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Please clarify how many external displays can a MacBook Pro M4 Pro 16" drive?

H

hajime

macrumors G3
Original poster
Jul 23, 2007
8,132
1,393
Hi, I am a bit confused about the way the specs is presented. Is it Point 1 and Point 2 or Point 1 and Point 3 or Point 1 and Point 2 and Point3?

www.apple.com

MacBook Pro - Tech Specs

See all the technical specifications for the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M4, M4 Pro, and M4 Max chips.
www.apple.com


M4 Pro

1. Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:
2. Up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, or one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI
3. One external display supported at 8K resolution at 60Hz or one external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

Also, is
"Thunderbolt 5 digital video output
Support for native DisplayPort 2.1 output over USB‑C
HDMI digital video output
Support for one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz"

only available on the M4 Max or both M4 Pro and M4 Max?
 
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I read this as, Supports built-in display AND:

1. 2 external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt

OR

2. 1 external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt & 1 external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI

OR

3. 1 external display supported at 8K resolution at 60Hz

OR

4. 1 external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

It's odd there is no 120Hz support option
 
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I think last year it was 2 external displays for M3 Pro and if one wants to connect three, one had to choose M3 Max.
This year Apple increased the number of external displays from one (M3) to two (M4) but not the Pro?

Currently I need one internal display and two external 5K 60Hz display (all displaying different things). I may add one more 4K or 5K display later. So, M4 Max is the only choice? Computational-wise, probably M4 Pro is fast enough for me. Next year M5 Pro may outperform M4 Max. Not sure if it is wise to spend the extra money to get the Max.
 
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It is really disappointing that the M4Pro is still limited to 2 external displays (with or without closing the lid).

They have the ability (as they showed previously) to at least allow us to switch between the internal and one more external display but they didn't add that to the new M4 and M4 Pro chips. So frustrating.

But yes, if you need support for more than 2 external displays (which plenty of professional users do), you MUST buy a Max processor. Still. After 4 generations when previously the base intel MBP supported 4 external displays.
 
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Saturn1217 said:
It is really disappointing that the M4Pro is still limited to 2 external displays (with or without closing the lid).

They have the ability (as they showed previously) to at least allow us to switch between the internal and one more external display but they didn't add that to the new M4 and M4 Pro chips. So frustrating.

But yes, if you need support for more than 2 external displays (which plenty of professional users do), you MUST buy a Max processor. Still. After 4 generations when previously the base intel MBP supported 4 external displays.
Click to expand...

What does the MAX support?
 
Yeah it sucks that the number of external monitors support did not increase. I had 2 x 27" 4K Dell monitors and when got my new 32" Samsung OLED monitor this summer I found out my M1 Pro could not drive all 3 at once. I was hoping that would change the M4 Pro but it also appears that I would need a M4 Max MacBook Pro. I've decided to get the new M4 Pro Mac Mini instead.
 
RobCoenen said:
I wonder if you can use 3 external displays (M4 Pro) when the lid is closed.
Click to expand...
I would love for that to be true but I feel like they would have mentioned this.

With the M3 when they gave users the ability to use 2 external displays with the lid closed this was listed in the specs.

I wonder if, since Apple demonstrated it was possible, a 3rd party could enable this for M4 and M4 Pro chips?
 
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I'm disappointed that the Pro doesn't support 3+ as well. I'm essentially being forced to spend over an extra $1000 CDN because my work requires me to run parallels on two monitors. I don't need the extra horsepower, just the monitors. Frustrating.
 
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So do I need an HDMI cable to drive one single 4k 144hz monitor? Seems so odd I couldn’t use a TB4 port to drive it. That list is so confusing.
 
mashinhead said:
It's odd there is no 120Hz support option
Click to expand...
Those are just the max refresh rates at those resolutions. You can do 120Hz on a display up to 4K.

iF34R said:
Does the M4's have 120Hz internal display or is it stuck at 60?
Click to expand...
It would be a downgrade if they didn't. The 14"/16" MBPs have had ProMotion since the M1. The specs say the M4 MBPs have ProMotion too.
 
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AirpodsNow said:
yeah a friend of mine has two 4k 120hz screen and was waiting for the m4. Which m4 can run it? I believe the m3 couldn’t?
Click to expand...
Any of the M4 chips should do. With the M3, you would have needed the M3 Pro or M3 Max. It was possible on some of the older Macs as well...
 
