MacBook – Dell in2020m widescreen monitor and a MacBook Pro

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I'm buying a MacBook Pro soon but have a Dell IN2020M widescreen monitor with 16:9 aspect ratio. Can I hook up my MacBook Pro to this?

The supported resolutions for MacBooks seem to be as follows.

Supported resolutions at 16:10 aspect ratio:

1440 by 900 (native)
1280 by 800
1152 by 720
1024 by 640
800 by 500 pixels

Supported resolutions at 4:3 aspect ratio (stretched and non-stretched):

1024 by 768
800 by 600
640 by 480

Supported resolutions at 3:2 aspect ratio (stretched and non-stretched):

720 by 480 pixels

Best Answer

The supported resolutions defined on the Apple pages are for the built-in screen which is, pardon the pun, comparing apples to oranges in this case.

Plugging an external monitor in will show those resolutions that the monitor supports and you will be able to achieve the maximum resolution of the Dell monitor which is 1600x900

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MacOS – Choosing native screen resolution aspect ratio when screen sharing

After half a year and 2 bounties, no-one genuine solution, so the answer appears to be a simple "You can't do that".

How to test a display resolution that’s not listed

To see all graphics supported modes use the alt key before clicking on Scaled in display preferences.

To see it in 19:9 use a Thunderbolt cable to a TV. (assuming you have those)

If you have a Mac like I do (MBA 2012) then using the Thunderbolt you can get up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on your HDTV.

Intel HD Graphics 4000
Dual display and video mirroring:
Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

Best Answer

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MacOS – Choosing native screen resolution aspect ratio when screen sharing

How to test a display resolution that’s not listed

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