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Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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Apple today unveiled new MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models powered by its new M2 chip, and tech specs on Apple's website confirm that both notebooks officially support only a single external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

studio-display.jpg

The previous-generation MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro models with the M1 chip also supported only a single external display, according to Apple, but it was discovered that multiple displays can be connected to these notebooks with the use of DisplayLink adapters, and this will likely remain a workaround for the new M2 Macs.

The higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models support up to two external displays with the M1 Pro chip, and up to four with the M1 Max chip.

Article Link: M2 MacBooks Still Officially Support Only a Single External Display
 

Tyler O'Bannon

macrumors 6502a
Nov 23, 2019
677
1,086
It may not be a software limitation, but a technical.

First of all, the M1 and M2 have only 1 Thunderbolt bus. Both ports split/share 1 full amount of bandwidth, rather than each having a bus and having full bandwidth. That alone is why it only supports 1, even though that could support 2 4K displays daisy chained. I will explain why Apple doesn’t want that in a minute.

M1 Pro = 16 GPU cores and 2 displays
M1Max = 24-32 GPU cores and 4 displays

The 10 GPU cores may not be enough to support 2 external displays at 5K+

And, for each supported display, apple is NOT going to want to drop below 6k at 60Hz.

They do not want an M2 to support 2 displays, but only at 4K. Their first party displays are 5K and 6K, and they aren’t going to want to support less than their own.

Edit: it’s strange that people are “disliking” and “haha-ing” this post, considering it’s about the technical limitations of a chip. I think those are just the little turds on this forum that stir up trouble and always have to be right.
 
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velocityg4

macrumors 604
Dec 19, 2004
7,328
4,716
Georgia
Wait... the M1 Max support four displays? Really? I thought it was 3.
So it goes:
M#: 1 display
M# Pro: 2 displays
M# Max: 4 displays
M# Ultra: 5 displays

Does Apple not know what the most common multiple display setup is?
I think it is actually. 2, 3, 5, 5 for the regular through Pro. It's just the laptop's display counts as one of the displays.

Still, quite the disappoinment. I was hoping for support for at least two displays. The price hike is also disappointing.
 

Mat.Rynio

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2022
67
102
Not a surprise. What funny is that people want Air to be Pro Mac. People, there is a reason Apple sells Basic/Air Macs and Pro Macs. If you want a Pro features u have to buy 14"/16" MacBook Pro (2021). Don't forget that Air is fanless laptop.
 
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