Macbook Pro (M1 2020) thinks I have one monitor instead of two

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Level 1

14 points

Macbook Pro (M1 2020) thinks I have one monitor instead of two

For over a year I have been using a Macbook Pro (M1 2020) with two identical Dell monitors and a J5Create JCD543 docking station. Yesterday the HDMI port in the docking station failed, so I replaced it with a Belkin USB-C 11-in-1 multiport dock.

My problem is that now the two Dell monitors display identical screens. When I go to System Preferences and Displays, it doesn't "know" I have two displays. Instead, it only shows one of the Dell monitors.

Pressing the Alt button to go from Night Shift to Detect Monitors isn't working.

MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on Mar 17, 2023 1:31 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

slylabs13

Level 1

15 points

Mar 21, 2023 4:04 PM in response to Vilas_S

The beatch is that Apple created a "top of the line" laptop that didn't support multiple monitors on a freaking USBC PORT! The newer laptops do now, I get it, but DAYAM! Jobs is rolling over in his grave!

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Answer 2

Vilas_S

Community Specialist

Mar 19, 2023 5:36 PM in response to linderthered

Hello linderthered,

Thank you for using Apple Support Communities. According to Apple's public resources, this specific MacBook Pro M1 model can only output to one external display. This is mentioned in the two following resources below:

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

Display Support

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:

* One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz

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

For Mac computers with the Apple M1 Chip: You can connect a single external display to your Mac. Docks don’t increase the number of displays you can connect.

We hope this information is useful. Thank you for using Apple Support Communities.

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Answer 3

linderthered Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 19, 2023 5:46 PM in response to Vilas_S

Actually, my mistake was to buy a different (Belkin) docking station.

The J5Create docking station driver provides Macbook Pro users with the ability to use two external displays without their mirroring each other, while the Belkin doesn't.

It took me several hours of docking station research to learn this, but after I exchanged the Belkin for a JCreate docking station, I was able to drag different app screens to different monitors.

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Macbook Pro (M1 2020) thinks I have one monitor instead of two

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