Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Why doesn't M2 MBA support more than one external monitor?
- Thread starter Useless Touchbar
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
This is pure speculation on my part. I’d say it’s purely intentional. We know the M1 Pro can handle Two monitors. I feel that it’s done on purpose to get buyers to go for the 14 MBP.
It makes sense from a feature rationing standpoint. The rest of the PC industry including Intel and AMD have determined it to be necessary for notebook users. Even Apple determined it was necessary since they included dual-external monitor support on MBA 2018-2020.
It short, it's about up-selling you to the MBP 14.
It short, it's about up-selling you to the MBP 14.
Money, that's why. Apple would rather see you spend more for that ability.
It does make sense, to segment the product. People needing more monitor support would have to spend more money for the Macbook Pro. Apple is about upselling, not giving what you want for less.
Product segmenting may just be a side effect even if Apple intended it. I feel the real reason has to do with the M2 sharing its design and later usage among iOS devices. iPads that are never going to output to more than one external displays will use the same chip. In that angle it makes quite a bit of sense for Apple to gauge the M2 capabilities since the median is not just among the entry level M2 Macs.
If that's the case, then Apple did a really poor job of product planning. You'd want to design for the entire stack of products using M1/M2.
Intel Core i3 mobile processors literally launched a decade ago in early 2012 support 3 displays.
I think the evidence leans towards feature rationing rather than poor planning. For example, M1 iPad Air doesn't support Thunderbolt 3 even though the same chip in iPad Pro does.
I am in the camp that are disappointed by this limit, since me and my company do deploy MacBooks in various multi-display setups but not everyone requires the computing power of the 14" Pros. But that said I am just trying to think why this is the case if I were in Apple's shoes. You are right that even with base i3 Macs this was possible since the dawn of time, but when designed the i3s Intel was thinking among generic business laptops that multi-display is not as rare as among casual MBA users.
I agree that this is now a mess. There has to be a real economic reason for Apple to accept releasing M2 as is. Maybe the otherwise unused PCI lanes can be better utilized on the same limited silicon area?
I suspect we're overthinking this when it's almost certainly a marketing decision.
For instance, why would MacBook Air support "One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz" but not three 1080P displays? If it were a bandwidth limitation, then multiple lower resolution displays would be supported.
M1 = maybe, just maybe it was an oversight
M2 = no possible way it's an oversight
M2 adds ProRes decoders, so Apple clearly thought about the video pipeline. It's inconceivable dual-external monitors somehow escaped their attention.
AFAIK, multiple displays require buffers for each, so it is not just about adding up all the pixels and calculate the total bandwidth needed when looking at display capabilities of a given system. If the number of supported displays would take away resources or even hard wired board space that could be used for other more meaningful purposes, I can see Apple making the design decision to shaft the lower priority in supporting 2+ displays which we all know is really low demand among casual users.
On marketing standpoint, I actually think not qualifying to be certified as Thunderbolt 4 due to lack of 2+ 4K display support is hurting more than it helps. In that respect wouldn't you think Apple would just add this so they can call every Mac TB4 capable?
If Apple were using 10nm for M2 and had a limited transistor budget, I could understand if they ran up against a wall.
For comparison, Snapdragon 8cx launched over 3 years ago supports dual 4K monitors. M2 clocks at 20 billion transistors, twice that of the Snapdragon. I just don't think Apple ran out of transistors for an additional display buffer.
My local Costco sells 2 packs of 24-inch LCDs from Philips and HP. These are entry-level monitors with cheap, non-ergo stands for home use. Dual monitors isn't some uncommon setup.
Come to think of it, macOS still does not support DisplayPort daisy chain (due to not supporting DP MST). So Apple has a history of not being dual-monitor friendly, unless it involves their own product like the older Thunderbolt Displays.
