You need to check the specs for the specific dock before buying - does it support dual displays
on a Mac? (It may take manufacturers a while to update their published specs to specifically mention M3 MBA/MBP so you might have to ask). Most newer
Thunderbolt hubs should support dual displays - older Thunderbolt hubs might not (or might require you tu use a mix of HDMI and USB-C). "USB-C" (i.e. non-Thunderbolt) hubs probably won't. Beware of docks aimed at the PC market which use MST daisy-chaining to support multiple displays (won't work on Macs) or which use DisplayLink (...which are a valid alternative, even in non-clamshell mode but may introduce lag/artefacts).
Whenever I've used a "docked" laptop I've treaded the external display as my "main" display and used an external keyboard and mouse placed in front of it. Ergonomics of a laptop display at desk level + desktop display aren't good: I always used to use an "elevator" stand to raise the laptop up level with the external screen - but that rules out the built in keyboard and trackpad anyhow. "Clamshell" mode will probably satisfy more or the people more of the time. That said, Mac OS
really needs an "advanced" option in displays settings that lets you disable displays, lock in display configurations etc. for when the automatic detection
doesn't work.
Pretty sure that this was a genuine hardware limitation of the M1 that was only "fixed" with the M2 or M3.
Just speculating and trying to extrapolate from specs, but Looks like the M1 was hard-wired to support one external display over thunderbolt and one over an internal connection (the internal display on a MacBook, the HDMI port on a Mini) and couldn't switch between the two. It's the Mac Mini specs that really suggest this: M1 Mini supported one display over TB3 plus one display over HDMI - M2 Mini still only supports 2 displays but the second can be connected via either TB or HDMI. Also, the ports on the M1 machines were weirdly specified as "Thunderbolt/USB4" while the M2 Mini ports are just "Thunderbolt 4" (as on the M? Pro/Max machines) - the difference being that TB4 branding requires support for 2 displays.
Still - it does suggest that this feature
could have been added in software as far back as the M2 Air/MBP.
Sounds like Windows should be removed from
@Spock's 'IT department standard list' then...
If only...
...but seriously: dealing with queries like that is, always has been, and always will be part of the job for IT people. Heck, I've done enough of it when it
wasn't part of my job. Favourite was the guy who, on about the 4th time of repeatedly asking "have you changed any settings recently" came out with "Well, there were some files in a folder called System (we're talking classic Mac OS here) that I didn't recognise so I deleted them..." With Windows, it was realising that a bunch of Windows users
simply did not know how to copy a file other than by opening it in Word and doing "Save as..." (the support challenge was deducing that from "when I try to copy the file it says 'error'").
I'm not going to criticise actual IT people, but the management and financial priorities are the problem: IT is vital to the enterprise and needs a
lot of on-the-ground support. If end-users are "raising tickets" for basic "I need help operating my computer" queries then something is wrong (my experience is that they wouldn't bother with IT and just interrupt muggins here, who would probably resolve it in 30 seconds flat or if it
was a real problem make sure IT got a
helpful ticket with all of the relevant details - but of course that all happens off the books and my wasted time never shows up on the balance sheet when the head of IT proclaims the success of their efficiency savings). We had very good "official" IT people, too who were helpful when they got the chance - just not nearly enough of them.
