How well does MBA 2013 work with the 27" Apple Cinema Display

[TrollToddington]

So here is my question:

Could someone tell us how well the MBA 2013 works with the 27" ACD? A colleague of mine told me about the lousy experience he's having while using his MBA with an ACD, because the graphic card in his MBA was too slow to provide smooth operation. He's got the 2011 MBA, with IGP HD3000.

How's the new MBA with in this regard? Is the HD 5000 powerful enough to drive the ACD smoothly?

Regards,
Your harmless internet Troll

 

[B...]

Since the 5000 is more than 2x the performance of the 3000 (up to 224%), it should be very smooth.

 

[Sech]

The HD 5000 will have no trouble with the ACD.

 

[jmcube]

Even with many tabs/skype video/etc?

Jon

 

[curtoise]

Even with many tabs/skype video/etc?

Jon

I have an old 2011 Macbook with the Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB attached to a ACD and it works perfectly fine, million tabs open, Photoshop, iPhoto, etc, like a regular computer.

 

[thelookingglass]

For whatever it's worth, I previously had a 2008 Macbook, which would be blown to dust by any of the current models. It worked just fine with a 27" Apple Cinema Display.

 

[jmcube]

I have an old 2011 Macbook with the Intel HD Graphics 3000 512 MB attached to a ACD and it works perfectly fine, million tabs open, Photoshop, iPhoto, etc, like a regular computer.

My 2011 MBA does not work well with skype + tabs + pages/etc. I don't have it connected to an ACD.

Jon

 

[TrollToddington]

Since the 5000 is more than 2x the performance of the 3000 (up to 224%), it should be very smooth.

Sorry, I'm looking for first-hand experience. Thanks for you input.

 

[Suture1]

I have a 13" 2012 MBA connected to the 27" TBD and the combo kicks ass. No issues with lag or stuttering. Currently running Mavericks and having the flexibility to run both displays with independent full screen apps is fantastic.

A 2013 MBA will work great.

 

[blurobot]

the 2013 should be great. I have a hd3000 11" mba 2011 and it was painful to use a 27" thunderbolt display. I got 3 of these at home and just using one was laggy. My mother wouldn't have noticed but I'm a heavy multitasker and I could see the lag. It's not hair pulling but it's enough for me to go back to my PC instead of connecting it. I'm a power user so if you just use it lightly it's just fine.

At work we all use mba 2012 hd 4000 on 27" and there's no lag at all. Heavy multitasking, vms and all so HD5000 should be plenty and should be able to drive 2x27" but with that pesky lag again. We'll see.

 

[srsub3]

the 2013 should be great. I have a hd3000 11" mba 2011 and it was painful to use a 27" thunderbolt display. I got 3 of these at home and just using one was laggy. My mother wouldn't have noticed but I'm a heavy multitasker and I could see the lag. It's not hair pulling but it's enough for me to go back to my PC instead of connecting it. I'm a power user so if you just use it lightly it's just fine.

At work we all use mba 2012 hd 4000 on 27" and there's no lag at all. Heavy multitasking, vms and all so HD5000 should be plenty and should be able to drive 2x27" but with that pesky lag again. We'll see.

If you are a power user then air is not the machine for you IMHO, in particular older models, that were very advanced for the period, but lacking in cpu power

 

[TrollToddington]

I have a 13" 2012 MBA connected to the 27" TBD and the combo kicks ass. No issues with lag or stuttering. Currently running Mavericks and having the flexibility to run both displays with independent full screen apps is fantastic.

A 2013 MBA will work great.

Great! Thanks for your answer, much appreciated!