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M3 MacBook Air Supports More External Displays Than M3 MacBook Pro

I was about to order one because the prices are do-able but the lack of 120Hz is what killed it for me. The Midnight is darker than the Space Black, the Air form factor wins everytime, and the 24GB I was going to order was random but would've been a nice upgrade from 16GB. However, 120Hz is to me a required spec in 2024, especially when trying to future proof, and it's a joke that I could get 120Hz laptop/144Hz external on my current model 14" M1 Pro and only 60Hz output for both modes with the new M3 Air. Clearly a case of Apple intentionally limiting spec.
 
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oofio2461 said:
Tim, isn't the "Pro" model supposed to be better than the "Air" model? I think you need one of these,
jobs-grid-6c.jpg
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It only survived until 2008 when Steve Jobs and Apple launched the MacBook Air.
 
This is a software thing! Even the M1 can support 2 displays. They just found a way to exclude the internal display when the lid is closed....
 
tobybrut said:
I’m a software guy, so I don’ t know hardware that well, but it’s possible there’s a hardware shunt that allows the M3 to control a different monitor, sort of like one of those KVM switches internally. If it’s hardware based, they won’t be able to bring it to the M3 MBP.
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I was thinking the same thing.

If it's only a software update, in theory even the M1 MBP/Air's should also be able to get the same treatment. I'd sure be nice to ditch the Display Link dock as it can really ramp up the CPU usage.

Either way not holding my breath on it.
 
There is absolutely no reason that the M3 MBPro shouldn't be able to support two external displays.

Hell let's be fair a M2 standard should be able to as well Apple just needs another reason to get folks to a Pro or Max chip. Hell even a M1 is probably capable as well. If an Intel based chip could then the M processors should be able to.
 
Goodeye said:
There is absolutely no reason that the M3 MBPro shouldn't be able to support two external displays.

Hell let's be fair a M2 standard should be able to as well Apple just needs another reason to get folks to a Pro or Max chip. Hell even a M1 is probably capable as well. If an Intel based chip could then the M processors should be able to.
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Two things. Apple has said it will bring the feature to the M3 MBP through a software update. Also, it wasn’t the Intel chip that enabled multiple monitors since Intel chips support only a single display using integrated graphics, typically. Intel says they can support two, but in most cases, that is restricted to one. When a PC supports multiple monitors, that’s because the motherboard supports additional graphics cards which the Intel processor has nothing to do with.

People confuse the M-series chips built as SoC’s with Intel’s distributed systems where the M-series supports all graphics on board the SoC with built-in display controllers. The M-series base chips have two display controllers. The Intel CPU can support two, but is typically throttled down to one, so Intel supports as many or fewer displays than Apple. If you want to stick an Nvidia, AMD, or Intel dedicated PCIe graphics card in a slot to support more monitors, that’s different. Or if it’s a PC laptop, then it’s the dedicated AMD/Nvidia chip that is responsible for additional monitor support.
 
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No reason why the M3 MacBook Pro cannot support it. A software update should do the trick.
 
BrianM_CAN said:
Well, this is an update to the M2 Air, not a modified 14" MBP M3, to fit into the Air case.
I do think they should release a firmware update for the 14" MBP M3 that enables this clamshell mode as well - would be good publicity (and functionality for the users). There is a chance it's a change in hardware - but I suspect it's something that is set in firmware.

Your "first gen retina MBP" was a high end system with a separate GPU chip (even if it was the base 15" model) - Official specs are that it supports 1 HDMI and 1 Thunderbolt Display (if you daisy chain Thunderbolt displays you can do 2 Thunderbolt displays - so kinda supported, but most users would have not had this hardware available - much cheaper/easier to add an external display using DisplayLink to a new Air) with maximum 1920x1080 on an HDMI display and 2560x1600 resolution on a Thunderbolt Display - connecting an external display automatically kicked in the dGPU (the integrated graphics was only used with the internal display alone).
Even the M series Airs support up to 6K screens for it's external screen - looking at the specs for the new M3 Air - one at 6K, then "Close the MacBook Air lid to use a second external display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz" - so there does appear to be some bandwidth issues with the base M series. 1080p is about 2 million pixels, 2560x1600 is just over 4 million pixels - 6K is just over 20 million pixels (5k is just over 14 million pixels, 8K over 33 million pixels) - so the new models while limited in number of displays - can handle 10x as many pixels being displayed on them.

To me the worse thing is - the base memory has barely changed in 12 years - the 2012 Airs started with 4GB ram, the 2012 MBPs started with 8 GB of ram - now it's Airs with 8 GB, and the bottom M3 14" Pro only with 8 GB of ram, the rest of the models 16 GB. (Maximum ram in the same time period has increased by 8x - of course you are paying a high premium for that)
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Your point about resolutions is a complete red herring - because apple limit number of displays not number of pixels.

If they said you can run 3x WQXGA or 2x 1080p displays, or 2x4k or 1x6k or whatever - then you would have a valid point. But they don't.

And my first gen retina might have been top of the line in 2012 - but we are 12 years on. By Moore's law that's 250x more power. Even it was 2x, it's embarrassing they are selling machines supporting fewer peripherals than 12 years ago.

We do of course all sit here and take their crap, I write from my £3000 M3 Max MBP, purchased purely so I can support the number of displays I might need once in a while.
 
I am wondering if the M3 MBA can run in HiDPI mode on 3840 x 1620?

The M2s are only able to run in 3008 x 1269. And the MacBook Pro run in HiDPI mode on 3840 x 1620.
 
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