5 ms·

Silicon M1 or M2 processors cannot natively connect more than one external monitor. Apple?

by nbzso 4y ago

danaris 4y ago
All this means is that if you need this, you need to get one of their computers with a Pro or Max chip. Most people I know who are not developers or visual artists have no need for more than one external display. (Hell, most have no need for even one external display!) Back when the M1 was first out, and the Pro and Max hadn't yet been announced, it was somewhat legitimate to be concerned with this drawback, because it wasn't yet guaranteed that there would be an alternative. Now, it's very clear that Apple has no problem supporting this; it's just not in their entry-level chip. This seems, to me, like a perfectly reasonable tradeoff.
- hendersoon 4y ago
  Everybody at my IT company other than the front desk has two monitors, even the suits and sales guys. This is not a reasonable tradeoff, as it invalidates the MBA for us.
  - 2-718-281-828 4y ago
    Everybody has it b/c it turned into a status symbol at your company - doesn't mean everybody actually needs it.
    - hendersoon 4y ago
      Do you use multiple monitors? Do you really need them, or could you do without? I could do without too, but I'm not going to! They're productivity tools, not status symbols. Monitors are extremely inexpensive, assuming you don't buy Apple's.
  - bombcar 4y ago
    It's really annoying as the M1 Mini can drive two external monitors (it has no internal) so the M1 Air in clamshell mode should be able to drive two externals, but it can't. I can't give up my four externals (+ the laptop screen itself) so my Intel MBP will soldier on until I get a Pro.
    - powerhour 4y ago
      I wonder if there is some power or heat related limitation that prevents them from supporting multiple external monitors. It doesn't seem like it'd be trivial to support the same requirements for such a small/thin device.
    - mwint 4y ago
      But both the M1 mini and M1/2 Air can drive two displays total? I think it’s clear they just took what’s usually the internal display output and routed it to HDMI in the Mini.
  - danaris 4y ago
    Two monitors? Or three (the internal and two externals)? Because two monitors works just fine. Anyway, if you're standardizing on a specific model for an entire company, I would never recommend the Air—nor, indeed, any entry-level model from any company—because it's not likely to meet enough people's needs that way.
    - goosedragons 4y ago
      Two external monitors. Even in clamshell mode with the internal screen off you can't do that. And the M2 MacBook Air at $1200 USD is hardly entry level. It's not even the cheapest MBA Apple sells because the M1 is still available. Loads of corporations and businesses will give employees base model ThinkPad Twhatever or Dell Latitudes (that cost less than the M2 MBA and drive more than two external displays too).
    - hendersoon 4y ago
      That's what's annoying; other than the single external monitor limitation the M2 Air is more than fast enough for everybody here who doesn't stress the CPU or GPU for long periods running compiles or whatever-- and that's just because it's passively cooled, otherwise it's quite snappy.
  - js2 4y ago
    DisplayLink? https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m1-mac-dual-displayport-adapter/overview.html https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m1-mac-dual-displayport-a... https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/how-to-connect-more-than-one-display-to-an-apple-m1-macbook/ https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/ho...
    - rwalle 4y ago
      I heard that these adaptors/docks never work nearly as well as native support for dual monitors
      - js2 4y ago
        You'll hear from ~100% of people that are unhappy with them and ~0% of people that are happy with them. I don't have any personal experience, I'm just offering them as an option in case hendersoon was unaware.
        hendersoon 4y ago
        Thanks-- yes I was aware, but they do have a poor reputation. After years of dongles, we're going for the MBP 16" with the M1 Pro. Which of course is what Apple wants anyway.
  - ant6n 4y ago
    How about using a single ultra wide screen.
dividedbyzero 4y ago
Yeah that's a biggie that isn't mentioned a lot. I have an external monitor at my desk and I frequently mirror to the living room TV for friends and family video calls with a camera on the TV and a dedicated mic, just way nicer as it doesn't have that work call feel for the other party. No way I can see to make that work without pulling cables on a M1/M2.
- js2 4y ago
  Would AirPlay to an AppleTV not work?
  - rwalle 4y ago
    Have you actually tried AirPlay?
    - js2 4y ago
      Yes, but not for video conferencing or long-term work. It works well-enough for screen mirroring or displaying a video. When displaying a video, I believe the stream is actually redirected to the AppleTV rather than being relayed through the Mac. Have you tried AirPlay?
  - dividedbyzero 4y ago
    We have an Apple TV 4K and I tried that, but it introduces a small audio lag that totally wrecks Zooms echo removal since the USB mic doesn't have that lag. I probably could run an audio cable over there and use a separate speaker, but audio over HDMI works great. Both devices are on gbit ethernet, so it's not a wifi issue. Sadly the Apple TV can't do any video conferencing at all, it's way powerful enough (judging by the games it can run) but the software can't do it.

