OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 Update Brings Extensive Support of 4K Monitors and the NVM Express Standard
OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 update has brought to the Mac platform support of NVM Express, a new high-speed standard for solid state drives. It is reported by AnandTech.
After the update is installed, the new section “NVMExpress” appears in the the “Hardware” part of “System Information”. Clicking on it, the user can see a list of connected compatible drives.
NVM Express replaced the usual AHCI (Advanced Host Controller Interface). The new protocol is designed to work with SSDs. It brings plenty of interesting features in their work, including, for example, organizing 64,000 queues of 64,000 commands each at the same time. As a comparison, the AHCI interface can send no more than 32 simultaneous commands to the drive. The delays when using this standard do not exceed 2.8 microseconds, contrary to 6 microseconds of the AHCI.
The first device to support the NVM Express protocol is the new 12-inch MacBook with Retina display. All the subsequent Mac computers are expected to be deprived of the bottleneck of any modern PC in the form of the disk segment.
Following the release of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3, Apple updated the technical support page with the information on using 4K displays and TVs with a Mac. According to the manufacturer, five Ultra High Definition monitors from the companies Dell, Sharp, ASUS and Panasonic are currently compatible with the Apple computers.
The technical documentation states that most 4K Single-Stream displays (3840 × 2160) can operate at a frequency of 60 MHz in the environment of the OS X 10.10.3 update.
4K monitors can be connected to the Mac via the HDMI Thunderbolt output ports. HDMI supports the following features: the 3840 × 2160 resolution with a frequency of 30 Hz and the 4096 × 2160 resolution with a frequency of 24 Hz. In the latter case, the video replay function is not available. With the release of the update, the iMac monoblocks got the Multi-Stream support (MST was previously the prerogative of Mac Pro and MacBook Pro).
In the context of working with the Ultra High Definition displays in the Single-Stream Transmission mode at a frequency of 60 Hz, Apple mentions the following seven computers on its support page: MacBook Pro (a 13-inch Retina display, early 2015), MacBook Pro (a 15-inch Retina display, mid-2014), Mac Pro (late 2013), iMac (a 27-inch display, late 2013), Mac mini (late 2014), MacBook Air (early 2015), MacBook (a 12-inch Retina display, early 2015).
You can connect 4K displays to the new 12-inch MacBook via HDMI, but the graphics card of the laptop will provide the resolution of 3840 × 2160 pixels at 30 Hz or that of 4096 × 2160 pixels at 24 Hz. At that, you will need USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter. You can raise the frequency to 60 Hz when using a SST display, a DisplayPort cable and the OS X 10.10.3 update. In this case, you will need the USB-C adapter for DisplayPort.
The final version of OS X Yosemite 10.10.3 was released on April 8. The update brought a new Photo app supporting the iCloud Photo Archive service and more than 300 new Emojis. It also fixes some bugs, improves the stability of the Wi-Fi connection and the reliability and performance of the entire system.
Source: macdigger.ru, macdigger.ru
