Okay, I'm about to pull the trigger on finally buying an 11" MBA. We are going on a big trip in about 3 weeks and I really need to take a laptop with me and the MBA seems to meet all my needs. My question is, if I were to hook it up to an external monitor at home, what kind of screen resolution can I get? Right now I'm getting 1600x900 with my 2013 Mac mini. Will the MBA be close to this with an external monitor?
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External Monitor Resolution
- Thread starter wolfpackfan
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According to MacTracker app, the 2015 MBAir 11-inch, can support up to 3840 x 2160 pixels to an external display, and can run up to two Thunderbolt displays.
All minis new since Early 2009 can support 2560 x 1600 pixels, or more, so you are also well within what your mini can support.
All minis new since Early 2009 can support 2560 x 1600 pixels, or more, so you are also well within what your mini can support.
I am not sure that MacTracker (which I normally rely on) is correct in this case. Apple's MacBook Air specs page says, "Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors." I run a single Thunderbolt display with my 11" Air and I can affirm that it supports simultaneous use of the internal display with the external Thunderbolt display. I doubt that it can drive two external Thunderbolt displays at the same time. I think that's reserved for the MacBook Pros.
I think it can drive two thunderbolt displays. I've always read that was the only way to directly use two external monitors on my 2013 MBA (aside from special adapters).
According to Apple's website, one external monitor up to 3840 x 1920 resolution.
It appears that the MBA gained support for dual daisy-chained thunderbolt displays in 2012. See this: http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/06/new-macbooks-can-manage-many-many-monitors/
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The number of displays that Thunderbolt-equipped Macs can drive is dependent largely on the capabilities of the GPU and the Thunderbolt controller chip installed. The Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU in the 2012 MacBook Air supports a total of three displays (up from the two supported by last year's HD Graphics 3000) and the Thunderbolt controller used by both the Air and the Retina MacBook Pro, the DSL3510L, also supports two display outputs. Because the Air only has one physical Thunderbolt port, however, the only way to support the maximum number of monitors is to daisy-chain Thunderbolt displays
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The number of displays that Thunderbolt-equipped Macs can drive is dependent largely on the capabilities of the GPU and the Thunderbolt controller chip installed. The Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU in the 2012 MacBook Air supports a total of three displays (up from the two supported by last year's HD Graphics 3000) and the Thunderbolt controller used by both the Air and the Retina MacBook Pro, the DSL3510L, also supports two display outputs. Because the Air only has one physical Thunderbolt port, however, the only way to support the maximum number of monitors is to daisy-chain Thunderbolt displays
Look again.
Apple actually says the MacBook Air (11-inch, Early 2015) can support 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display, simultaneously with full native resolution on the internal display.
And, this page states that the MacBook Air (Mid 2012) and later, can support up to two connected Apple Thunderbolt Displays.