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Comment by Sephr | Hacker News Reader

Bringing back a dedicated HDMI port is a downgrade. This port can only do 4K 60Hz HDR (implying HDMI 2.0), which is inferior to previously-supported standards in addition to taking up space as a single-purpose port.

The Intel MacBook Pro 16 supports DisplayPort 1.4 over USB-C, which can do 4K 98Hz HDR, and doesn't take up dedicated single-purpose ports.

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Nope! Not a downgrade. Distinct upgrade. You are aware this machine has THREE Thunderbolt 4/USB-C ports, yes?

How many 4K monitors can it drive at once?

The maxed out configuration officially supports 3 ProDisplay XDRs (6K), one 4K screen via HDMI and the built-in screen.

“Connect up to three Pro Display XDRs and a 4K TV with M1 Max. Or connect up to two Pro Display XDRs with M1 Pro.”

Thank you!

Edit: but I wonder how many Hz the M1 Pro can drive a pair of 4K displays at...

Theoretically Apple could implement HDMI 2.1 that supports 4K/120Hz and above with DSC. Maybe they think HDMI is just for a compatibility.

The tech specs page only says 4K 60Hz HDR

Yes. The point is that HDMI itself is more advanced than Apple implemented.

Not a dowgrade as many conference rooms are still equiped with HDMI and it's still more practical to use when you are unsure about the setup.

Can't you still use the USB-C ports for the higher bandwidth if you want to (and have the dongle?)

But you can't use the HDMI port as a USB-C. I would much rather another USB C to an HDMI, which never gets used

True, but you also have a dedicated power port, when before if you wanted to plug in that had to be one of the USB-C's too.

I doubt there’s another USB C bus available to be used so it’s not really stealing away one(or if it is it’s shared with other peripherals built in).

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