DisplayLink Manager Updated With Native Support for M1 Macs and More

[sub150]

Does clamshell work on Big Sur yet? That was the biggest thing about a month ago, and had a huge number of upvotes on their site enhancements list.

FYI..it doesn't work.

Here is the link for the "ticket"

macOS App: Clamshell / Lid Closed Mode

The macOS App driver does not allow me to operate on external monitors with the laptop closed. I had to uninstall the driver and reinstall the one from November to be able to work in clamshell mode. This is glitchy in the old driver, often freezing my computer. I was hoping to see this stabilize...

support.displaylink.com

 

[beanbaguk]

Brilliant! I currently have my M1 hooked up to a Lenovo 4K natively through displayport, and another 2K Leonovo display through a displaylink hub. I paid just £20 on AliExpress for it and it works perfectly.

Super happy it now has native support. Works perfectly.

 

[VictorTango777]

Everything Apple does indicates that they don't want users using external displays.

- They've refused to produce any for years save for a ridiculous $6k entry.
- They disabled Target Display Mode so people can't use high quality Mac displays as external displays anymore.
- They allowed M1 Macs to be gimped and did not prioritize multi display support.

Apple engineers also don't seem to test user interfaces on anything larger than a 12 inch MacBook screen. After taking my MBP outside and working on some files, I really don't feel like connecting my external monitor and reopening the files when I come home because this is what happens. The situation is even worse if you connect to an ultrawide monitor. I have never seen an operating system handle window positioning as STUPIDLY as MacOS.

Note: That is not me in the picture.

 

[jml12286]

So I'm on a PD2720U, I've tried USB-C to HDMI, I've tried UCB-C to Thunderbolt via a thunderbolt cable. I haven't tried the DisplayPort yet. No displayport attempt yet.. so I suppose I have to buy yet another adapter and keep trying until I get it right?

Have you tried maybe changing usb settings on the monitor, I know this is the case on a few monitors Ive read reviews of. Apparently you have to switch from USB 3.0 to 2.0 in order to get 60hz at 4k. That is the case with a Toshiba 27" 4k USB-C monitor I have.

 

[MattMJB0188]

So can someone comment on any differences they notice with the M1 MBP on this version?

 

[Fomalhaut]

An entire app dedicated to being a workaround for inexplicable limits on external displays for M1 Macs.

The DisplayPort manager has been around for a while, and was not created for M1 Macs AFAIK....

 

[chucker23n1]

An entire app dedicated to being a workaround

Well, DisplayLink has been a thing for a long time.

for inexplicable limits on external displays for M1 Macs.

Not that inexplicable. The GPU in M1 Macs used to have to drive the displays of an iPhone or iPad, and sometimes one external display. On a Mac, you want more flexibility than that, and the M1 just isn’t there yet. Which, for a low-end model just isn’t that big a deal.

 

[Fomalhaut]

This and only providing two ports was why I returned my M1 MBP.

Did a dock or port-extended not work for you?

I find it makes things must cleaner on my desktop with the cables for monitors, Ethernet, audio interface, video capture stick, & power all hidden away. Just one cable to my MBP16 or M1 Mini

Also allows me to swap between multiple machines, or unplug my laptop with a single cable - so much easier....

 

[[AUT] Thomas]

Officially, Apple says M1 Macs only support one external display

...they should have really used a proper wording... like graphics chip of the M1 only supports one external monitor.

It's like saying "that car can carry 4 boxes in the trunk". All true... But if you use a trailer you can load 40 boxes.

Displaylink is that trailer.

 

[Fomalhaut]

...they should have really used a proper wording... like graphics chip of the M1 only supports one external monitor.

It's like saying "that car can carry 4 boxes in the trunk". All true... But if you use a trailer you can load 40 boxes.

Displaylink is that trailer.

Not sure about 40 boxes....but DisplayLink on the Macs is surprisingly good....

It has no issues with normal window management, video playback, or apps that need good UI responsiveness (e.g. video or photo editing). Maybe not great for games, but that's not my thing.

Only downside I've found is that windows can end up pushed to the edges of the screen with a tiny amount showing, after waking from sleep. At they are still "grab-able" unlike with Windows screen extension that sometimes pushes windows into an invisible off-screen space if you disconnect the monitor, e.g. after taking your laptop somewhere else.

 

[chucker23n1]

Only downside I've found is that windows can end up pushed to the edges of the screen with a tiny amount showing, after waking from sleep. At they are still "grab-able" unlike with Windows screen extension that sometimes pushes windows into an invisible off-screen space if you disconnect the monitor, e.g. after taking your laptop somewhere else.

I’ve been seeing this even without DL. Seems to be a WindowServer bug introduced with Catalina, maybe Mojave.

 

[Freeangel1]

When is Adobe gonna release M1 support for their software. They should have been on top of this and had their full suite updated by now.

