The iPhone Air is Apple’s newest showpiece and does everything to steal the hearts of consumers. The Air is stylish, luxurious and contains smart solutions to achieve the thin design, but also makes concessions. Now it appears that the iPhone Air also has no displayport support.
DisplayPort is a digital audio and video interface that supports high resolutions and fast refresh speeds. It is ideal for connecting devices with external screens such as monitors. The iPhone 17 (Pro) supports video output up to 4K HDR to external screens, the iPhone Air unfortunately not.
DisplayPort for iPhone
DisplayPort is a digital connection developed by VESA, designed for transferring high-quality video and audio data between devices. Unlike older standards such as VGA or DVI, DisplayPort offers a stronger digital signal and supports modern resolutions.
The technology sends video signals directly from the source device to the external screen, so that users can display different content on each screen or expand their work surface over multiple monitors.
Modern smartphones and laptops use USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode to offer DisplayPort functionality via the USB-C port. Alt Mode also has USB-C ports non-USB signals, such as DisplayPort video signals, transported. This allows users to easily connect their device to external screens, projectors or TVs without adapters, while at the same time charging and data transfer remains possible.
For iPhone users, this means that they can transport directly from the iPhone media to an external display, and their iPhone remains accessible to other tasks.
DisplayPort operation
When a USB-C device, in this case an iPhone, with DisplayPort is connected to a compatible external screen, the device automatically recognizes the DisplayPort options of the screen and the USB-C port switches to DisplayPort mode. Video signals are then sent directly via the cable, and the external screen functions as a real extension of the original screen without the need for additional settings.
In practice, this means, as soon as you start a video on your iPhone, it is played directly on the external screen and you only see the media buttons for operation on your iPhone. It can be compared with AirPlay, but then over the cable. You can leave this interface and continue to use your iPhone while the video is played. Mind you, this is sometimes limited by the media app.
DisplayPort Support for iPhone
The iPhone models below support DisplayPort Alt Mode with a maximum video output up to 4K HDR.
- iPhone 15, iPhone 15 Plus, iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max
- iPhone 16, iPhone 16 Plus, iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max
- iPhone 17, iPhone 17 Pro and iPhone 17 Pro Max
All other models, including the iPhone 16th and iPhone Air, have no support for DisplayPort and are limited to a one-on-one synchronous display of the image.
Alternative: Synchronous display or AirPlay
When you connect an iPhone without DisplayPort option to an external screen, a synchronous display is started. This is a 1-on-1 copy of the iPhone screen, where all actions are visible. This works well, but you can’t use your iPhone while playing media without the media stop.
An alternative is AirPlay, but then your TV, device or external screen must also support this. You can then stream the media to an external device via a Wi -Fi connection.