Powering a 4k monitor using a MacBook Air?

[purly]

I'd love to buy one of the new 4k monitors, but I'm not sure my machine supports it.

I have the latest model (2013) 13" Macbook Air.

Apple's website lists the following supported resolutions:
1440 by 900 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, and 1024 by 640 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768 and 800 by 600 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio.

But I've heard rumors that the 2012 Macbook Air did work with the 4k resolution 3840 x 2160, even though it wasn't listed as a supported resolution.

Supposing my model of macbook air doesn't work with a 4k monitor, can I use some sort of external graphics card to drive it?

 

[Robyr]

I'd love to buy one of the new 4k monitors, but I'm not sure my machine supports it.

I have the latest model (2013) 13" Macbook Air.

Apple's website lists the following supported resolutions:
1440 by 900 (native), 1280 by 800, 1152 by 720, and 1024 by 640 pixels at 16:10 aspect ratio; 1024 by 768 and 800 by 600 pixels at 4:3 aspect ratio.

But I've heard rumors that the 2012 Macbook Air did work with the 4k resolution 3840 x 2160, even though it wasn't listed as a supported resolution.

Supposing my model of macbook air doesn't work with a 4k monitor, can I use some sort of external graphics card to drive it?

The resolutions you have cited are native resolutions for the internal display. 4K apparently works, though, and the HD5000 in the 2013 Airs is more than capable.

 

[robvas]

Someone else posted about this on HN. The short answer is 'not really':

The MacBook Air from 2012 or later can drive two 2560x1600 displays at 60fps: https://twitter.com/Antagonist/status/252936243606859777/pho... (It only has one Thunderbolt port, but Thunderbolt displays can be chained.)

While the integrated graphics on the 2013 models can drive 4k displays at 60fps, only Thunderbolt 2 has the necessary bandwidth. The latest rMBPs have Thunderbolt 2, so they should be fine once OS X's drivers are updated. Everything else is stuck at 30fps.