Can I run a vertical 1440p monitor alongside a landscape 1080p monitor with this Macbook Air M1?

[Future-Proof]

Does anyone know if I can run a vertical 1440p monitor alongside a landscape 1080p monitor with this Macbook Air M1?

Thanks

 

[macbookm1airlover]

Others can feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but officially I believe Apple only supports one monitor with the M1 chip; however, I believe there is third-party software that you could get that would increase this to 2 or more.

 

[casperes1996]

Others can feel free to correct me if I am wrong, but officially I believe Apple only supports one monitor with the M1 chip; however, I believe there is third-party software that you could get that would increase this to 2 or more.View attachment 1806925

Mostly correct. It is not just software. It's a software+hardware combination. The product is DisplayLink
A brief technical explanation from the Wiki page

The DisplayLink network graphics technology is composed of Virtual Graphics Card (VGC) software that is installed on a PC and a Hardware Rendering Engine (HRE) embedded or connected to a display device. The DisplayLink VGC software is based on a proprietary adaptive graphics technology. The VGC software runs on a Windows, macOS, or Linux host PC and takes information from the graphics adapter and compresses the changes to the display from the last update and sends it over any standard network including USB, Wireless USB, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi. After receiving the data, the HRE then transforms it back into pixels to be displayed on the monitor. While the basic network graphics technology can be used on a variety of network interfaces (Ethernet, and Wi-Fi), DisplayLink has to date only designed products around USB 2.0, USB 3.0, and Wireless USB connectivity.[17]

So if you want to connect "directly" you're limited to 2 displays on the M1, including internal displays on products that have that, meaning 1 external display for laptop devices. 2 for Mac mini

 

[jdb8167]

Mostly correct. It is not just software. It's a software+hardware combination. The product is DisplayLink
A brief technical explanation from the Wiki page



So if you want to connect "directly" you're limited to 2 displays on the M1, including internal displays on products that have that, meaning 1 external display for laptop devices. 2 for Mac mini

The biggest problem with DisplayLink is if you want to watch HDCP protected video. You have to disconnect the DisplayLink display I believe or the video won't display. Since DisplayLink would be most appropriate for the 1920x1080 display, that is a pretty serious problem. I guess you could get a monitor stand that allows you to rotate freely for the 1440p display for watching video.

 

[xboxbml]

The biggest problem with DisplayLink is if you want to watch HDCP protected video. You have to disconnect the DisplayLink display I believe or the video won't display. Since DisplayLink would be most appropriate for the 1920x1080 display, that is a pretty serious problem. I guess you could get a monitor stand that allows you to rotate freely for the 1440p display for watching video.

You are very correct on the HDCP content. Found that out the hard way.. very disappointing. That's why I now have 2 docks instead of 1. 1 for work machine on which I do not watch movies, and 1 OWC TB2 dock for my Air..

 

[Tagbert]

Does anyone know if I can run a vertical 1440p monitor alongside a landscape 1080p monitor with this Macbook Air M1?

Thanks

This first release of the M1 chips does not directly support more than 2 screens and one is always the internal screen. As others have said, you could use DisplayLink but there are tradeoffs. You might be better served waiting for release of MacBooks using the next version of Apple Silicon chips which are expected to support additional monitors. There is a fully redesigned Air expected as soon as the second half of 2022, if you can wait that long.