Second Screen to a MacBook Air 11'

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Second Screen to a MacBook Air 11'

Recently our old pc broke down and we recycled some of the hardware parts. We now have a spare screen monitor and I would like to connect that screen to my normal MacBook Air 11'. My problem is that the screen has a VGA + DVI port and my macbook air only has 1 thunderbolt port. How do I connect this to each other?

If there was only 1 port like DVI on the screen I would use a DVI to Thunderbolt adapter which you can buy easily online, but I'm confused when there are two different ports and only 1 port available on my macbook air. If there are some people who have knowledge of this and can help me with my problem that would be great 🙂

MacBook Air, OS X Mavericks (10.9), MacBook Air 11 inch.

Posted on Nov 16, 2013 7:13 AM

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Answer 1

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dwb

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Nov 16, 2013 8:02 AM in response to Micclift

The way you describe your display it sounds as if it can accept input from either a DVI or a VGA source. This was quite common several years ago and even today many displays ship with this dual input abiity. In either case, you'll need the proper adaptor - just head over to the online Apple Store to see which adaptor best meets your needs. The thunderbolt port of your computer can be used to plug in a mini-dsiplayport adaptor so you can use either the DVI or the VGA input of your display. I'd recommend DVI.

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Answer 2

Micclift Author

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Nov 18, 2013 5:57 AM in response to dwb

Oh man thanks alot, that really helped me out.

So all I need to do is buy a cable that transfers from MBA Thunderbolt port to a DVI or VGA port on my screen monitor? I can buy those at the apple store online for 66$ I believe but that's like really expensive :S

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Answer 3

dwb

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Nov 18, 2013 6:10 AM in response to Micclift

The MiniDisplayPort dongle is all you need - US $30 - I've seen them somewhat cheaper elsewhere and there are 3rd party dongles. Can't guarantee the quality of those though.

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Answer 4

Micclift Author

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Nov 18, 2013 6:15 AM in response to dwb

Yeah I saw one on some other site, similar to amazon or something, but they were like 12 USD $ so I wasn't sure about those, but I think I'll definately buy this one, the Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter since DVI quality is a little bit better than VGA I believe. Thanks alot for the help, I've been asking around with some friends but nobody has apple so they wouldn't know.

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