 

[JohnnyGo]

Almost a 100% sure you have a cable or adapter issue.

I have a 49" ultra wide Samsung screen running at 120Hz without issues. Make sure the adapter you are using is at least DP 1.2 (1.3 at least for 120Hz). Also make sure that the display port cable itself supports at least DP1.2. A display port 1.2 cable is backwards compatible but a DP 1.0 might not support the transfer rates needed for DP1.2+.

If you are using HDMI, you need at least an HDMI 2.0 adapter and an HDMI 2.0 cable (again, there are differences between HDMI cables for different revisions).

Also keep in mind that if you connect the adapter to an USB-C hub, depending on the hub, it might not have the bandwidth needed specially if you are using HDMI (USB-C tops at 10Gb/s and for 4k, 60Hz you need at least 14.93Gb/s - 8bit color - and 35.83 Gb/s for 120Hz). If the USB-C hub doesn't has 4 lanes for video you will be out of luck and even if it has 4 lanes of video it will drop the USB connection to USB 2.0 and only works using DP, not HDMI (I am not a 100% sure about this to be honest, but I think HDMI will not work).

So please try connecting the adapter directly to the machine (if you are not doing that) and check if you have the proper cables and adapters.

Which DP adapter are you using?

 

[4487549]

So I'm on a PD2720U, I've tried USB-C to HDMI, I've tried UCB-C to Thunderbolt via a thunderbolt cable. I haven't tried the DisplayPort yet. No displayport attempt yet.. so I suppose I have to buy yet another adapter and keep trying until I get it right?

I’ve had a few BenQ 4k monitors, and absolutely love them.

Recommendation based on experience:

• TB (USB-C) to DP cable / adapter will work the best
• TB (USB-C) to HDMI cable / adapter will work the worst

Also, make sure that your DP cable / adapter is VESA-certifed.

 

[Billenright]

So can someone comment on any differences they notice with the M1 MBP on this version?

Using Mac mini with 3 40-inch AOC monitors and CalDigit hub.
Prior to upgrade, 3rd monitor seemed sluggish with mouse lag. After upgrade, very smooth and no occasional black screens.

 

[Fomalhaut]

When is Adobe gonna release M1 support for their software. They should have been on top of this and had their full suite updated by now.

Adobe seem to take ages to release significant updates for MacOS these days. They used be "Mac first", but these days, they look more like a "Windows first" software house. Adobe Premiere performance on MacOS is way behind Final Cut Pro and Davinci Resolve in many tasks.

I'm disinclined to choose Adobe software because of this and their inflexible and expensive subscription licensing model.

 

[Lukasz Rewerenda]

I now have three completely different multi-monitor setups with the M1s and I thought I'd share my experiences.

All the three setups use the same dock (Startech's "tripple 4k" dock -- this one: https://shop.buyitdirect.com/produc...XLdBOGAdU5FECcaArZFEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds#tabs)

Every setup uses a different mix of 4k and 2k monitors, mostly from Dell. All use high quality cables, as I had previously bad experiences with cable compatibility running multi-monitor setups on windows machines.

So, on M1:

- all setups generally work fine, the 4k screens all run @ 60Hz through displaylink docks; there is no lag or stuttering, neither in professional work, nor while viewing netflix or youtube
- HDCP-bound content, e.g. some videos bought on VOD platforms, play in SD quality only (yuck). Displaylink does not support HDCP, and while it is running, I think, even the directly-connected screens won't support HDCP. I have limited experience with that crap so I can't be sure if it is caused by DisplayLink software running in the background.
- displaylink-connected displays do not support rotation :-/
- occasionally, one of the monitors would not wake from sleep if I unlock the computer immediately. What I mean by that is approaching a sleeping MBP, and unlocking it with the fingerprint immediately. Waking the mac first, by, say, tapping the mouse, waiting 3 seconds for all the monitors to power-cycle, prevents this issue. However, it is not Displaylink related -- it happens to screens connected directly to the M1. It is also monitor-dependent (likely related to how quickly it wakes up). I have two monitors that are notorious for it, an Asus 2k and a Philips 4k ultrawide -- they do it once a week or so -- and one monitor that did it only once since December, a Dell 4k. Most other screens are Dell 4ks and wake up every time so far.

With all that, I couldn't be happier - best dev machine I had in years. I am nearly done replacing my PCs with M1-based MBPs, just one 12-core workstation left, being kept as a gaming computer. The M1 is a tad slower than the 12-core workstations it replaced, and way faster than the 6 and 8 core Xeon laptops we were using before, and are now collecting dust in the drawers. Best pc upgrade in years, probably since the transition from 80286 to 80486 years ago.

 

[cerberusss]

I have dual 4K LG 32" monitors. One connected directly to the M1 MBP (via a TB3 CalDigit dock), and the second via DisplayLink.

