Connecting multiple Macs to Pro Display XDR

[jaeroner3653]

Yes the usbc's on the back of the XDR do work when connected directly to the pc with the WSJEOG without using the switch. strange....

 

[jaeroner3653]

Ill have a play with the different options for connecting and report back.

Update: The switch does not seem to enable me to use the USB c's on the XDR when switching to PC. or power anything from the switches other port when using pc or mac.

my motherboard is here

 

[fpenta]

Great news, everyone! I've finally found a solution to properly and reliably switch a Pro Display XDR between a Mac and a PC, the latter being connected with a bidirectional DisplayPort-to-USB-C cable.

It's this product: Cable Matters 20Gbps USB-C Switch

✅ 6K@60Hz from both Mac and PC
✅ Switches quickly (~3 seconds)
✅ Works every time (as opposed to Sabrent's Thunderbolt 4 KVM)
✅ Not expensive
✅ Good cable length
✅ Not external power supply required

Important to note:

• It's a USB-C switch, not a Thunderbolt switch. Despite this, System Profiler shows the Pro Display XDR as being connected in "Thunderbolt 3" mode.
• The switch didn't seem to work with Thunderbolt cables connected directly to it (but that may have been a cable issue).
• The USB-C cable connecting to the switch needs to support a data rate of 20gbps. The two included cables do that. If the cable only supports 10gbps, there will either be no connection (black screen), lots of flickering or even a kernel panic. That being said, I've had success with a short USB-C cable that was only rated at 10gbps (but did connect at 20gbps).
• When using a Thunderbolt Dock between the Mac and the Switch, make sure to connect the switch to one of the Thunderbolt ports.
• HDR works fine from the Mac, but Windows stopped showing it as supported after some Nvidia driver update or so. I don't care enough to investigate. Interestingly enough, the Nvidia driver panel allows switching to 12 bits per channel.

I use the switch like this: Mac Studio -> Thunderbolt 3 Dock -> Cable Matters Switch -> Pro Display XDR
Multiple Thunderbolt docks seem to work in that configuration; I've tried both a Promise TD-300 (JHL6540 I believe) and a Orico TB3-S2 (JHL7440).

Note regarding availability: The switch is sometimes out of stock and doesn't seem to be available outside the US (yet). I managed to buy a used one on Amazon, which for some reason does ship to Europe.

I can confirm this switch is perfectly working on both Studio Display and Pro Display XDR with also HDR supported with Windows (need to install bootcamp)! Thanks so much!

 

[petardosh]

Hi everyone,

I decided to give the Cable Matters USB4 switch a try to get rid of the manual unplug and re-plug chore I have with my two Macbooks (M1 and M4) for the last four years. Both are connected to a Anker Thunderbolt 4 Mini Dock, which then connects to the Apple Pro Display XDR. The XDR serves as USB hub for devices shared by both Macs (Logitech 4K cam, keyboard, trackpad and audio device).

The switch works smoothly, even more reliable than the manual replugging somehow. What I don't understand is that the System Profiler reports the XDR connected to my Mac using Thunderbolt 3. Even the Logictech cam is reported to be connected with USB 3.1, just as with using a single Thunderbolt 3 cable before.

The switch is limited to 20Gbps and the Cable Matters Knowledge Article states that it doesn't support Thunderbolt 3. I was expecting to see something like USB-C show up in the System Profiler. I was trying AGDCDiagnose to see if DSC is used but it doesn't work with ARM Macs.

Is there a way to see what kind of connection is actually used and whether bandwidth is reduced?

 

[PaulD-UK]

@petardosh As I understand it, the Pro XDR Display runs in (dual-channel) TB3 mode when the computer it is connected to has a GPU which doesn't support DSC.

If the computer supports DSC, which Apple silicon Macs do, it runs using USB-C Alt-mode DP.

One way you can tell visually if a monitor is running at full resolution 10 bit colour is described in this post, in a thread about testing another 6K display.
You have to display the downloaded image at the highest resolution of the monitor (6K), and display the image at 100%.

One of the conclusions of that thread is that 6K HDR seems to need a TB 5 computer and TB 5 cable to the computer to provide enough bandwidth on that monitor, with TB 4/USB4 cables not giving enough bandwidth for HDR.

 

[petardosh]

Thanks @PaulD-UK ! The image from the other thread didn't show any artefacts or similar as mentioned in the other thread. Also wasn't aware that my XDR was running using DSC all along. In that case 20 Gbps should be enough as the XDR requires only ~13 Gbps with DSC for full resolution video stream.

