We already assumed that the news we were going to see about the Mac was going to be more about the interior details than its exterior appearance. For the first time, some of the Macs shown yesterday They have an HDMI 2.1 port.which replaces the HDMI 2.0 ports we were used to.
Moving from HDMI 2.0 to HDMI 2.1 may seem like a small step, but it hides several benefits that translate into good news for enthusiasts and professionals alike. Let’s find out what they are by reviewing the differences between these versions of HDMI.
Welcome to Mac, 8K displays
The main advantage of this jump is the data bandwidth we can count on. While HDMI 2.0 ports and cables can handle 18 Gbps speeds, HDMI 2.1 nearly triples to 48 Gbps. For the end user, this translates into the ability to connect displays with higher resolution and higher refresh rate.
Theoretically, HDMI 2.1 is capable of supporting 10K resolutions at 120Hz, although at this time Apple “only” allows the connection an 8K display at 60 Hz. There are still very few screens with this resolution on the market, and their prices are prohibitive: even Apple does not offer 8K screens at the moment. But the arrival of HDMI 2.1 on Mac may be a sign that it will happen sooner or later.
There are also advantages for the sound part: we will be able to transmit the eARC from a Mac to a monitor with speakers prepared for it. And for professionals, support is expected to 10, 12 and up to 16 bit color encodings
Apple doesn’t detail exactly which Mac models have HDMI 2.1, but we can guess by which models support 8K displays. These are the Mac mini with the M2 Pro chip and the MacBook Pro with the M2 Pro and M2 Max chips. So if you’re looking to work with an 8K monitor in the future, don’t go for the basic Mac mini M2.
It is to be hoped that over time the HDMI 2.1 port will reach the rest of the high end of all Macs, we should not be long in seeing a Mac Studio adopting it, for example.
Original Image | The Registi
