How to connect your macbook to a data projector

This is an Apple display adapter. They come in various shapes and sizes. The left hand end plugs into you laptop. There are 5 different possible left hand ends you can choose from: MiniVGA, DVI, Mini-DVI, MicroDVI and MiniDisplayPort! You’ll need to match it to your macbook. The right side plugs into a data-projector or monitor – there are 3 different right hand ends to choose from, VGA, DVI or HDMI. You’ll need to match this to your projector. If you always carry around the adapter to connect your mac to a VGA projector, that should get you out of trouble 99% of the time. If you want to be 100% sure, carry an adapter to connect to DVI as well.

1. The left hand side – your laptop.

All macintosh laptops have a ‘video out’ port, but Apple have changed the format of the port every few years. For this reason you need a special adapter with pretty much every mac laptop to be able to connect it to a projector or monitor. I would suggest you get the adapter for your particular macbook and keep it with your macbook. Here are what some of them look like:

2. The right hand side: to the projector.

In the projector world there are two main connections – VGA and DVI. There is also HDMI but most HDMI projectors also have DVI so I won’t mention them here.

VGA. This is the most common projector input. If you are on the road a lot then the safest connector to get is a VGA connector.  Pretty much every projector will have a VGA input. Even though VGA is quite old and not the best quality, almost all new projectors still have a VGA input because it was the standard output of PC computers for many years. VGA looks like this:

DVI

DVI is a lot better quality than VGA, so if you are connecting to a projector that has DVI, DVI is a better option. Not all projectors have DVI, although most new ones do. A DVI input looks like this:

So what I suggest is that you always carry the adapter to connect your computer to a VGA projector. For example, if you have a macbook with a Mini DVI port, the following adapter is what you need to plug into a VGA projector.

Whatever laptop I have, I always carry two adapters, one for VGA and one for DVI.

My current laptop is a 15″ macbook pro. It has a DVI output. So to be able to plug into any projector, I always carry a DVI to DVI cable to plug into a DVI projector, PLUS I carry an Apple DVI to VGA adapter with a VGA lead so I can plug into any VGA projector.

Here are some of the various adapters in the APPLE USA store.

To a VGA projector:

Apple Mini DVI to VGA Adapter

Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter

Apple DVI to VGA Display Adapter

Mini VGA to VGA Adapter

To a DVI Projector:

Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter

Apple Mini-DVI to DVI Adapter

Apple Micro-DVI to DVI Adapter