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External Displays & Air - Pro's & Cons

S

ShaneBunting

Suspended
Original poster
Aug 10, 2009
161
0
United Kingdom
I'm planning on using my Air at home fully on an external. Only using it as a 'laptop' when I'm at school.

Can this have any effects on it? E.g. Cooling, wearing out the graphics..

I don't know if I should invest in a good bit external display or a Mac Mini to use at home.. Preferably the Air + Monitor..

What do you recommend and can you find any problem with using the Air as a 'desktop' 70% of the time.
 
ShaneBunting said:
I'm planning on using my Air at home fully on an external. Only using it as a 'laptop' when I'm at school.

Can this have any effects on it? E.g. Cooling, wearing out the graphics..

I don't know if I should invest in a good bit external display or a Mac Mini to use at home.. Preferably the Air + Monitor..

What do you recommend and can you find any problem with using the Air as a 'desktop' 70% of the time.
Click to expand...
There's no problem with using your Air with an external display, as long as you don't run on battery all the time. You're not going to wear out the graphics, and cooling isn't a problem. As long as you unplug and run on battery power for a few hours every few days, to keep the battery healthy, it won't be a problem.
 
Keeping it plugged in the whole time it's connected to the display is okay though? :)

Then when I'm at school I can let it deplete as per usual from its own power and that should be sufficient for keeping it in good condition?

So happy I can get a good display instead of a mediocre one due to having to buy another Mac!
 
ShaneBunting said:
Keeping it plugged in the whole time it's connected to the display is okay though? :)

Then when I'm at school I can let it deplete as per usual from its own power and that should be sufficient for keeping it in good condition?

So happy I can get a good display instead of a mediocre one due to having to buy another Mac!
Click to expand...
Yes, that should work just fine. The link below should answer most, if not all, of your battery/charging questions. If you haven't already done so, I highly recommend you take the time to read it.
 
I'm using a 2013 Air this way and not had any trouble since I got it. And before that for 3 and a half years, I used a 2010 MBP the same way. You should be fine.

You might want to look into a Thunderbolt dock for your desk. With that one Thunderbolt connector you can add an external display, external speaker audio connectors, a USB hub, firewire and ethernet, making connecting and disconnecting your MBA from your desk setup really easy.
 
Pro - you can get a bigger screen.

Con - it takes the portability factor down a couple of notches.

The Apple TBD is sweeeeeet....
 
Using the MBA on an external display is perfectly fine. In fact, I'm using it on two Thunderbolt Displays.
 
If I have a 2048 external display, will the MBA's GPU display at the new resolution or it just merely give me bigger size pixels?
 
chabig said:
It can't be on battery. The Air will not drive an external display on battery power.
Click to expand...

I obviously don't mean to leave the external display connected on battery power, but to unplug from the display and from AC power to run on battery for a while. Read the battery FAQ for more information.
 
Oh, sorry. I run an 11" MacBook Air with a 27" Cinema Display. When I'm home, I have the wonderfully large display, but when I take the machine traveling I have the wonderfully small MacBook Air. Most of the time, the machine acts as a desktop and is plugged in. I set a Reminder once a month to discharge the battery completely and perform a full charge. That's it.
 
Our setups must be different then. If I pull the power from my Air, my external Cinema display goes dark.
 
chabig said:
Our setups must be different then. If I pull the power from my Air, my external Cinema display goes dark.
Click to expand...

If you use it in clamshell mode the power has to be in, if the MBA is open then it can run a 2nd monitor and it's own display, whilst on battery power :)
 
It certainly runs an external display on battery power. I do this sometimes myself with an old Apple Cinema Display with no problem. Don't know about clamshell since I never use it that way.

Should be no problem to use an external as your primary display. I did it for 2 years without problem on my 2011 MBA and do it now on my 2013 MBA. Battery life was still very good on the 2011 machine when I sold it. Just "excercise" the battery every now and then and you will be fine. :)
 
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