one...

You can't use the touch bar with the lid closed.

Only if you buy specific Thunderbolt-supporting 5k displays. You can't get one off the shelf and have it "just work(tm)".

I need an upgrade even more. I'm still using my 2008 MB, the first macbook with the unibody aluminum casing. I upgraded the RAM to 8GB 4 years ago and had to change the battery around the same time. It proved to be a very resilient piece of hardware, even though now I can only use it when plugged as there seems to be something off with the battery that causes it to shut down sporadically.

Last year, I took the decision of waiting another year to upgrade, betting that the 2016 MBPs were probably going to introduce a significant upgrade to the line up, perhaps something of the same magnitude as the aluminum casing in 08. And I'm very disappointed that I was proven wrong...

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