There are some work arounds though:
www.macworld.com
Also this product from Anker:
They might not be a 100% ideal/perfect solution, but M1 (and M2) Macs can actually handle multiple monitors
How to connect two or more external displays to an Apple Silicon M1 Mac
Get around Apple's annoying M1/M2/M3 Mac single-display limitation via software and adapters
www.macworld.com
Also this product from Anker:
Anker 563 USB-C Docking Station (10-in-1)
Expand Your Port Options: Turn just one of your laptop's USB-C ports into 2 HDMI ports, a DisplayPort, a 100W Power Delivery port (connects to host), a USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 port, a USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port, 2 USB-A 2.0 ports, an Ethernet port, and an AUX in/out port. Unlock Triple Display: Thanks to the...
us.anker.com
They might not be a 100% ideal/perfect solution, but M1 (and M2) Macs can actually handle multiple monitors
All the folks whining about support for just one display or max 24 GB RAM need to get a grip. The MBA is the low end Apple laptop, duh. As such it is a spectacular box that outperforms most higher end Intel boxes. Whining about wanting high end features in a low end box is just chickensh*t.
TBH I am one of those folks who would buy an MBA right now if it drove external displays. Even though I am a maxed-out 2016 MBP user, the M2 MBA is so strong and such a good value that if it drove 3 displays I would go for it just to get into the M-series silicon. But after decades of Macs I can wait for the pro-level M2 MBPs that we all know are coming. More RAM, more displays, more laptop display real estate, more ports/throughput will be worth the wait (albeit more pricey...).
Pretty sure this is like the M1 systems and while officially it doesn't support more than one you should be able to do at least 2 at 4k 60Hz unofficially if not more. I am able to do 2 with my M1 and officially it shouldn't be able to.
Nobody has been able to do it. DisplayLink solutions don’t count because it’s buggy and prevents DRM stuff like Netflix and Prime Video from working.
In anticipation of getting the MBA I’ve been running my second monitor (2560x1440@60Hz) through DisplayLink on my Intel MacBook Pro. Before it’s been on a TB4-dock with two Thunderbolt-to-HDMI adapters but I simply removed one and got a little box from startech instead which I plugged into an USB-A port on the dock.
Things have been running flawlessly so far. Granted I have not tried DRM stuff, I don’t usually do that and if I would, that content would go on the primary monitor I’m pretty sure. The worry of course will be with OS updates breaking their driver but from what I can tell it’s in active maintenance and I usually don’t update directly anyway because pro-apps don’t always work day one either.
Not defending Apple here. I shouldn’t need to find a workaround for getting a laptop in this price bracket to output to two monitors. Count €90 into the base price for this solution, also.
Things have been running flawlessly so far. Granted I have not tried DRM stuff, I don’t usually do that and if I would, that content would go on the primary monitor I’m pretty sure. The worry of course will be with OS updates breaking their driver but from what I can tell it’s in active maintenance and I usually don’t update directly anyway because pro-apps don’t always work day one either.
Not defending Apple here. I shouldn’t need to find a workaround for getting a laptop in this price bracket to output to two monitors. Count €90 into the base price for this solution, also.
I will defend Apple here. Apple should not be expected to have its spectacular lowest end laptop drive more than one external 4K display.
We users who want pro competence need to wait for the higher end M2 MBPs or live with M1. Unfortunate for folks like me ready to upgrade right now.
We users who want pro competence need to wait for the higher end M2 MBPs or live with M1. Unfortunate for folks like me ready to upgrade right now.
Last edited:
Very weird stance you got there. Apple has been adamant that they don’t do low-end and their prices reflect that. Even their old Intel laptops beat their new ones in certain aspects of monitor support, not to talk about their current competition in these price brackets.
Simply put, it's an Air and that's a Pro feature.
Anybody can certainly argue MacBook Air shouldn't support dual external monitors. You just have to ignore the following facts:
It comes down to how far you want to distort reality and pretend it's a Pro feature. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple eventually convinced some people having 2 SSD channels is a Pro feature.
- It's the year 2022
- You can buy 24-inch monitors for $130 or less
- MacBook Air 2018-2020 supports 2 external displays
- Chromebooks at $129 support 2 external displays
It comes down to how far you want to distort reality and pretend it's a Pro feature. I wouldn't be surprised if Apple eventually convinced some people having 2 SSD channels is a Pro feature.