Silicon M1 or M2 processors cannot natively connect more than one external monitor. Apple?

by nbzso 4y ago

Silicon M1 or M2 processors cannot natively connect more than one external monitor. Apple?

All this means is that if you need this, you need to get one of their computers with a Pro or Max chip. Most people I know who are not developers or visual artists have no need for more than one external display. (Hell, most have no need for even one external display!) Back when the M1 was first out, and the Pro and Max hadn't yet been announced, it was somewhat legitimate to be concerned with this drawback, because it wasn't yet guaranteed that there would be an alternative. Now, it's very clear that Apple has no problem supporting this; it's just not in their entry-level chip. This seems, to me, like a perfectly reasonable tradeoff.

hendersoon 4y ago
Everybody at my IT company other than the front desk has two monitors, even the suits and sales guys. This is not a reasonable tradeoff, as it invalidates the MBA for us.
- 2-718-281-828 4y ago
  Everybody has it b/c it turned into a status symbol at your company - doesn't mean everybody actually needs it.
  - hendersoon 4y ago
    Do you use multiple monitors? Do you really need them, or could you do without? I could do without too, but I'm not going to! They're productivity tools, not status symbols. Monitors are extremely inexpensive, assuming you don't buy Apple's.
- bombcar 4y ago
  It's really annoying as the M1 Mini can drive two external monitors (it has no internal) so the M1 Air in clamshell mode should be able to drive two externals, but it can't. I can't give up my four externals (+ the laptop screen itself) so my Intel MBP will soldier on until I get a Pro.
  - powerhour 4y ago
    I wonder if there is some power or heat related limitation that prevents them from supporting multiple external monitors. It doesn't seem like it'd be trivial to support the same requirements for such a small/thin device.
  - mwint 4y ago
    But both the M1 mini and M1/2 Air can drive two displays total? I think it’s clear they just took what’s usually the internal display output and routed it to HDMI in the Mini.
- danaris 4y ago
  Two monitors? Or three (the internal and two externals)? Because two monitors works just fine. Anyway, if you're standardizing on a specific model for an entire company, I would never recommend the Air—nor, indeed, any entry-level model from any company—because it's not likely to meet enough people's needs that way.
  - goosedragons 4y ago
    Two external monitors. Even in clamshell mode with the internal screen off you can't do that. And the M2 MacBook Air at $1200 USD is hardly entry level. It's not even the cheapest MBA Apple sells because the M1 is still available. Loads of corporations and businesses will give employees base model ThinkPad Twhatever or Dell Latitudes (that cost less than the M2 MBA and drive more than two external displays too).
  - hendersoon 4y ago
    That's what's annoying; other than the single external monitor limitation the M2 Air is more than fast enough for everybody here who doesn't stress the CPU or GPU for long periods running compiles or whatever-- and that's just because it's passively cooled, otherwise it's quite snappy.
- js2 4y ago
  DisplayLink? https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m1-mac-dual-displayport-adapter/overview.html https://www.sonnettech.com/product/m1-mac-dual-displayport-a... https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/how-to-connect-more-than-one-display-to-an-apple-m1-macbook/ https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/ho...
  - rwalle 4y ago
    I heard that these adaptors/docks never work nearly as well as native support for dual monitors
    - js2 4y ago
      You'll hear from ~100% of people that are unhappy with them and ~0% of people that are happy with them. I don't have any personal experience, I'm just offering them as an option in case hendersoon was unaware.
      - hendersoon 4y ago
        Thanks-- yes I was aware, but they do have a poor reputation. After years of dongles, we're going for the MBP 16" with the M1 Pro. Which of course is what Apple wants anyway.
- ant6n 4y ago
  How about using a single ultra wide screen.

dividedbyzero 4y ago

Yeah that's a biggie that isn't mentioned a lot. I have an external monitor at my desk and I frequently mirror to the living room TV for friends and family video calls with a camera on the TV and a dedicated mic, just way nicer as it doesn't have that work call feel for the other party. No way I can see to make that work without pulling cables on a M1/M2.

js2 4y ago
Would AirPlay to an AppleTV not work?
- rwalle 4y ago
  Have you actually tried AirPlay?
  - js2 4y ago
    Yes, but not for video conferencing or long-term work. It works well-enough for screen mirroring or displaying a video. When displaying a video, I believe the stream is actually redirected to the AppleTV rather than being relayed through the Mac. Have you tried AirPlay?
- dividedbyzero 4y ago
  We have an Apple TV 4K and I tried that, but it introduces a small audio lag that totally wrecks Zooms echo removal since the USB mic doesn't have that lag. I probably could run an audio cable over there and use a separate speaker, but audio over HDMI works great. Both devices are on gbit ethernet, so it's not a wifi issue. Sadly the Apple TV can't do any video conferencing at all, it's way powerful enough (judging by the games it can run) but the software can't do it.