Question... which is beyond my knowledge base... Can I drive (3) Thunderbolt displays with my 13" MacBookPro15,2 Quad-Core Intel Core i7 Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655? Or do I need an eGPU?
In theory, yes. I believe yours is the 4 port based on what I looked up. Not sure how well it'll run. I just have the two port MBP, but had no issues running 2 Thunderbolt docks to HDMI with 2 external displays, and internal still active.
Intel graphics can only drive 3 displays. The laptop display counts as one. Therefore you can only connect two more displays. You need an eGPU for more displays.