Using a Dell USB-C Monitor with My MBA

[CrazedVW]

Anybody using a USB-C monitor with their Air?
I've been looking at picking up the new Dell P2720DC monitor for my home office set up and having a single cable to connect monitor/power/USB. It says it provides up to 65w of power to a laptop so I'm assuming that means it should't be an issue to power my 2018 Air with it and won't cause a power surge/overload? Anyone using one of these monitors? (Or one of the previous USB-C models?)

 

[UKgaryb]

Hey, I have the previous version P2719DC, I however am using it between my work issued 15" MacBook Pro i9/32gb & my personal 13" MacBook Pro, it works with both splendidly, can whole heartedly recommend them. Charges both fine (15" a little slower, but when docked it's usually for a long period). I also have a Macally USB Keyboard wired up to the monitor USB-A ports, so they keyboard is connected to which ever mac the monitor is plugged into.

These also have MST which doesn't work on Mac's unfortunately but I have a P2719D also and when using my Razor Blade 13 it provides dual screen connection, charging + usb over 1 cable.

[Edit]
To answer the question about power, it doesn't matter, I charge my Pixel 4 with the monitor, the device negotiates with the power source and only takes the max it can consume.

I've really bought into the USB-C only world!

 

[mkelly]

You’ll be fine. A 2018 MacBook Air ships with a 30 watt power supply, well within the power delivery capabilities of that monitor. When looking at power supply specs, wattage indicates the maximum power the supply can deliver. Think of it like a light fixture - they come with maximum wattage limits for bulbs. You can put a 20 watt bulb into a fixture rated for 60 watts. Nothing bad will happen. The computer will draw only the amount of power it needs.

Problems occur when you put a laptop with a higher power requirement (E.g.: a MacBook Pro 16” can use up to 100 watts) on a lower wattage monitor. In that case, the laptop’s battery will charge slowly, or not at all, depending on what you are doing with the laptop. I have a 16” MBP with an LG USB-C monitor, and I have to have the MBP’s power supply connected while using it, or my battery drains.

But a 30 watt MBA on a 65 watt power supply? No problem at all.

 

[CrazedVW]

Thanks! That's good to know. I figured that was the case but wanted to be sure before I spend the money. I've been using the Dell U2515H for the past few years and really like it a lot but want to let my wife use it for her work from home setup. I debated going 4K but it's more than I want to spend and I feel like with scaling I'm probably going to end up with less useable screen space. I've currently got the power, HDMI, and USB connected to one of the Apple USB-C adapters but it'd be a big plus to have two less cables and clutter too.

Hey, I have the previous version P2719DC, I however am using it between my work issued 15" MacBook Pro i9/32gb & my personal 13" MacBook Pro, it works with both splendidly, can whole heartedly recommend them. Charges both fine (15" a little slower, but when docked it's usually for a long period). I also have a Macally USB Keyboard wired up to the monitor USB-A ports, so they keyboard is connected to which ever mac the monitor is plugged into.

These also have MST which doesn't work on Mac's unfortunately but I have a P2719D also and when using my Razor Blade 13 it provides dual screen connection, charging + usb over 1 cable.

[Edit]
To answer the question about power, it doesn't matter, I charge my Pixel 4 with the monitor, the device negotiates with the power source and only takes the max it can consume.

I've really bought into the USB-C only world!

 

[yg17]

I have the 4k version of that monitor, works great with my 2020 MBA. Single USB-C cable charges it, provides display, and the USB ports on the monitor work.

The only thing is, to get mine working right, I had to go into the montitor settings and change the USB-C Prioritization setting from "High Resolution" to "High Data Speed". Not really sure why, 4K still works with that setting, and AFAIK, the USB ports on the monitor operate at USB 3 speeds. When it was set to "High Resolution", it didn't work at all with my Mac, and on my work provided Windows laptop, it worked, albeit at USB 2.0 speeds. This may not even be applicable on the monitor you're looking at since it's not a 4K display.

FYI, you can always use a higher wattage charger, the device and charger will negotiate the proper amount of power to send. You can charge a USB-C phone with the beefy 16" MBP charger no problem.

 

[CrazedVW]

I have the 4k version of that monitor, works great with my 2020 MBA. Single USB-C cable charges it, provides display, and the USB ports on the monitor work.

The only thing is, to get mine working right, I had to go into the montitor settings and change the USB-C Prioritization setting from "High Resolution" to "High Data Speed". Not really sure why, 4K still works with that setting, and AFAIK, the USB ports on the monitor operate at USB 3 speeds. When it was set to "High Resolution", it didn't work at all with my Mac, and on my work provided Windows laptop, it worked, albeit at USB 2.0 speeds. This may not even be applicable on the monitor you're looking at since it's not a 4K display.

