MacBook Air 13" (2011 & 2013) and 4K monitors

Victoria,

The maximum external graphics resolution supported by the 2011 MacBook Air with Core i7 and the HD3000 GPU is 2560x1600. This too, is the maximum external resolution that your 2013 MacBook Air with the HD5000 GPU can produce. The 4K consumer spec, and what that Dell 3214Q can support — is 3840x2160.

The new MacBook Pro line, both 13 and 15 inch) have an Iris graphics 5100, and (Iris Pro graphics 5200 GPU and NVidia GE Force GT750M) respectively, that permits HDMI 3840x2160 resolution at 30Hz — according to Apple specifications.

Victoria,

My response was based on published Apple specifications for maximum hardware GPU resolution for the HD3000 and the base HD5000 GPU in the respective MacBook Air models. That value is 2560x1600. Think about this. In 2011, there were no 4K consumer monitors on the market, and no one, including Apple, was putting 4K capable GPU in their low-end consumer laptops, because that GPU technology did not exist. Even the high-end of the 2011 MacBook Pro models could not produce 4K resolution.

I am not familiar with this Dell 3214Q monitor, but it is possible that it has a mode where it up-converts GPU display resolution to an apparent 4K resolution. The true resolution that you are sending will be displayed in the OS X System Preferences > Displays panel as either best for the monitor, or under the scaled setting.

It is the GPU, not the CPU, that determines supported external display resolution. The following are the published Apple specifications that state 2560x1600.

MacBook Air (13-inch, Mid 2013) - Technical Specifications

MacBook Air (13-inch, MId 2011) - Technical Specifications

I have a mid-2011 macbook air 11" i5 running 10.7.5 which does 4K @ 30Hz on a Dell UP2414Q monitor over the displayport video input.

Indeed, these monitors did not exist at the time the mac was built. The statement ‘not supported’ thus does not always mean it does not work. And to the non-believers, this is really pixel-level 4K resolution as reported by both the monitor and display preferences. No doubt. 3840 x 2160.

@Victoria: Thanks for sharing this may still work after upgrade to mavericks.

It's not fault of graphics chip. It's fault of minidisplayport connector. MacBook Air has only version 1.1. 4k needs version 1.2.

That's another misunderstanding stated as fact. There exists a displayport 1.2 standard and my MacBook Air does not have it.

Then there are monitors like those new DELL UPxxQ that have an option to either enable or not the 1.2 protocol. When disabled, the mid 2011 MacBook Air can do 4K display on those monitors.

So, those last words are untrue: some monitors may need version 1.2 but it is **not** required for 4K. Only if you demand 60Hz refresh rate you probably need to enable version 1.2 and buy a fat new PowerMac as well.

Hi Everyone,

I just got a macbook air 2012 and I'm a bit confused. I connected it via a display port cable to my dell up2414q and on the display preference on the mac, it showed "optimize for dell up2414q." When I do this, the resolution is read as 4k on the monitor but 1080p on the air laptop. If I scale the macbook air to 4k, everything becomes really tiny but I don't see any difference at all in picture quality. My question is, is it already in 4k when the monitor says it is? because it seems very clear.

Also to add to this, I'm getting 4k at 30hz both with dp 1.1 and 1.2. I started using 1.2 at first but it made no difference switching back to 1.1.

Right now safari is the only browser that works almost perfectly when connected to the monitor. Every other browser I've downloaded( chrome, firefox, opera) results in the fan getting really high and videos getting slow or lagging. Can any of you recommend another browser that will work if you are having the same problems. Thanks

just bought a Dell UP2414Q and couldn't get it to work at full res with my Mid 2013 Macbook Air. Right now I'm writing from my mid 2011 Mac Mini at 3840x2160. It worked right out of the box in HiDPI - retina mode 1080p real estate but reaaaaly crisp. I had to use a 3rd party utility to switch to 4k. The letters are really small, but usable for me. I'm terribly disappointed that it doesn't work with my newer Macbook Air. I tried for 2 days, creating overrides, using switchresx etc .... nothing worked.

Hi Victoria,

I have also been trying to find out why OS X running on MacBook Pro retina or MacBook Air 2013/2014 with an Intel HD Graphics 5000 or newer can not be used in 3840x2160, when me too have been running that resolution on an old MacBook Pro 2010 without problems. I have heard many comments about that resolution not even existing back then too. The fact still remains that it does work.

For the record, I use an active mini display port to HDMI adapter (Accell) for all my tests mentioned here.

My conclusion so far, and I would like you to confirm this if possible, is that the machines being able to use that resolution does NOT have (or use) Intel HD Graphics. Most models could be ordered with other graphics and built-to-order. All machines I have tested that can run 3840x2160 had NVIDIA graphics chips.

You said that you could get 3840x2160 on some older OS version. When I tried connecting a MacBook Air mid 2012 running 10.8.5, the screen switched to 3840x2160 but half of the screen was just garbage like you said. When upgrading to 10.9.3 I think it was, that resolution was gone. Googling around I found out that Intel HD Graphics 4000 does (or can) not allocate enough memory for this resolution to work well. I also found out that the next version, Intel HD Graphics 5000, WILL support 3840x2160 in 30Hz, so I was looking forward to try these new Macs, like the Air 2013, with my display. Does not work at all.

However, when installing Windows 8.1 or Windows 10 beta (bootcamp) on a MacBook Air 11" mid 2013 I get full working 3840x2160 at 30Hz.

So, my second conclusion is that Apples drivers for Intel HD Graphics 5000, Iris or newer, does not support 3840x2160@30Hz via mini display port at all, although the hardware does.

On the newer retina MacBook Pros and the new MacMini, which both have an HDMI port and use Intel HD Graphics 5000 or better, 3840x2160 is even officially supported by Apple if I remember correctly. But only through the HDMI port.

If Microsoft/Intel can make 3840x2160 to work on Apple computers via mini display port, why can´t Apple?

Hi all,

I have just recently purchase a Samsung U28D590 Ultra High Definition 4k Monitor and I thought I would just share that to get the maximum resolution out of the macbook and its desktop space you should use a Mini DV to DV port adaptor. I am getting a resolution of 2560x1440

Originally i thought I had made a mistake in purchasing a 4k monitor as the maximum resolution on a miniDV to HDMI port cable was 1080p. But thats no longer an issue.

Thanks for this exact info! My old external monitor died this morning, and I want to buy something that I can use today and also exploit more fully with my next Mac.

My MBA (2013) is still working great, but I'm planning to buy the first rev of the new 15" MB Pros (next year, hopefully with a CPU and bus/memory upgrade [i.e., 32GB, better input/output options]).

So I've been scouring the web to see if my MBA would do anything useful with this particular monitor (it will be replacing an old Samsung 21" 1600x1200), and 2560x1440 at 28" sounds great, since it's also my "TV"..... ...plus knowing it'll display true 4K at 60fps on the MB Pro means it won't be quickly obsolete for my needs.

In the longer term, once I digest purchasing the MBP I hope to add an even larger screen 5K monitor like the LG, and looks like this would give me a three monitor setup, which should be near ideal.