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Comment by vimy | Hacker News Reader

> Second, there are still some significant drawbacks to Apple's new machines. I want more external monitors, for one.

“ Overall, the new MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro chip supports up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz, while the new MacBook Pro with the M1 Max chip supports up to three external displays with up to 6K resolution and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 60Hz”

More than this?

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Curious that external monitors are capped at 60Hz for all M-series processors (i think? the note about the Max is ambiguous). Especially when the internal monitor is 120hz. Or maybe that’s not actually the limit?

We'll know for sure next week (or already just not me), but thunderbolt compliance means displayport compliance which means there should be no concerns along these lines. I'd be very pissed if I would be limited to 60 on these new machines.

Why does anyone need more than 60Hz? Isn't the difference imperceptible?

If you haven't experienced 120hz, don't. It spoils you. You can't see much of a difference, but you sure can feel the difference in how things move and react.

Experiencing 120+ Hz spoils you. That said, ask me to tell you which screen is 120hz and which one is 165hz in a blind comparison, coinflip. Versus 60hz, just scroll a web page and you'll know instantly.

They are capped at 60Hz at the resolution stated because the actual limiting value is the available bandwidth, and they are choosing to report the bandwidth in terms of "maximum 60Hz resolution".

If the limit is 6K at 60Hz, you'll be able to run 4K at >60Hz. My M1 MacBook Pro runs a 1440p monitor at 165Hz just fine over Thunderbolt 3.

The HDMI port can do 4K 60hz. The Thunderbolt ports should be able to do 6K 60hz or 4k 120hz.

Ah, thank you -- I feel like companies should publish a table of resolutions + refresh rates + number of displays to give you an idea of what's supported, instead of listing maximums that don't really capture the full picture.

Weird edge case, I know, but: using Thunderbolt 4, what is the maximum theoretical refresh rate I can get from a 480p display? 1000hz?

Yeah, the person you replied to really seemed to be grasping at straws there. How many laptops for sale now have this level of support for external monitors?

I’m not even sure if most PC laptops can drive a single 6K display at 60Hz.

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