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I would like to run three 27" 4K displays with an M4 Macbook Pro, and it looks like I would need the M4 Max chip to do this. Would running these displays significantly impact performance? I feel I would be fine with the M4 Pro chip, but I know that running 4K displays on Mac requires weird scaling which does use extra resources.
 
mashinhead said:
I read this as, Supports built-in display AND:

1. 2 external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt

OR

2. 1 external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt & 1 external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI

OR

3. 1 external display supported at 8K resolution at 60Hz

OR

4. 1 external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

It's odd there is no 120Hz support option
Click to expand...
This sounds right.

hajime said:
I think last year it was 2 external displays for M3 Pro and if one wants to connect three, one had to choose M3 Max.
This year Apple increased the number of external displays from one (M3) to two (M4) but not the Pro?

Currently I need one internal display and two external 5K 60Hz display (all displaying different things). I may add one more 4K or 5K display later. So, M4 Max is the only choice? Computational-wise, probably M4 Pro is fast enough for me. Next year M5 Pro may outperform M4 Max. Not sure if it is wise to spend the extra money to get the Max.
Click to expand...
I believe the M4 Pro should suit your current needs (2 5K displays at 60Hz.)

If you decide you need more than 2 external displays later you should be able to run additional external displays (up to 4K) over a DisplayLink adaptor (albeit there is a performance cost.)
 
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Hello! I would like to know how much DisplayLink impacts system performance. Does anyone have experience using DisplayLink to connect multiple monitors on a MacBook with an M4 pro processor (or newer)? How significantly does it affect performance, and is there any way to reduce the load on the system?
 
Casdepri said:
Hello! I would like to know how much DisplayLink impacts system performance. Does anyone have experience using DisplayLink to connect multiple monitors on a MacBook with an M4 pro processor (or newer)? How significantly does it affect performance, and is there any way to reduce the load on the system?
Click to expand...
I used DisplayLink on my M3 Pro MBP for a few months a while back (because it's what my employer gave me). I didn't notice any performance hit (I have 36GB of RAM), but there are other things you'll want to be aware of when using DisplayLink...
  • Cannot watch HDCP protected content (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.) unless the DisplayLink displays are disconnected or use other work arounds.
  • Lagginess and compression artifacts can be seen, especially when working with video or games and/or using 4K displays.
  • DisplayLink doesn't support True Tone or Night Shift. The DisplayLink displays won't match the native displays in color temperature if either of these are used.
  • MacOS updates can break DisplayLink and have to wait until Synaptics (the makers of DisplayLink) pushes out a software update/patch.
  • DisplayLink requires the screen recording permission in order to work. In Sequoia, you'll need to approve this monthly.
DisplayLink is probably fine if all you do is office type work, but I'd recommend using the displays natively if you can. I ended up getting myself a Thunderbolt dock for a better experience.
 
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iStorm said:
I used DisplayLink on my M3 Pro MBP for a few months a while back (because it's what my employer gave me). I didn't notice any performance hit (I have 36GB of RAM), but there are other things you'll want to be aware of when using DisplayLink...
  • Cannot watch HDCP protected content (i.e. Netflix, Hulu, Disney+, etc.) unless the DisplayLink displays are disconnected or use other work arounds.
  • Lagginess and compression artifacts can be seen, especially when working with video or games and/or using 4K displays.
  • DisplayLink doesn't support True Tone or Night Shift. The DisplayLink displays won't match the native displays in color temperature if either of these are used.
  • MacOS updates can break DisplayLink and have to wait until Synaptics (the makers of DisplayLink) pushes out a software update/patch.
  • DisplayLink requires the screen recording permission in order to work. In Sequoia, you'll need to approve this monthly.
DisplayLink is probably fine if all you do is office type work, but I'd recommend using the displays natively if you can. I ended up getting myself a Thunderbolt dock for a better experience.
Click to expand...
I understand that this is generally not an issue, as these capabilities are required solely for work purposes. I am choosing between the M1 Pro and M4 Pro. The main requirement is support for three monitors. Based on your response, can I assume that this solution is also suitable for the M4 Pro processor?
 
Apple makes it confusing and I’m sure they are being intentionally vague.

The support page implies that the M4 Pro supports up to three screens. Apple lists it in their specs as two external screens with the lid open. They never clarify if closing the lid allows you to display on a third screen or not. I assume so, but I don’t yet have my M4 Pro to test with.

It is one area where my 2016 Intel MBP it is replacing is better, but I couldn’t justify the cost of jumping up the ladder for three screen support. I’d try the DisplayLink path if it came down to that.
 
im really hoping for two 4k monitors at 120hz through tb5 but i know it likely is not possible :(
 
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