Why do you need DisplayLink? I've got the CalDigit TB3+ and it supports two 4K screens. Doesn't yours?

 

[joevt]

I would just like Apple to do a MST driver. Enough with demanding thunderbolt monitors. There just aren’t many, and they cost too much, and thunderbolt to add an extra monitor makes no sense in an enterprise environment. Please allow multi display use over DP.

Like every other computer company.

Plus, the latest DisplayPort 1.4 MST hubs support DSC, so with a single DisplayPort connection (25.92 Gbps), you can effectively send ≈40 Gbps of video data, enough for three 4K60 8bpc displays (I didn't try higher refresh rates). Thunderbolt only allows two displays (so far) and there's no option to force DSC to increase PCIe bandwidth of Thunderbolt. Well, maybe this doesn't matter since Apple removed DSC support in Big Sur?

 

[pray2crom]

Question: Is it a licensing issue that is preventing apple to allow eGPU support over thunderbolt? Or is apple done dealing with AMD?

 

[Charlie_Croker]

I think the complaints are that you only drive 1 monitor off of either of the USB-C ports, and 1 off the HDMI. It's confusing because you would think both USB-C ports with dedicated bus should be able to drive a display.

The OP was complaining that there are only 2 TB4/USBC ports on the M1 Mac. But yeah I am aware of the limitations of the external display support on the M1 Mac mini, surprised me that I had to connect one display with HDMI and the other with DP, but it works. So in my use case for the M1 Mac mini:
TB Port 1. Connects to a Caldigit USBC Pro Dock (supports TB3 @ (40Gbps) and USB C (@10Gbps)), this connects to a 4K 10 bit display at 4K via one of its DP ports, (No display from second port with an M1 Mac mini)
TB Port 2. Connects to a Caldigit 10Gbe adapter (I'll probably change the USB C/TB3 Dock for a Caldigit TS3+ in the future so I can daisy chain the 10Gbe adapter from that).
HDMI connects to 2560x1440 display

 

[jonnysods]

Did a dock or port-extended not work for you?

I find it makes things must cleaner on my desktop with the cables for monitors, Ethernet, audio interface, video capture stick, & power all hidden away. Just one cable to my MBP16 or M1 Mini

Also allows me to swap between multiple machines, or unplug my laptop with a single cable - so much easier....

Yeah I use a Startech Thunderbolt 3 dock, I can get 4 other screens running off my Intel MBP. The M1 could get 4 running, however two of the screens were very pixelated. Even dropping a screen didn’t help.

I will be patient and wait for the 16” with 4 ports and a dedicated GPU.

 

[agffth]

Why does Apple hate multiple displays so much?

 

[JackNL]

Apple has totally dropped the ball on display support for m1 macs. I still can’t get 60hz on my benq 4K monitor.

If I were Intel, this is what I would be laughing at... "we at intel have cpu's that can actually make your monitor work"

Strange, your problem with your Benq, you're sure you have the right USB-C or HDMI cable? Especially a HDMI has different specs which can cause these issues. I have a LG 4K screen on my M1 and picture quality is excellent at 60Hz.

 

[IonBlade]

Anyone have experience using the DisplayLink displays on an M1 for things like cloud gaming (e.g. Shadow, or streaming from another computer with Moonlight)?

I'd love to switch back to Mac with an M1 Mini, but Apple keeps dropping the ball on triple monitor support, outside of insanely expensive Mac Pro machines I can't justify. (The Intel Minis apparently couldn't keep up well with 3x 4K60 from threads on here and other places that I'd seen, due to the way MacOS handles scaling to anything but 100% or 200% resolution on CPU, and the Intel CPU not being able to keep up with that many pixels.)

My setup has 3x 4K60 monitors, with rotated 24" left and right monitors, and a 40" horizontal in the center. Since DisplayLink doesn't work with rotation on M1, that means I'd have to use the 2 native M1 video outputs for the rotated left and right monitors, leaving DisplayLink for my main center monitor, where I occasionally stream cloud games.

I'm concerned because I haven't seen anyone test how DisplayLink on an M1 deals with full-screen, 4K60 high-motion, low-latency content like cloud gaming. Have only seen people showing off static content and YouTube full screen (where latency isn't something you have to worry about).

My last DL experience was with a 2011 MBP, and it was fine for static content, but high motion content like YouTube videos and the like played poorly on it and chewed up the CPU. Not sure how far things have come since then in terms of feasibility for full screen streamed gaming on DL displays.

If it's still not up to the challenge for driving a monitor where one would be streaming cloud games, then I guess I'll just have to keep sticking with PC, and wait for the day that Apple finally realizes that performant triple 4K monitors on a desktop shouldn't carry a $4300+ premium over their 2 monitor capable desktops.