OS X 10.9.3 Mavericks Update: Apple Explains Improved 4K Display Support Included In The Latest OS Build

Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) updated its support page for its newly released OS X 10.9.3 Mavericks on Friday, offering details about the enhancements that have been made to the new high-resolution 4K display support for the latest Mac Pro and 15-inch MacBook Pro.

The new 4K display support allows users of the Mac Pro and the MacBook Pro with 15-inch Retina display to connect to an external 4K monitor and take advantage of refresh rates of 60Hz. The new OS X build also uses the pixel-doubling technique to allow for a true Retina experience where the size of user interface elements such as windows, icons and apps remains unchanged.

According to Apple’s support page titled “Using 4K displays and Ultra HD TVs with Mac computers,” the new OS X 10.9.3 version allows users to use the 4K displays at the following resolutions and refresh rates with the built-in HDMI port:

- 3840 x 2160 at 30 Hz refresh rate

- 4096 x 2160 at 24 Hz refresh rate (mirroring is not supported at this resolution)

The 2013 Mac Pro and Retina MacBook Pro, running OS X 10.9.3, now support many new 4K displays, including the Sharp PN-K321, ASUS PQ321Q, Dell UP2414Q, Dell UP3214Q, and the Panasonic TC-L65WT600. Previously, only the Sharp and ASUS displays were officially supported, MacRumors reported.

Apple also explained about display adjustments and Retina scaling, which are introduced to allow users to adjust the resolution of the 4K displays.

Here is a screenshot of the OS X 10.9.3's Display Settings, showing how Apple now uses an icon-based scaling selection user interface, rather than showing only screen resolution numbers.

In addition to the enhanced 4K display support, the 2013 MacBook Pro with Retina display and late 2013 Mac Pro now also support 60 Hz refresh rates using multi-stream transport, or MST.