Connecting new MacBook Air to TV -- frustration!

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Level 1

5 points

Connecting new MacBook Air to TV -- frustration!

Connecting new MacBook Air to TV -- frustrating problem!

Hi all, thanks in advance for any help. Let me start by saying: using my wife's old MacBook Air circa 2016, we often connected her computer to our Samsung TV (circa maybe 2021). Mini-display port out to female HDMI, HDMI into the TV. Worked great, audio and video both.

Cut to today, we both have new MacBooks, with only USB-C out. Need to watch a youtube video. I order a USB-C to female HDMI cable (Anker) and plug it in. Audio out of sync, keeps skipping like a record, it even seems to affect the audio/video playback on my Mac. I have tried every setting I can find on both devices. Tried Airplay, but my Samsung only seems to do Airplay for audio.

Any suggestions? Thank you!

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Dec 16, 2025 12:41 PM

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Answer 1

SergZak

Level 6

10,684 points

Dec 16, 2025 1:18 PM in response to Sned2

Check the HDMI cable. Just because that cable worked previously with an older MacBook, doesn't mean it will work with the newer MacBook which is likely higher resolution/higher bandwidth output. Your existing cable may not be able to handle it, due to possibly limited bandwidth capability or length (it may be too long).

You can try to drop the Macbook's display resolution to it's lower/lowest settings (less bandwidth for the cable to deal with).

If that works without issue, you likely need a higher bandwidth HDMI cable.

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Answer 2

MartinR

Level 7

24,137 points

Dec 16, 2025 2:16 PM in response to Sned2

Sned2 wrote:

I order a USB-C to female HDMI cable (Anker) and plug it in. Audio out of sync, keeps skipping like a record, it even seems to affect the audio/video playback on my Mac.

Your experience suggests the Anker device is not working properly. If it's just a "USB-C to HDMI cable" that's not going to work. You need an actual adapter like the Apple USB-C Digital AV Adapter ... plus a good quality HDMI cable.

For further diagnostics it will help if you provide the exact models of your Samsung TV, the Anker device and the HDMI cable.

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