XPS 13 9350 No video with Dell Type-C monitors

The Dell XPS 13 9350 laptop may experience "No video" issues when connected to a newer Dell Type-C monitor. Follow the guidelines below for identifying and resolving this issue.

XPS 13 9350 no video with Type-C monitor

A "No Video" issue may occur when you connect the older Dell XPS 13 (9350) laptop to any of the new Dell Type-C monitors.

The hardware for the XPS 13 9350 was developed well before the Dell Type-C monitors were introduced and there is a compatibility issue between the two devices. The XPS 13 9350 is now End-of-Life (EOL) with no plans to modify the laptop to work with the newer Type-C monitors. The Dell Type-C monitors are brand new (FY19) devices and will work with the latest series of Dell laptops with Type-C outputs.

Solution

The following solutions will work to connect the Dell XPS 13 9350 laptop to a Type-C monitor:

Dell Thunderbolt 16 Docking Station (TB16):

A Dell Docking Station, such as the Thunderbolt Dock TB16 (Figure 1), can be purchased separately and will allow the XPS 13 9350 to connect to a Type-C monitor. The Dell Type-C monitors come with a full-size DP to full-size DP cable and also come with a Type-C to Type-C cable. Both of these cables can be used to connect the Type-C monitor to the TB16 Dock connected to the laptop.

Figure 1: Dell TB16 Dock

Dell WD15 Docking Station:

An alternate solution is to use the Dell XPS 13 9350 with an optional Dell WD15 Docking Station (Figure 2). You will not be able to connect the Dell Type-C monitor to the WD15 Docking Station using either a Type-C or full-size DP cable provided with the monitor. But you can use a mini-DP to full-size DP cable, with the mini-DP cable connected to the WD15 and the full-size DP cable connected to the Type-C monitor.

Figure 2: Dell WD15 Docking Station