FYI, you can always use a higher wattage charger, the device and charger will negotiate the proper amount of power to send. You can charge a USB-C phone with the beefy 16" MBP charger no problem.

Just curious, is 4K readable on a 27" or do you scale it? And if you scale it, what resolution do you have it set at? I've gone back and forth about 4K but it seems like 32" would be the minimum to run it at full resolution and for the additional stuff I'm looking for on a monitor that's just way too expensive.

 

[esphil]

I have the 4k version of that monitor, works great with my 2020 MBA. Single USB-C cable charges it, provides display, and the USB ports on the monitor work.

The only thing is, to get mine working right, I had to go into the montitor settings and change the USB-C Prioritization setting from "High Resolution" to "High Data Speed". Not really sure why, 4K still works with that setting, and AFAIK, the USB ports on the monitor operate at USB 3 speeds. When it was set to "High Resolution", it didn't work at all with my Mac, and on my work provided Windows laptop, it worked, albeit at USB 2.0 speeds. This may not even be applicable on the monitor you're looking at since it's not a 4K display.

FYI, you can always use a higher wattage charger, the device and charger will negotiate the proper amount of power to send. You can charge a USB-C phone with the beefy 16" MBP charger no problem.

How is the performance on the screen with your MBA and what processor are you running? I'm waiting for my usbc hub to test monitor performance to see if I'm going to keep the Air or get a refurb 16.

 

[yg17]

Just curious, is 4K readable on a 27" or do you scale it? And if you scale it, what resolution do you have it set at? I've gone back and forth about 4K but it seems like 32" would be the minimum to run it at full resolution and for the additional stuff I'm looking for on a monitor that's just way too expensive.

I have mine scaled to 3008x1692 (the middle option in the Display prefs). It is just barely readable at full resolution, but I find the middle setting a happy compromise between desktop space and readability. I probably could go to the next highest setting, but I've never really found myself needing more space

How is the performance on the screen with your MBA and what processor are you running? I'm waiting for my usbc hub to test monitor performance to see if I'm going to keep the Air or get a refurb 16.

I have the i5. The only issues I've found is 4K YouTube playback seems to stutter a lot on the monitor, but that could also just be Chrome being Chrome. Maybe one day I'll try it in Safari, but I don't like Safari. Not really a big deal though, I'm happy with 1080 for my YouTube vids. It could also be network issues, I have 200mbps down and get that in speed tests, but there's probably still a bunch of congestion on the intertubes due to everything going on right now. I don't have any local 4k vids to test.

 

[esphil]

I have mine scaled to 3008x1692 (the middle option in the Display prefs). It is just barely readable at full resolution, but I find the middle setting a happy compromise between desktop space and readability. I probably could go to the next highest setting, but I've never really found myself needing more space



I have the i5. The only issues I've found is 4K YouTube playback seems to stutter a lot on the monitor, but that could also just be Chrome being Chrome. Maybe one day I'll try it in Safari, but I don't like Safari. Not really a big deal though, I'm happy with 1080 for my YouTube vids. It could also be network issues, I have 200mbps down and get that in speed tests, but there's probably still a bunch of congestion on the intertubes due to everything going on right now. I don't have any local 4k vids to test.

I was actually testing video yesterday with 4k, and on my Air it played perfectly smooth however on my 2015 map it was doing the same thing you say almost like a network issue. If that's the main problem then I should be ok. I only watch 4k on my tv with YouTube. I'm running a 34" ultra wide non-4k. I'm hoping the setup of this air with that screen can be a good placement for my trusty 2010 iMac i3.

 

[deeddawg]

I have the i5. The only issues I've found is 4K YouTube playback seems to stutter a lot on the monitor, but that could also just be Chrome being Chrome. Maybe one day I'll try it in Safari, but I don't like Safari.

According to stuff I've read in other threads, Youtube in Chrome uses a video codec that end up being handled in software vs in hardware. Same thing in Safari uses a different codec that is decoded in hardware. Supposedly there's an extension you can get (hd264ify) that'll force using the codec that goes thru the hardware decode.

I actually like safari and rarely use chrome on mac. if I could run Safari on windows I'd do so.

 

[sundialsoft]

We bought an LG 4k monitor for use with the MBA. It connects the video and charges the MBA through a single supplied cable and has regular USB on the rear of the monitor so you can plug in normal stuff without an extra hub. It also allows for HDMI connections which I use with a 2015 MBA. The monitor's sound is nothing special but the rest of it is great.