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I have a mid-2014 Macbook Pro (Iris Pro 1536) with an AOC U2790B. It can only run 4k at very low framerate so I downscale it.

I seem to recall reading a long time ago about using both Thunderbolt ports at once to drive a single monitor. Is that possible with my setup?

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  • EveryMac seems to think this is not an option: everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/… . Assuming that is the right one, the built-in GPU doesn't support high frame rates at its higher resolution. The article goes into a bit of detail in the linked 2nd display port section that does not seem to mention using two ports combined. As this model doesn't have a secondary GPU it seems unlikely that using two ports would give you better than only using one.
    – Steve Chambers
    Commented Sep 1, 2020 at 23:57

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The problem is not the speed of the connection, a Thunderbolt 2 port has the bandwidth for a display size and refresh rate of at least 4K@60Hz or 5K@30Hz. Using two Thunderbolt connections to a single display requires a display that supports this, and this is a feature that I recall was short lived as there are now cable and connector standards readily available for supporting 8K displays with refresh rates of at least 60Hz.

The problem is not a lack of bandwidth. The problem is that the GPU in the laptop doesn't support more than 4K@30Hz. To get better than this means adding an external GPU, or getting a new computer.

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  • Whoa. External GPUs are a thing?
    – Steve Bennett
    Commented Sep 2, 2020 at 2:59
  • External GPUs are a thing. Finding ones that list support for Thunderbolt 2 are rare. Finding ones that work in spite of this is trivial. Most any Thunderbolt 3 eGPU should work on a Thunderbolt 2 connection with nothing more than the right cable and adapter. Keep in mind that Thunderbolt 2 has half the max data rate, no native USB on the bus, and passes only enough power to drive the adapter or cable when compared to Thunderbolt 3.
    – MacGuffin
    Commented Sep 3, 2020 at 5:19
  • Yeah, it looks like my challenge also might be finding a cheap one. Considering most of them are specced for gaming or video editing, and all I want is to drive a few more pixels. Is asking for a recommendation for one allowed here?
    – Steve Bennett
    Commented Sep 3, 2020 at 13:20

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