I did another test to see if I can remove one Anker Dock to reduce desk clutter. Unfortunately this is where the 20 Gbps limitation starts to be noticeable. When running the single dock through the switch, write speeds on my TB4 HDD are reduced by 1/3. Now I'm torn between keeping the switch or waiting for the USB4 40 Gbps switch Cable Matters announced. But then, I've been waiting four years for this switch and def don't want to wait that long again. 😁

Edit: Cable Matters said the 40Gbps USB switch will ship in Q2 2026.

 

[- rob -]

Curious if there are any updates from folks using the $60 Cable Matters 20GB switch or the $300 Sabrient TB4 KVM switch with the XDR Pro Display. How is it going?

I am going to need to switch between a Mac Mini M4 and a Macbook Air M2 and am hoping to avoid playing telephone switchboard with the cable.

Any other new products since Fall 2025 people have found?

 

[fpenta]

Curious if there are any updates from folks using the $60 Cable Matters 20GB switch or the $300 Sabrient TB4 KVM switch with the XDR Pro Display. How is it going?

I am going to need to switch between a Mac Mini M4 and a Macbook Air M2 and am hoping to avoid playing telephone switchboard with the cable.

Any other new products since Fall 2025 people have found?

I use the Cable Matters Switch USB4 between a Mac Studio and a PC. Can only recommend it. It works great with the XDR and it’s cheap!

 

[- rob -]

I use the Cable Matters Switch USB4 between a Mac Studio and a PC. Can only recommend it. It works great with the XDR and it’s cheap!

Thanks for the reply.

Are you able to keep the Mac Studio alive using Amphetamine (or similar stay awake app) when you switch away?

Do you share devices between the machines, and does the CM switch seem to support full speed on those devices?

I'm trying to determine what benefit the Sabrient might offer at this point.

 

[fpenta]

I haven’t tried to use a stay awake app honestly, but I think you won’t have any problem with that.
Yes the it supports full resolution at full speed. On windows, it also supports 6k HDR.
I connected the keyboard/mouse and mini jack/ USB-C dongle to the back of the display so that I can share the same peripherals. It solved me so many headache when switching between a system and another

 

[fpenta]

Thanks for the reply.

Are you able to keep the Mac Studio alive using Amphetamine (or similar stay awake app) when you switch away?

Do you share devices between the machines, and does the CM switch seem to support full speed on those devices?

I'm trying to determine what benefit the Sabrient might offer at this point.

I haven’t tried to use a stay awake app honestly, but I think you won’t have any problem with that.
Yes the it supports full resolution at full speed. On windows, it also supports 6k HDR.
I connected the keyboard/mouse and mini jack/ USB-C dongle to the back of the display so that I can share the same peripherals. It solved me so many headache when switching between a system and another

You dont need the Sabrient

 

[- rob -]

I tested the Cable Matters USB4 switch tonight with a Mac mini (M4) and a MacBook Air (M2).

• Each computer is connected to one of the switch’s two host ports (using the included cables).
• The switch output goes to the main powered TB4 port on the right side of my OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock.
• From a TB4 port on the back of the dock, I connect to my Pro Display XDR.

So far, it’s working.

With the MacBook Air kept awake (I used Amphetamine), I can run it in clamshell mode and switch back and forth between the mini and the MBA without re-plugging anything.

I tested this with a Claude Code session, switching away during a task that took a few minutes, switching back and finding it completed no problem.


Peripherals

• I can share one Magic Keyboard + Magic Trackpad, but only if they’re plugged into the Pro Display XDR.
• Plugging them into the Thunderbolt Go dock did not work reliably for switching between machines. This is despite being further upstream than the XDR Display.

Power / charging behavior (MBA):

• The MacBook Air does not maintain cable-based power/charging through the switch, but as long as I have the forced awake during clamshell running, the battery takes over seamlessly until magsafe takes over:
• If I plug MagSafe in at the same time, it does start charging, but there’s a several-second delay (you hear the power chime once the display finishes reconfiguring after a switch).

Overall: display switching works, peripherals work via the XDR, and MBA charging doesn’t pass through the switch.

 

[rwzdoorn]

Hi,

I've been looking for a KVM option to switch between a windows PC (with Gigabyte GeForce RTX 5070 Ti WINDFORCE OC SFF 16G) and a MacBook Pro 2.

All I found was a very expensive UDP2-12AP KVM switch is using DisplayPort 1.4. As I read this, is there a cheaper option by simply using the Cable Matters USB4 switch?

 

[twilightgod]

Hi, if I want the full 40G bandwidth, SB-TB4K is the only good solution?
I have dock and don’t need the other ports on it.
I feel it’s too expensive to buy 2 units for XDR and other Studio Display.
Maybe physically unplug and plug cables from my two MacBooks is more practical

 

[twilightgod]

I tested the Cable Matters USB4 switch tonight with a Mac mini (M4) and a MacBook Air (M2).

