U2720Q, MacBook Air, connection help

Question

I have a 13' MacBook Air mid 2011 and just bought a Dell U2720Q external monitor.  The only supplied cable that will connect to my laptop is the USB Type-C to USB Type-A cable, but my laptop does not recognize the U2720Q. Is there an adapter I need or a firmware update I can use?

jphughan · Accepted Answer

@JP1956  USB-A ports don’t support video output. The purpose of the USB-C to USB-A cable is to allow you to use the USB downstream ports built into the U2720Q with your system if you don’t have a system that has a USB-C port. But that only creates a USB data path for that purpose. You’d need to connect a separate cable for video. The connector you SHOULD be using for video output is the Mini-DisplayPort output, specifically by getting a Mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable/adapter. However, according to Apple’s specs for the mid-2011 MacBook Air here, that system doesn’t support 4K displays at all. It only supports up to 2560x1440 displays due to limitations of the GPU in that system. So that really isn’t a great display to use with that system. You could run that display at 2560x1440 of course, but displays never look as good when being used below their native resolution, and of course you’re just wasting the extra physical pixels on the display in that scenario. A 27' QHD display would cost less AND look better than a 27' 4K display being used at QHD resolution. On top of THAT, a 27' 4K display really isn’t a great display to use with Mac systems at all, even systems that support 4K. The reason is that Apple optimizes their OS for two classes of displays: standard displays of 100-110 pixels per inch, and Retina displays of 200-220 pixels per inch. A 27' 4K display gives you a pixel density of 163 ppi, which is right between the two setups that Apple optimizes for, which means it’s a bad fit for both of them. If the system treats it as a standard display, things will be quite small on-screen. If on the other hand it treats it as a Retina display using the '@2x' art assets, things will be quite large on screen.I’d recommend getting a 27' QHD display instead and connecting to it using a Mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable. Your system will be able to run that properly, you’ll be using the display at its native resolution for the best experience, and it’ll cost less than what you have now.

JP1956 · Answer

Thank you!, very helpful.

U2720Q, MacBook Air, connection help

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