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M1 Macs Able to Run Up to Six External Displays Using DisplayLink

ArrayDecay said:
Stupid question: how do you drive two HDMI monitors?
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From an M1 mac mini, plug one into the HDMI port and get a passive USBC-to-HDMI cable or adapter for the other one. (Could that also work for the M1 macbook air and macbook pro in clamshell mode? Has anyone tried it? [edit: The macbooks obviously lack an HDMI port. I meant has anybody tried two external monitors at all?])

If you want to drive two HDMI monitors in addition to the macbook builn-in display, then you could go with this DisplayLink solution. Get a USB-to-HDMI DisplayLink dongle (and, if the dongle calls for a USB-A port, also get a cheap USBC-to-USBA adapter).
 
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I already have a doc that has DisplayPort and USB-C - the HP Thunderbolt Dock 120W G2, but for some reason, this workaround isn't working with the driver. Does anyone else have this dock and had success with two screens using the workaround from this article? Thanks!
 
nt5672 said:
I just renamed my Raspberry Pi to Raspberry Pi Super Pro and now, based on your logic, it beats your MacBook Pro right out of the market!
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The MacBook Pro is an established brand and the M1 is a direct successor of the previous Intel brands. And ya'll were to the Moon and back about how great it is just a mere month ago. Btw the Pi can support two external monitors, so it could be called pro already :D

P.S.: I'd recommend to you to watch the movie Thropic Thunder. There's a line in it I find quite fitting for you.
 
tedwill said:
I already have a doc that has DisplayPort and USB-C - the HP Thunderbolt Dock 120W G2, but for some reason, this workaround isn't working with the driver. Does anyone else have this dock and had success with two screens using the workaround from this article? Thanks!
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Does the HP Thunderbolt Dock 120W G2 use DisplayLink technology? If so, the documentation should have said so. If not, then it won't work. (But you could connect one of those StarTech converters in video to one of your dock's USB ports.)

Some people have been disappointed to realize that dock they bought requires DisplayLink. You might have the opposite problem.
 
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dogslobber said:
Which part do you think is not supported? There's no kernel extensions so they're using support Apple APIs. It's similar to what virtualization vendors do.
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I mean that Apple doesn't support six external displays out of the box. You have to use third-party software to do it. Why doesn't Apple just do it if it works so well?
 
mattopotamus said:
Just keep telling us how amazing these things are. I feel like I am running a relic over here :(
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I dunno, my relic mid-2015 rMBP 15" runs just fine, handles every use case with aplomb, runs cool enough that I regularly sit it on my lap in a pair of shorts, and very very rarely spins up the fan. I mean, the new M1 Macs are super impressive, but I have no need for one until either this machine dies, or they put out a 16" M1 MBA with no touch bar. So, most likely when this one dies, hopefully not for a while yet, touch wood.
 
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Executor said:
You'd be surprised. I am currently using a Mac mini M1 with my Apple XDR display and it works great. I am sure some people will scuff at the idea of running a $6000 display with a $1000 computer but with the M1 it works amazingly well. Similarly, not everyone will benefit from a multi display setup but it is nice that the capability is there.



View attachment 1678548
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This looks so nicely minimalistic, loved it.
 
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I was reading up on Displayport MST. Mac OS supports MST for running 5k and 6k displays, but not for daisy chaining.

I wonder if you could could daisy chain two thunderbolt displays as that was a supported configuration before. I don't know of any other thunderbolt displays that support daisy chaining.

Anybody have two thunderbolt displays they could lend me to test out my theory?

At least, it looks like it might be possible to run 2 display ports monitors daisy changed in the future if Apple decides to add support.

apple.stackexchange.com

MBPr 2015, 2.5GHz i7 – Daisychaining 2 Dell U2414H 61 Screens

Marking this question as an already existing question is wrong as the other question refers to a Mid 2012 NONretina Macbook running 10.10.1 instead of 10.10.3/4 I think that daisy chaining DisplayP...
apple.stackexchange.com apple.stackexchange.com
 
Ironman226 said:
I have a 5 displays connected for few months now and found that the optimal configuration for me is three screens. Other problems which comes with more displays are skin and eye dryness.
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Skin? As in too much screen radiation of sorts?
I’m at 3 screens currently (2x 27” 2.5K, 1x 27” 5K) and swear by it, so I was thinking of getting a fourth one in the top middle... but now I wonder.
It is true that the screen usage is like 70% of the time in the middle main one, 25% on the right one and the rest 5% I spend on the left most one. But I do have multi desktop screen in two of them already which could have its own physical screen space.
 
Can't you use these Display Amplifiers on a regular Mac NON M1 too?
Thats all they are. Display adapters with miniature cards inside to amplify the video signal. So you can connect more than 1.
 
anthony11 said:
... because touching your keyboard or trackpad isn't nearly as kewwwwl?
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Eh, it‘s More about waking and UNLOCKing with Apple Watch that does not work with Display link.

can anyone tell if it now works to unlock on Big Sur with the Apple handled framebuffer?
 
duanepatrick said:
Me wondering what would someone do with 5-6 external displays...
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I have a friend who's a pro trader. He's running 4, he often streams on twitch too so I guess 2x trading / charts, 1x manage the stream, 1x browsing.

It's great such a tiny device can run them but other than surveillance 6 does seem a lot :)
 
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Tommy Luu said:
But it can't support 1920x1200 in 270° rotation. Anybody else have that issue? Should i report/submit the issue myself?
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The current display link drivers dont yet support rotation for M1 macs, only for Intel on Big Sur. Tried it today and confirmed via their support.
 
I've never had the best performance with DisplayLink. Admittedly, I have not done so in the USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 era with either of those connectors, but certainly, with USB 3 and earlier, it was garbage and only really good for light web and Microsoft Office type tasks. Definitely nothing compared to native GPU-driven display outputs.
 
Executor said:
You'd be surprised. I am currently using a Mac mini M1 with my Apple XDR display and it works great. I am sure some people will scuff at the idea of running a $6000 display with a $1000 computer but with the M1 it works amazingly well. Similarly, not everyone will benefit from a multi display setup but it is nice that the capability is there.



View attachment 1678548
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I see your comment got some thumb downs... I can only imagine that's due to jealousy of the XDR display (I am, but thumbs up for having one) 👍
 
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