Driving Two 4K Displays with new MBA

[- rob -]

I am currently pushing 2560 x 1440 to a dell p2715q. I have an old cinema display also but don't have a USB C to mini display port adapter.

Curious if anyone has tried pushing to two 4k displays yet, or even 4k and a cinema and how that performs.

 

[- rob -]

I am not a video capabilities specialist but I looked at some numbers and thought I'd share.

1. The new macbook air normally displays at a native resolution of 2560 x 1600 as per tech radar. This is 4,096,000 pixels
2. The p2715q runs a normal 4k of 2560 x 1440 which is 3,686,400. So normal OS performance on a 27" monitor at this resolution should be better than the laptop display itself (presuming clamshell mode).

3. A pair of 4k Monitors in clamshell would be 7,372,800 pixels, which is 45% more than what is supported by the native notebook display.

I would expect Apple to pick a resolution for the laptop that is well handled by the integrated video on the machine. But does it work reasonably at 45% beyond what's offered on the native laptop screen?

questions i have are:

A. Since one port needs to power the MBA in clamshell mode, can you split the other USB c into two 4k montors? Does this work?

B. Can the video card drive two 4k displays with reasonable responsiveness?