Dell 49 Inch display to Macbook Air 2015 - Slow Performance

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Dell 49 Inch display to Macbook Air 2015 - Slow Performance

Hi,

I recently purchased Dell's 49 inch monitor (U4919DW), the monitor is great and works perfectly with my Dell work laptop. However, when i connect my personal Macbook Air 2015 - its super laggy and runs very slow. Any advice how a fix the slow performance when connected to an external display?

I have it connected to a Dell docking station (D600) that has a USB-C/USB A adapter that I connect to the macbook air.

I am not super technical with macs - so if anyone can explain like a 5 would be awesome :)

Other things to note:

I cannot get the full 5k resolution this way, but currently have 3840 x 1080
MacOS Catalina
MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
Precessor: 1.6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
Memory: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB

MacBook Air 13", macOS 10.15

Posted on Apr 5, 2020 12:01 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Apr 5, 2020 12:07 PM in response to key_shun89

Max. Resolution for the model is 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz.

Try using the display connected directly rather than through a dock.

For more help, contact Dell's tech support because it is not an Apple product.

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Answer 2

Apr 5, 2020 12:19 PM in response to key_shun89

Max external resolution for MacBook Air 13” early 2015 is 3840 by 2160 pixels at 60Hz.

Dell U4919DW is 5120 by 1440 at 60Hz native.

You’re well past what Intel integrated graphics on that MacBook Air 13” early 2015 officially supports.

Which means the monitor is going to be scaling, which’ll often be slower.

The Intel HD Graphics 6000 graphics are likely also scaling, to get to that (rather unexpected) 3840 by 1080 resolution.

Seems the best-performing resolutions with that controller are reportedly 640 by 480, 1280 by 720, 1366 by 768, 1600 by 900, 1920 by 1080, 2560 by 1440, and 3840 by 2160.

I’m mildly surprised this even works.

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Dell 49 Inch display to Macbook Air 2015 - Slow Performance

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