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Hi,
I have bought Macbook Air M1 and I cannot connect more than one external display. When is this feature going to be implemented?
It cannot be that hard to add this feature, since there are solutions to this from 3rd parties.
Thank you for your help
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2
I know several people who naively thought this would be fixed with an enhancement in a later OS. The idea that Apple rolls out its own mighty silicon but can only mirror the MacBook display not be an extended monitor like even a cheap netbook or Microsoft Surface is pitiful. Maybe their ability to make an integrated GPU isn’t all its cracked up to be.
I know several people who naively thought this would be fixed with an enhancement in a later OS. The idea that Apple rolls out its own mighty silicon but can only mirror the MacBook display not be an extended monitor like even a cheap netbook or Microsoft Surface is pitiful. Maybe their ability to make an integrated GPU isn’t all its cracked up to be.
Hardware limitation? What limitation? I do not care about what the solution is. But I want it to work. This is apple... not some cheap brand.
The integrated graphics on the M1 chip support only two displays, one at up to 4K and one at up to 6K. On the MacBook Pro/Air, the lower resolution one is dedicated to the internal display. The M1 Mini can support two external displays because there's no internal one.
Your Mac can drive Apple's beautiful (and expensive) 6K display, but not two external displays.
Apple states clearly in the specs for the M1 notebooks:
Video Support
Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
Personally, I read the specs on a computer before I buy it and I don't buy it unless it meets my needs. If you require two external displays, buying an M1 notebook was not the right choice.
One option to consider is an ultrawide or super-ultrawide display. Personally I have a 5K:2K ultrawide that gives me close to two displays' width; there are 49" super-UW 5120x1440 (32:9) displays that are equivalent to a pair or 24" 16:9 displays.
Yesterday I made a small test that worked fine. I have a MacBook Pro M1 with a Dell monitor connected using HDMI using an adapter and I activated Airplay 2 to my Apple TV. To my surprise both monitors showed up in the configuration and I was able to handle both external displays without problems.
So it looks like two external monitors are support natively as long as one is connected using Airplay 2.
I called Apple Support today and they said you could do 2 External Monitors with MacBook Air M1 using a docking station off of one Thunderbolt port. However if you read this apple support page here Use external monitors with your Mac - Apple Support it says you can't. In fact it says "If you're using a Mac with Apple silicon, you can connect a single external display to your Mac using one of the Thunderbolt / USB 4 ports. Docks don't increase the number of displays you can connect as an extended desktop."
So was the Apple Support person confused or Is the Apple Support page wrong ?
I'd like to setup what is commonly called a "Dual Monitor" in the PC world but with the MacBook Air M1 (i.e. 2 separate External Monitors). It looks like there are docks that say they do that but now I'm not convinced. I was checking out one of the Docks by OWC that had 2 HDMI connectors. I may have to just buy everything and try it and if it doesn't work take it all back... but I'd rather not.
If anyone can clarify this situation for me I'd appreciate it..
Thanks...
Support for >1 external display cannot be added, it’s a hardware limitation. You need to either use a 3rd party solution, i.e. DisplayLink with the potential for lagging and being borked by macOS updates forcing a few weeks’ wait for new drivers, buy an Intel Mac that supports >1 display, or wait for then buy a newer model of Mac with the M1x/M2/whatever that will most likely support >1 display.
PizzaPit wrote:
The idea that Apple rolls out its own mighty silicon but can only mirror the MacBook display not be an extended monitor like even a cheap netbook or Microsoft Surface is pitiful.
The external display can be an extended monitor at up to 6K resolution.
I will just repeat that shame on apple, that their revolutionary M1 chip does not support such basic function as multiple external displays. It is really ridiculous in 2021.
Actually I got answer from Canyon that their dock does support this feature on Macbook Air. But it does not.
[Edited by Moderator]
Instead of two displays, why not get an ultra wide monitor?
Otherwise, buy a computer that meets your needs instead of buying
one that doesn't and then complain about it.
Why cant I use more than one external display on Macbook Air M1? When is this feature going to be available?