• Each computer is connected to one of the switch’s two host ports (using the included cables).
• The switch output goes to the main powered TB4 port on the right side of my OWC Thunderbolt Go Dock.
• From a TB4 port on the back of the dock, I connect to my Pro Display XDR.

So far, it’s working.

With the MacBook Air kept awake (I used Amphetamine), I can run it in clamshell mode and switch back and forth between the mini and the MBA without re-plugging anything.

I tested this with a Claude Code session, switching away during a task that took a few minutes, switching back and finding it completed no problem.


Peripherals

• I can share one Magic Keyboard + Magic Trackpad, but only if they’re plugged into the Pro Display XDR.
• Plugging them into the Thunderbolt Go dock did not work reliably for switching between machines. This is despite being further upstream than the XDR Display.

Power / charging behavior (MBA):

• The MacBook Air does not maintain cable-based power/charging through the switch, but as long as I have the forced awake during clamshell running, the battery takes over seamlessly until magsafe takes over:
• If I plug MagSafe in at the same time, it does start charging, but there’s a several-second delay (you hear the power chime once the display finishes reconfiguring after a switch).

Overall: display switching works, peripherals work via the XDR, and MBA charging doesn’t pass through the switch.

I’m still confused on the 20G bandwidth, in my understanding, Pro Display XDR will run in DSC mode with this cable, then how much bandwidth left to run other devices? For example 2.5G NIC and sd/cfexpress card reader? Did you do some test?
Also I assume if I connect directly with Thunderbolt cable, Pro Display XDR will not use DSC to compress, the image quality should be better than using this switch? Thanks

 

[joevt]

I’m still confused on the 20G bandwidth, in my understanding, Pro Display XDR will run in DSC mode with this cable, then how much bandwidth left to run other devices? For example 2.5G NIC and sd/cfexpress card reader? Did you do some test?
Also I assume if I connect directly with Thunderbolt cable, Pro Display XDR will not use DSC to compress, the image quality should be better than using this switch? Thanks

EDID of Studio Display XDR says pixel clock is 1902.58 MHz for 5K120. With DSC@12bpp, that's 22.83 Gbps. DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 x4 can handle up to 25.92 Gbps. 8 Gbps per lane, 4 lanes, one direction.

20G bandwidth is referring to USB4 gen 2 speed, 10 Gbps per lane, 2 lanes in each direction, 20 Gbps total for each direction. This is similar to the limit of USB 3.2 gen 2x2. USB 3.1 (or USB 3.2 gen 2x1) is also 10 Gbps per lane, but only one lane in each direction, leaving 2 lines of the USB-c cable free to do 2 lanes of DisplayPort.

A USB-C cable has 4 SuperSpeed lines total.

A full speed USB4 connection has gen 3 speed, 20 Gbps per lane, 2 lanes in each direction, 40 Gbps total for each direction.

When connecting the Studio Display XDR with a non-Thunderbolt/USB4 connection, you want it to use HBR3 x4 + USB 2.0. Not HBR3 x2 + USB 3.x because then it can't do 5K120.

Studio Display XDR can't do 5K120 with a Thunderbolt/USB4 20 Gbps connection. It must be using a USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode connection of HBR3 x4 + USB 2.0 or a 40 Gbps USB4/Thunderbolt connection.

For Dual tile mode, I think the Studio Display XDR only supports 5K60. It doesn't have a 2560x2880 120 Hz mode for the tiles.

An uncompressed 5K120 requires DisplayPort 2.1 for 57 Gbps. The DPCD of the XDR indicates that it only supports DisplayPort 1.4.
https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/issues/5496#issuecomment-4623553387

 

[twilightgod]

EDID of Studio Display XDR says pixel clock is 1902.58 MHz for 5K120. With DSC@12bpp, that's 22.83 Gbps. DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 x4 can handle up to 25.92 Gbps. 8 Gbps per lane, 4 lanes, one direction.

20G bandwidth is referring to USB4 gen 2 speed, 10 Gbps per lane, 2 lanes in each direction, 20 Gbps total for each direction. This is similar to the limit of USB 3.2 gen 2x2. USB 3.1 (or USB 3.2 gen 2x1) is also 10 Gbps per lane, but only one lane in each direction, leaving 2 lines of the USB-c cable free to do 2 lanes of DisplayPort.

A USB-C cable has 4 SuperSpeed lines total.

