External Monitors

escocia1 wrote:

It just seems bizarre that my current Apple MBP 2013 (i7) supports 2 external monitors,

and an Apple MBP 2020 (M1) does not, now 9 years later!

Technological progress?

Get a M1(Pro) or M1(Max).

The 2020 Apple-Silicon M1 13-in MacBook Pro and Air are extremely-capable entry-level computers. They can support the internal display AND an External display up to the previously unheard of size of the Apple 6K display at billions of colors. But only ONE in addition to the internal display.

This may not match the way older computers forced you to work, since older computers were not able to support a really large external display. 

using a second display on certain DisplayLink Docks is only for very slow-to-change data like spreadsheets and program listings. It does NOT work for watching a movie, and definitely not for Video editing or gaming.

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 can suffer from lagging. Just adding the DisplayLink Driver is not adequate to get a picture -- you need a DisplayLink "stunt-box" or a Dock that includes DisplayLink chips.

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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, not for Video editing, and absolutely not for gaming. Mouse-tracking on that display can lag, and can make you feel queasy.

In a pinch, it may even play Internet videos (as one user put it) “without too many dropped frames".

This is in stark contrast to the Apple standard for its built-in hardware-accelerated displays, which are suitable for production/display of cinema-quality video with NO dropped frames, and NO dropouts or partial-blank scan lines due to memory under-runs or other issues.

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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, Hardware-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 disabled 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 pejorative terms to describe DisplayLink.

escocia1 wrote:

or maybe leave the laptop behind and move toward M1 via Mac Mini + 2 monitors?

Is this correct?

"While the M1 MacBooks natively support just one monitor, the M1 Mac Mini does natively support up to two external monitors - one via the HDMI port and a second via USB-C"

but that would be TWO cables/connectors, right?

The M! notebooks and the M1 Mini support 2 displays. One primary and a secondary. In the case of the notebooks the primary is the built-in display. In the case of the Mini the primary is the first display.

Why don't you get a M1 Pro pr M1 Max? These support multiple external displays. You can try as hard as you can but the M1 only supports 1 external display.

<< While the M1 MacBooks natively support just one monitor >>

That is not correct. The 13-in M1 Mac (ONLY) supports one external display. The 14-in with M1 Pro supports two, and 14-in or 16-in with M1 Max supports four (plus built-in display). But as you observed, they are more money.

There is no built-in display on a Mini. so it supports TWO external displays (because it does not need to run an Internal).

The two cables statement was trying to get you thinking about DisplayPort, NOT HDMI. HDMI runs out of gas and needs two cable to do the job of connecting to one really wide display. That's a really obscure case.

The MacBook M1 computers only support 1 external display.

The intel model MacBook Pro 13-in does not appear to be available for sale as new direct from Apple any longer..

one 35-in: does not matter how physically large it is, as long as the resolution is 6K or less and it can connect with USB-C, DisplayPort, or ThunderBolt (so that it can use ONE cable to connect).