Not able to connect dual monitors on HDMI on my MacBook Pro 13 M1 2020 model

immanuel2112 wrote:

My question is how can I connect dual external displays.

Macs with M1 (and not M1 Pro, M1 Max, nor M1 Ultra) supports a maximum two displays, one of which is always internal on the M1 laptops. Rephrased, Mac laptops with M1 (and not M1 Pro, M1 Max, nor M1 Ultra) support one external display.

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) - Technical Specifications

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.

Hi,

Following article could help your question.

Use one or more external displays with your Mac - Apple Support

I'm pretty sure my 2020 M1 MacBook Pro can only run a single external screen. No more, no less.

immanuel2112 wrote:

My question is how can I connect dual external displays.

You can't unless you have a "M1 Pro" or "M1 Max" chip.