Dual Monitors with Air M1?

It's not really "working" -- it's a terrible hack that forces the CPU to do all the rendering work for the monitors. You'll lose all the benefits of the M1 chip's speed (and then some!) by pegging the CPU at 100% all the time to do basic screen rendering.

M1s are useless for multiple monitors if you want to actually use your computer. Don't use this displaylink junk.

Just wait for Apple to make a mac that supports 2 monitors using the CPU, or else buy an older one that has an Intel chip.

Basically Apple laptops have been unusable for many generations for Pro users, but maybe later this year the Pro will be a useful machine again. The rumor is that they're actually getting rid of the touchbar nonsense and adding MagSafe back, so I have a some hope that they'll also restore 2 monitor support soon....

I know it's not perfect but for those stuck with Air M1 supporting natively one external display here's how I got 4 or 5 external monitors connected to it with a horizontal 12800 px and vertical 2880 px total resolutions (solved external native display wake up from sleep problem at the same time) :

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/m1-macbook-closed-lid-dual-monitors.2269530/post-29650309

Yeah, the display quality really sucks with it. It "works" but it's simply not good enough. I guess the same people who like DisplayLink are probably also the same ones that can't tell the difference between 30 and 60hz, or that think 1440p is "high res". Sure, if that's your thing, have at it.

It's also super glitchy with artifacts as well. I also dislike that it seems to think the built-in display is still active even while in clamshell mode.

I think what people seem to not understand is that DisplayLink is pretty much just emulating a GPU. Well, I say "pretty much" but that's exactly what it's doing. So it's basically a step down from on-board video, if you want to talk in Windows PC terms.

DisplayLink is cool if you want to drive multiple displays for things like signage, or status/monitoring displays but is definitely not sufficient when you're used to driving dual 4K displays for professional work.

Yeah, it *****. I had my M1mac for about three days. Sadly, it is what it is when they change the entire system architecture like this.

Hopefully the next gen chip supports three displays (the M1 supports two, the internal and one external. That’s why the Mac Mini can drive two external!)

This product claims to support 2 external monitors. I just got my new MB Air today and was gonna buy this and see if it worked.

Problems with DisplayLink, not surprising. The M1 Macs support one external display. Anyone who says different has a different definition of the word support, and is probably selling you something.

You can use DisplayLink drivers if you just care about screen real estate and not actual performance. It's a terrible workaround for pro users.

But as we've already established, DisplayLink is awful and is not a sufficient solution. It may be "enough" for some people, but it's pretty embarrassing on Apple's part.

I just packed up my M1 MacBook Pro to return to Apple. This is a PRO line computer and it can't even run two external displays. That is simply unfricken believable. And my Magic Mouse connection is intermittent. Fails every hour with a double disconnect. It's been two weeks and no update or work around from Apple.

FWIW Apple - when you release a new computer it should be superior in every way to last year's model. 4 ports. 2 external monitors, and a bluetooth connection that is reliable.

Hi

i agree it’s a hack, but what makes you say DisplayLink uses 100% of the CPU? Have you seen this? If so I’d recommend emailing displaylink support - I run 3 monitors on my M1 and wether I’m playing video or running web conferences I haven’t had the DL process fo anywhere near 5% CPU?

shaun

I suppose it depends on how you define professional - I use my M1 multiple monitors for work and run web conferences, use MS office, email, a small amount of photo editing, etc and it works perfectly.

I guess if you need major gaming or 4K video editing you might not want to go this route, but I’ve not tried it.

happy to test anything if anyone wants?

shaun

Man, there are a lot of really clueless people replying here. DisplayLink is not the solution for a lot of people. It may work fine for light workload. But stop pretending it’s a sufficient substitute for native displays.

I'm doing email, web development mainly using sublimetext, project management, linux & windows servers + network administration stuff, internet browsing with 30-50 tabs open on average in three different internet browsers with website and youtube videos, occasionally watch movies. As said this setup is perfect for the price £1000 for Air M1 as opposed to £4500 for MBP 16" Intel with 4 USB-C ports supporting more external displays natively which incidentally I have already had for a month and sold on (apart from thermal issues causing CPU throttling and loud fans it wouldn't remember display settings reseting all with each disconnect). However, I am still reluctant to be at DisplayLink's mercy when it comes to drivers updates for major changes in OS X releases.