MacBook Air <-> Dell U2713HM: Cables?

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MacBook Air <-> Dell U2713HM: Cables?

Hello,

I am confused about which cable to use to connect my mid-2012 MB Air (13 in) to a Dell U2713HM monitor. It seems that a Mini DisplayPort to DP adaptor cable will not work as the cable does not support the 2560 x 1440 resolution of the display (according to Cable Matters who sell such a cable on amazon.co.uk). So Mini DP to Dual-Link DVI seemed to be the solution. But as I read about Dual-Link DVI it seems that DVI does not support audio. HDMI similarly to DP does not support the high resolution of the monitor though it does support audio. What is the solution for connecting a Dell UltraSharp 27 in. monitor (which uses the same IPS panel as the Thunderbolt display and has a USB 3.0 hub and is much less expensive and has a 3 yr panel replacement guarantee included in the price)? Thank you.

Richard

MacBook Air, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.2), Mid-2012, 2 GHz i7, 8GB, 512 SSD

Posted on Dec 11, 2012 9:00 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

eric@mac

Level 1

14 points

Dec 17, 2012 3:32 AM in response to Richard Wallstein

Hi Richard,

I had the same issue but I finally solved with the use off the (expensive) MiniDisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI adapter (MB571Z/A). But It had some extra attention. First there was nothing, no signal. When I also used the USB connetction suddenly the Dell did show up as an extended monitor at 1920 x 1080. But in the MAc OSX prefferences you could also set it to "Best fot this screen". And than then the "mirracle happend". Full native support! Very nice.

And it works also in combination with my Aten Cubiq DVI KVMP switch (CS1782A) to switch between my Macbook Air and a Windows 7 PC.

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Answer 2

Dec 17, 2012 6:39 AM in response to eric@mac

Hi Eric

Thank you! and for the tip about the preferences.

Did your cable support audio? Also, I discovered that there is a DisplayPort Standard group website; the FAQs on this site <displayport.org> seem to me to say that DisplayPort 1.2 should support a monitor like the U2713HM AND that a cable that supports DiplayPort 1.1a will also fully support DisplayPort 1.2 which is the connection that the Dell has. So perhaps the most cost-effective method is to start with a MiniDP to DP cable and if that doesn't work then splash out on the MiniDP to DualLink DVI.

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