MacBook Air M2 - poor quality in some cases

[mbam2]

Hi,

A month ago, I purchased a new MacBook Air M2 13-inch, which I intended to connect to two external monitors using the Dell D6000 docking station with DisplayLink technology, utilizing DisplayPort or HDMI cables. Generally speaking, almost everything works as it should—I downloaded the DisplayLink Manager software, connected the docking station via USB-C, and the two additional monitors were automatically detected. In theory, everything should be working. However, unfortunately, it’s not entirely smooth…

The main issue is the image quality on both monitors in certain scenarios. For example, if I have Chrome open with three different tabs, one website displays perfectly fine on the entire screen, while another tab looks like I’m watching a video in 480p resolution. On a third tab, the quality can drop after some time—sometimes after 30 minutes, sometimes immediately. Additionally, on some websites, when interacting with elements like hover effects, the image quality tends to degrade. Beyond the browser, while using system applications or quickly switching between desktops, the image quality can also drop—for instance, visible in the dock icons appearing with lower quality.

Initially, I assumed the issue might be a defective docking station (I updated the firmware) or poor-quality DisplayPort or HDMI cables. However, I don’t think that’s the problem. At work, we have several identical docking stations with different cables and monitors (all FHD), and everything works perfectly for others. The image quality is consistently good and doesn’t change when moving content on the screen. At work, everyone uses MacBook Airs with M1 or M2 processors. Additionally, we performed a test with the same monitors and docking station on two identical MacBook Air M2 models—my device and someone else’s. Everything worked perfectly on the other person’s MacBook, but the image quality on mine was noticeably worse and degraded at first glance. I also tried adjusting refresh rates (50Hz, 60Hz, and 75Hz), but it made no difference.

When I connected my computer to a single monitor via USB-C, the image quality was correct.

I tried restarting the entire system, reinstalling macOS, and testing on two different macOS versions—Sonoma 14.7.2 and Sequoia—but the same issue persists. I should note that the built-in display’s image quality is flawless. If I were to take a screenshot to demonstrate the poor quality, it wouldn’t capture the artifacts; only a video or photo taken with a phone could show the issue.

Where is the problem? Is it with my hardware or your software? If it’s a hardware issue, on what basis can I file a warranty or complaint?

Specifications:

Docking station: Dell D6000
Cables: DP to DP and DP to HDMI
Computer: MacBook Air M2 13” 16GB
Monitors: iiyama G-Master G2440HSU-B1 24" IPS, 1ms, 75Hz, FreeSync, HDMI, DisplayPort
DisplayLink Manager: 1.11.0 (Build 28)
Monitor resolution: 1920x1080
Looking forward to your response.



Best regards,
Mateusz

[mbam2]

ok it seems to be working right now after downgrade version of DisplayLink to 1.10.3...