Connecting Macbook Pro Mid-2010 to Dual Monitors

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Connecting Macbook Pro Mid-2010 to Dual Monitors

I am trying to connect dual monitors to my Macbook Pro Mid-2010 model and am having a hard time finding the correct docking station or connector setup to do so. Please find the connections for both listed below. I have been able to connect dual monitors and mirror the screen, but want to have the capability to use them with separate windows ie as a single display. Any suggestions? Thanks!!

Macbook Pro Mid-2010

Connections and expansion

§ MagSafe power port

§ Gigabit Ethernet port

§ One FireWire 800 port (up to 800 Mbps)

§ Mini DisplayPort

§ Two USB 2.0 ports (up to 480 Mbps)

§ SD card slot

§ Audio in/out

§ Kensington lock slot

New Monitors

LG 24MP88HV-S 24-Inch IPS Monitor with Infinity Display 2.5mm Bezel

§ HDMI (2) /DVI-D

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Nov 29, 2020 10:38 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Tesserax

Level 10

152,302 points

Nov 29, 2020 10:48 AM in response to ChiGuy-7

Sorry, but the Mid-2010 MacBook Pro model is only capable of supporting a single external display, up to 2560 x 1600 resolution.

Ref: https://support.apple.com/kb/SP584?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Graphics and video support

NVIDIA GeForce 320M graphics processor with 256MB of DDR3 SDRAM shared with main memory3

Extended desktop and video mirroring: Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 2560 by 1600 pixels on an external display, both at millions of colors

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Answer 2

Nov 29, 2020 10:52 AM in response to ChiGuy-7

2nd Display Support: Dual/Mirroring

2nd Max. Resolution: 2560x1600

Details: The maximum resolution supported on ONE external display is 2560x1600.

from:

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/macbook_pro/specs/macbook-pro-core-2-duo-2.4-aluminum-13-mid-2010-unibody-specs.html

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Answer 3

Nov 29, 2020 10:52 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

DisplayLink technology creates a "fake" display buffer in RAM, sends the data out over a slower interface to a stunt box with DisplayLink custom chips that put that data back onto a "legacy" interface. It is not a true "accelerated" display, and it suffers from lagging.

It may be acceptable for a second display showing slow-to-change data such as computer program listings, stock quotes, or spreadsheets, but NOT for full motion Video, and mouse-tracking on that display can lag, and can make you feel queasy.

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It is really nice to know that you can use a DisplayLink display if you MUST have an additional display for some of the types of data I mentioned. But that is NOT the same as the computer supporting a second, built-in, accelerated display.

These displays depend on DisplayLink software, and are at the whim of Apple when they make MacOS changes. There have been cases where MacOS changes completely Borked DisplayLink software, and it took some time for them to recover.

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I think the Big Surprise for a lot of Hub/Dock buyers is that they thought they were getting a "real" display, but actually got a DisplayLink "fake" Display. If you got what you expected in every case, I would not use such strong terms to describe DisplayLink.

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