49" CHG90 QLED Monitor not working with 2014 Air

[CLS727]

So I was excited to set this up today a I wanted some more screen space than my current 27” Thunderbolt Display.

I have a 2013 or 2014 MacBook Air that (at the time) was the highest spec possible with thei i7.

I first plugged in the display port cord directly into the thunderbolt plug. The screen on the MacBook correctly identified the monitor, put my laptop screen in the correct resolution. But the Samsung was black screen.

Then I tried with an HDMI cord through an adapter, and it was able to push an image to the screen, but the resolution is scaled down to 1080p (with everything stretched 2-wide) and looks terrible. In High Sierra display settings, that’s the max resolution possible to select.

So am I correct in assuming now that my model of MacBook is just not powerful enough to support that resolution?

I have a 2015 i5 MacMini that I haven’t tried yet. It’s at home just dedicated for Plex server now.

I’d like to just trade the Air for a new MacBook Pro, but I’m waiting for the new 2018 models.

 

[MacManiac76]

According to Mactracker, the Air should be able to support an external resolution up to 2560x1600.

 

[CLS727]

According to Mactracker, the Air should be able to support an external resolution up to 2560x1600.

Thanks, how would I enable that then?

 

[MacManiac76]

I believe HDMI will limit it to 1920x1080. DisplayPort will be needed to get anything higher. The Air probably only supports one display at a time if using an external display at the resolution you want.

 

[CLS727]

I believe HDMI will limit it to 1920x1080. DisplayPort will be needed to get anything higher. The Air probably only supports one display at a time if using an external display at the resolution you want.

Why is it giving me a black screen then with the display port?

With my Apple 27” Thunderbolt Display, when I close the lid of the laptop, I can use the external display as the only display.

I tried the same thing with the new Samsung, and it’s a black screen. I open the lid of the laptop and everything there was shrunken down to the resolution of the monitor, and it was in a “mirror” mode. I tied separate the displays, then close the lid again. Always black screen.

Only the hdmi through the adapter has given me any kind of output there.

 

[CLS727]

Ok, update... it works just fine with the display port cord on the MacMini... so I guess the issue was the MacBook Air was just unable to support it.

My MacMini is late 2014... 1.4 GHz Intel Core i5, with 4GB of RAM.
My MacBook Air is 2012 or 2013 (?)... with 1.7 GHz Intel Core i7, with 8GB of RAM.

Crazy how the lower spec machine supports the new screen better?

Anyway, my solution for now is to just switch to the MacMini as my daily work machine... and I'll upgrade the RAM to 16GB to try to make up some of the speed. (and just use the Air at home)

Holding off on a new MacBook Pro until the 2018 model is announced.