Will External Display Increase 15" Resolution?

I have a 15" MBP and sometimes it just isn't wide enough for some of the apps that I am running. So I have been thinking about getting the 20" cinema display.

I'm wondering will this increase the resolution or am I stuck at a 1440x900 resolution with my MBP?

(I switched this month)

The resolution will will change to the monitors. I use mine MBP on a 20" at the moment and sometime my HDTV for WoW. So yeah, but there are rumours of a new display by Apple coming out soon, wait unitl the 9th to buy. I have the same problem, I have decided to wait until the next processor upgrade (speed wise) for the MBP then buy the 17" version. But this is a way off yet.

its cuase the widescreen on mbp's and other laptop's are in a 16:10 ratio and wide screen movies and stuff are in 16:9. but for games and stuff you should be able to choose the ratio and then change resolution to your desire and it will fit perfect...i hope this is what u are talking aobut.

The maximum resolution for the screen on your MBP is 1440 x 900.
If you attach an external monitor, then that monitor would be able to display whatever the maximum resolution for that display is.
It will in no way change or update the resolution capability of the MBP's screen.

Evermore said:

its cuase the widescreen on mbp's and other laptop's are in a 16:10 ratio and wide screen movies and stuff are in 16:9. but for games and stuff you should be able to choose the ratio and then change resolution to your desire and it will fit perfect...i hope this is what u are talking aobut.

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Not if you the MBP closed, then problem solved.

Also the MacBook Pro can support the Apple 30" display which has the highest screen resolution, I believe.

So when I buy a 20" cinema display, my MBP will display at 1680x1050?

bingwalker said:

So when I buy a 20" cinema display, my MBP will display at 1680x1050?

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No. The MBP's LCD display resolution will not change.

The 20" display will display 1680x1050 and your macbook's built in screen will display 1440x900.
Its simple really, a display cant go beyond its maximum resolution.

Good Grief!

yes, an external screen will go higher than the MBP native 1440x900 resolution

So I plug my MBP into a 20" display at CompUSA and it is still at 1440 resolution. I try fiddling around with the display settings, but I still can't go beyond 1440. Then one of the CompUSA mocks me for thinking that plugging a cinema display into my MBP will allow me to get higher than 1440. So I went home. Those displays should go to 1600, methinks.

The display on your laptop will never, ever go above 1440 x 900.

If you connect it to the 20" Cinema display and open System Preferences - Displays - you will have 2 Display property boxes, one on the MBP and one on the 20" screen. They are not the same box, but 2 different boxes.

Each of these 2 boxes control only the screen it is on. The box on your MBP will have its maximum at 1440 x 900, it will not go beyond that. To change the resolution of the 20" screen, you have to move your cursor to the 20" screen and make the adjustment in that box to increase the resolution of the 20" monitor to 1680 x 1050.

At this point you will have 1440 x 900 on the MBP screen - and 1680 x 1050 on the 20" screen.

This is not a MAC issue - all screens have a maximum resolution which they cannot go above.
Typical 15" widscreen laptop resolutions are 1280 x 800 and 1440 x 900.

bingwalker said:

So I plug my MBP into a 20" display at CompUSA and it is still at 1440 resolution. I try fiddling around with the display settings, but I still can't go beyond 1440. Then one of the CompUSA mocks me for thinking that plugging a cinema display into my MBP will allow me to get higher than 1440.

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At the risk of sounding condescending, you more or less asked for that. This is exactly what we told you two weeks ago, and in a much more polite manner. Just because you would like to think and believe it to be different, does not make it so. No matter what external display is added, the MacBook Pro's resolution will not change.

Why would you still think otherwise after we all told you it wouldn't?:blind:

This is also what Apple says and can be found on several parts of their site's page about the MacBook Pro:
"15.4-inch, 1440-by-900-pixel"
http://www.apple.com/macbookpro/graphics.html

Tech Specs MacBook Pro 15" said:

Supported resolutions: 1440 by 900 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, 1024 by 640, and 800 by 500 at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768, 800 by 600, and 640 by 480 at 4:3 aspect ratio stretched; 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio, 720 by 480 at 3:2 aspect ratio stretched

Dual display and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

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Tech Specs MacBook Pro 15"

Ok, you are misunderstanding me. I know my laptop screen resolution WILL NOT increase. Why would I buy a cinema display just to increase my MBP screen resolution??

I'm buying a cinema display so that I can look at that, not my laptop screen. It doesn't take a genius to know the MBP screen cannot go above 1440x900. What I wanted to know was, can I OUTPUT at more than 1440x900, and the answer is yes, opposite of what CompUSA told me.

bingwalker said:

Ok, you are misunderstanding me. I know my laptop screen resolution WILL NOT increase. Why would I buy a cinema display just to increase my MBP screen resolution??

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This is exactly what we were wondering. Your request was not exactly clear.

bingwalker said:

I'm wondering will this increase the resolution or am I stuck at a 1440x900 resolution with my MBP?.....
my MBP will display at 1680x1050?......
So I plug my MBP into a 20" display at CompUSA and it is still at 1440 resolution. I try fiddling around with the display settings, but I still can't go beyond 1440. Then one of the CompUSA mocks me for thinking that plugging a cinema display into my MBP will allow me to get higher than 1440.

Click to expand...

The way you worded your inquiries in each post implies that you are wanting the display to change on your MBP. Assuming you asked the sales rep in the same manner you asked here, it is completely understandable that they misunderstood you, just like we did here. If you wanted a higher resolution on the external display, it would have been more clear if you worded it as such:

bingwalker said:

I'm wondering will this increase the resolution on the 20" or am I stuck at a 1440x900 resolution with my external display?.....
my 20" cinema display will display at 1680x1050?

Click to expand...

You didn't clarify this until your last thread, and even that is a little convoluded.

can I OUTPUT at more than 1440x900

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The answer is yes you can have an external display put out a resolution more than 1140x900, but not your MBP.:black:

D3v1L80Y said:

This is exactly what we were wondering. Your request was not exactly clear. The way you worded your inquiries in each post implies that you are wanting the display to change on your MBP. Assuming you asked the sales rep in the same manner you asked here, it is completely understandable that they misunderstood you, just like we did here. If you wanted a higher resolution on the external display, it would have been more clear if you worded it as such:You didn't clarify this until your last thread, and even that is a little convoluded.The answer is yes you can have an external display put out a resolution more than 1140x900, but not your MBP.:black:

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Yes, I can see your point.

However, when we hooked it up and we were both looking at the cinema display and I asked point blank why the cinema display only shows at 1440x900, he said point blank "because that is the resolution of your MacBook". So CompUSA can't blame the answer on semantics.

Thanks for your help.