A full speed USB4 connection has gen 3 speed, 20 Gbps per lane, 2 lanes in each direction, 40 Gbps total for each direction.

When connecting the Studio Display XDR with a non-Thunderbolt/USB4 connection, you want it to use HBR3 x4 + USB 2.0. Not HBR3 x2 + USB 3.x because then it can't do 5K120.

Studio Display XDR can't do 5K120 with a Thunderbolt/USB4 20 Gbps connection. It must be using a USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode connection of HBR3 x4 + USB 2.0 or a 40 Gbps USB4/Thunderbolt connection.

For Dual tile mode, I think the Studio Display XDR only supports 5K60. It doesn't have a 2560x2880 120 Hz mode for the tiles.

An uncompressed 5K120 requires DisplayPort 2.1 for 57 Gbps. The DPCD of the XDR indicates that it only supports DisplayPort 1.4.
https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay/issues/5496#issuecomment-4623553387

That's good information, thanks, I'm wondering how Pro Display XDR work with this KVM.
I read some articles saying that Pro Display XDR is using two display channel within one Thunderbolt connection in a special way, it untilize major part of 40G bandwidth, results in the USB ports are only 2.0 on the back.
If this Cable Matters KVM can support Pro Display XDR, I think it should be DP Alt mode, which has 25.92G max bandwidth, it's less than 40G, so I assume Pro Display XDR need to get DSC work, that will result in picture quality is worse than direct Thunderbolt connection?

 

[joevt]

I read some articles saying that Pro Display XDR is using two display channel within one Thunderbolt connection in a special way, it untilize major part of 40G bandwidth, results in the USB ports are only 2.0 on the back.

Pro Display XDR is Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort 1.4, 6K60.

When connected to a Mac that supports DSC, It uses less Thunderbolt bandwidth than a 4K60 (no DSC) display. If it is connected with Thunderbolt, then it support full USB 3.0 speed. If it is connected with USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode, then it is limited to USB 2.0.

When connected via Thunderbolt to a Mac that does not support DSC, it uses two DisplayPort 1.4 connections (3008x3384 60Hz 10bpc) via Thunderbolt, taking up ≈39 Gbps, leaving 1 Gbps for the USB 3 ports. I don't recall anyone showing what the bandwidth of the USB ports are in this configuration. Is it 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) or is it greater than that?

If this Cable Matters KVM can support Pro Display XDR, I think it should be DP Alt mode, which has 25.92G max bandwidth, it's less than 40G, so I assume Pro Display XDR need to get DSC work, that will result in picture quality is worse than direct Thunderbolt connection?

DSC is visually lossless so you shouldn't be able to see a difference.
Also, DSC is the default mode via Thunderbolt 3, so that the USB 3.0 ports can work at full speed.

Studio Display XDR is 5K120. It uses more bandwidth than 6K60. Although it supports Thunderbolt 5, it uses only DisplayPort 1.4 to achieve 5K120. A dual-tile mode (2560x2880 120Hz x2) would be limited to 8bpc which is not enough for HDR. It only supports dual-tile mode at 5K60 for old Macs that don't support DCS.

 

[twilightgod]

Pro Display XDR is Thunderbolt 3, DisplayPort 1.4, 6K60.

When connected to a Mac that supports DSC, It uses less Thunderbolt bandwidth than a 4K60 (no DSC) display. If it is connected with Thunderbolt, then it support full USB 3.0 speed. If it is connected with USB-C DisplayPort Alt Mode, then it is limited to USB 2.0.

When connected via Thunderbolt to a Mac that does not support DSC, it uses two DisplayPort 1.4 connections (3008x3384 60Hz 10bpc) via Thunderbolt, taking up ≈39 Gbps, leaving 1 Gbps for the USB 3 ports. I don't recall anyone showing what the bandwidth of the USB ports are in this configuration. Is it 480 Mbps (USB 2.0) or is it greater than that?


DSC is visually lossless so you shouldn't be able to see a difference.
Also, DSC is the default mode via Thunderbolt 3, so that the USB 3.0 ports can work at full speed.

Studio Display XDR is 5K120. It uses more bandwidth than 6K60. Although it supports Thunderbolt 5, it uses only DisplayPort 1.4 to achieve 5K120. A dual-tile mode (2560x2880 120Hz x2) would be limited to 8bpc which is not enough for HDR. It only supports dual-tile mode at 5K60 for old Macs that don't support DCS.

Thanks, I’m connecting Pro Display XDR to MacBook m3 and m4 via Thunderbolt, so it’s already using DSC now.
If I connect this KVM, it’s going through DP Alt mode with DSC as well, so image wise it’s the same, only difference is usb port will be 2.0 speed.