2015 MBA 11" powerful enough?

[Fuzzo]

Hey guys.

I have a 1440p monitor. I was thinking of hooking up a Macmini for some media duties. 1080p MKV's and online video streaming. I was also considering getting an Ipad for travelling ( emails, web watch a film)

However, could I kill two birds with one stone and use the base 2015 11" ( or even an 2014 model) for my media duties connected to the screen and also then as a lightweight device for travel. Is it powerful enough to play large MKVs and web streaming?

What cable would I need to get 1440p resolution. Thunderbolt to Dual DVI?

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

[Significant1]

It should easily be powerfull enough. Mini-displayport cable.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm using a Macbook Air 11 (Early 2015) with a Display to HDMI to a Dell Ultrasharp 24' --- Seems to be doing perfect!
Only thing that kinda ticks me off is, I can't run in clamshell mode without being plugged into power. But I'm new so maybe it's possible but what I Googled shows it requires a lot of tinkering.

 

[Meister]

What would make you think a macbook isn't powerful enough to stream videos?

 

[Fuzzo]

It's more playing videos and driving a 1440p screen.

 

[z31fanatic]

Of course it is powerful enough. If a $39 Amazon Fire stick can do it, why couldn't a full blown computer do it?

 

[Significant1]

Think about the retina macbooks.
- The 13" Pro is driving 2560 x 1600 with the same GPU just marginally higher clocked
- the new Retina Macbook is driving 2304 x 1440 with a weaker GPU
On top they also do scaling, which you will not do, if running native 1440p

 

[BrettApple]

It'll do perfectly fine with that.

Heck, my 2008 MacBook ran a 2560x1600 monitor and played 1080p MKV Blu-ray rips with zero problems on a Core 2 Duo with a 256MB Nvidia GeForce 9400m that isn't even in the same realm as the HD 6000.

 

[Fuzzo]

Ok, cool decision made.

Thanks for everybody's input.