Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

M2 MacBooks Still Officially Support Only a Single External Display

Tyler O'Bannon said:
It may not be a software limitation, but a technical.

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.

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.
Click to expand...
. I can’t hogwash on the hardware reason being specifically is that if a single external screen is supported on a new M2 MacBook Air why are we able to do ProRES editing doesn’t make sense it just doesn’t make sense is nickel and diming at its best or from a consumer perspective at its absolute worst.
 
Apple is just being scummy at this point. How in hell does a next generation M2, which is better than original M1 not support multiple displays? It's so mind boggling. The same thing with their Stage Manager only on M1 iPads. A12Z is more than capable. They just want people to keep buying new and expensive machines. 😒 Environmentally friendly my butt.
 
  • Haha
  • Like
Reactions: chikorita157 and jakey rolling
Stella said:
Low end macs. You’ll have to pay extra if you want to use 2 external monitors
Click to expand...
It’s a really sickening implementation this time around.

I had good performance on an into a MacBook Pro $2700 with 512 GB of storage and 16 gigs of RAM sure I can get faster him today but I can’t use two externals monitor (?!) please, not cool I wonder what happens if you close the internal display do you still get two or so limited to one?
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Stella and GhostRaider
Mat.Rynio said:
With all due respect nobody cares what do you expect or what are your financial expectations. Apple introduced New 14" and 16" MacBook Pro and M1 Pro, M1 Max and M1 Ultra chips with all listed features they provide. If you want more external displays then you have spend some more money on the newest MacBook Pro. If you don't have money or don't want to do it then it is your problem at the end. MacBook Air is fanless, thin laptop for non-pro users so I understand why it has external display limitations. They upgraded old MacBook Pro for someone who needs laptop with fans and is on a budget. They did that but they didn't have to, so I think it is ok. They leave you with a choice so I don't see anything bad about it. Again, want more external displays buy 14" MacBook Pro. Cheers.
Click to expand...

With all due respect, stop the BS. If its not a next generation Apple sillicon chip, it should not be called M2. Period. It's ridiculous that a basic feature like dual monitors is not supported on a $1200 machine with a next generation chip. Even a measly Raspberry Pi that costs $35 has dual monitor support.

Screen Shot 2022-06-06 at 3.35.08 PM.png
 
  • Like
  • Wow
Reactions: rishey, sideshowuniqueuser, fisherman188 and 4 others
Tyler O'Bannon said:
It may not be a software limitation, but a technical.

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.

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.
Click to expand...
The base model M1 has plenty of raw GPU horsepower to run basic apps at 8K resolution 60Hz (Or four 4K displays). My desktop work PC is smoothly running triple 4K plus a 1080P display on a nearly 7 year old $150 video card. The M1 can run circles around my PC by any other metric.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: Mat.Rynio, Bobby Smallwood and GhostRaider
jakey rolling said:
Well, what @Mailia really needs is a professional laptop, rather than a lifestyle accessory merely branded as "Pro". Unfortunately, Apple doesn't make those.
Click to expand...

Then what is MacBook Pro with M1 Max then? Lifestyle accessory?


GhostRaider said:
With all due respect, stop the BS. If its not a next generation Apple sillicon chip, it should not be called M2. Period. It's ridiculous that a basic feature like dual monitors is not supported on a $1200 machine with a next generation chip. Even a measly Raspberry Pi that costs $35 has dual monitor support.

View attachment 2014731
Click to expand...
Then buy Raspberry Pi where is the problem? Someone pushes you to buy this old MacBook Pro? I don't get it. It is funny like a random dude like you is trying to tell everyone how it should be called or how it shouldn't be called, what features it should have and which shouldn't have. IT IS WHAT IT IS. Deal with it or buy another laptop. Well, and don't forget to complain on the automotive forum that Ferrari has only 2 seats for example xD Just Kidding, but hope you get the point. You have a choice so if you don't want to buy MacBook then buy something else instead.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: nebojsak, jimthing, fisherman188 and 2 others
Mailia said:
It's not called "MacBook Air with a Fan", it's called the "MacBook Pro".

Not that it'd actually be that much of an improvement, a $1200 laptop should be able to do multiple external monitors regardless of the name.
Click to expand...
It's the TimmeyBook Courage Pro Max™
 
  • Like
Reactions: Mat.Rynio
I was hoping I could replace my M1 Mac Mini with a M2 MBA. I was going to gift the M1 Mini to the kids and finally retire my 2012 MBA that I use for travel. Apple lost a purchase from me, makes no sense that they can't support dual external displays.
 
If I was in the market for a MBA and shopping primarily on practicality, I’d probably pick up a titled M1 at clearance prices.
 
So glad I went ahead and bought the 14” M1 Pro back when they were in stock instead of waiting for the new MacBook Air.

Even if the 15” MacBook Air is released next year they’ll probably keep this asinine limitation.
 
Macative said:
Who the **** buys a low end Mac to connect it to 2 displays?
Click to expand...
The 2018 Dell Latitude on which I am currently typing this, and for which my work paid $1400 CAD brand new, is happily powering three 1440p monitors. Surely a "Pro" machine designed by the elite engineering minds at Apple, costing $300 CAD more, and built this decade should be able to handle something as pedestrian as a basic Dell.
 
  • Like
  • Disagree
Reactions: Mat.Rynio and quicksilver77
In the Apple world, you always have had to pay to play. If I wanted more slots than the IIci had, I was told to buy the IIfx at substantially more money with twice the slots for cards and memory.

I bought the first generation M1 MBAir with 16GB ram and a 1TB SSD to see how the new system works. Should have ordered a special order with 2TB SSD. But was a good starter as I had a fully loaded 2019 16" Intel MBPro. Need extra air conditioning when Intel is working hard. My fully loaded 2021 14" MBPro never raises the fans to audible when running the same software as the Intel.

Still need an Intel for some legacy software. At least a couple more years of MacOS support for security patches.

Plan on the second generation Studio to replace my 2013 MacPro which just got locked at Monterey. Time moves on. The 2013 MP has run for almost ten years.

The important tidbit will be the clock speed of this "M2" for single core operation. The M1s nearly all have the same single core speed. That single core speed will be the clue of operational speed for most consumer apps needing only one or two cores.
 
Bobby Smallwood said:
I do, I bought the M1 Mac Mini for around half the price of the M2 MBA and it supports two external displays.
Click to expand...
But with MacBook Air you have also 1 internat display, so it is basically the same 😂 And Mac mini has cooling system when MacBook Air is fanless. Can you imagine anyone enter 2 external 4k displays, run multiple safari tabs, Final Cut Pro on tiny laptop without single fan? Where are you coming from people ... The idea of MacBook Air is a thin, light laptop made for copywriters, students etc. Basic tasks. No need for 2 external displays here. The price of Apple products is different story and it is something you accept or not.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back