does the new macbook air 15 support 2 external monitors

P.S. – For all of the M1- and M2-based machines that Apple has released to date (13" and 15" MacBook Airs, 13" MacBook Pros, 24" iMacs, Minis), Apple has included a section in the specifications telling potential buyers how many external monitors, of what types, they support.

E.g., for the 13" and 15" M2 MacBook Airs, the Display Support section says:

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Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:

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

Thunderbolt 3 digital video output

• Native DisplayPort output over USB‑C
• VGA, HDMI, DVI, and Thunderbolt 2 output supported using adapters (sold separately)

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What's misleading about supporting only one external display when they explicitly call out that these machines support only one external display?

In fact there is a workaround. I have been using two external monitors with my M1 Macbook air.

Three things to do.

1. get a dongle that supports DisplayLink as Slartibartfast_42 posted.
2. Install DisplayLink software for MacOS
3. get a USB-C to USB-A plug. Then make sure to connect your dongle to USB-A port first then USB-C port in your macbook. Plugging your dongle directly to macbook's usb-c port will not work.

Bellanca47 wrote:

I just bought a 15" Macbook Air and I'm trying to connect 2 external monitors. I currently do this with no problem with my 2017 Macbook Pro. However, with the new Macbook Air, only one monitor works. Is this a limitation with the Macbook Air?

Yes. It's stated clearly in the Technical Specifications for the 15" M2 Air:

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"Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:

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

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Note that there is now a 14" MacBook Pro which uses the 'base' M3 chip, it has the same limitation:

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"Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and:

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

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That entry-level MBP has gotten some things that 13" {M1/M2} MBPs did not have … but not all of them.

The 14" and 16" MBPs based on the {M1/M2/M3} {Pro and Max} chips can drive two – sometimes more – monitors. (See Technical Specifications for the particular model and chip for details.)

If multiple monitors are your thing, it is best to check Technical Specifications before purchase.

RE: "The M2 is capable of driving multiple monitors."

Yes, two displays – including the built-in one (if any). I have not yet heard of a Mac using the base M1 chip or the base M2 chip that can drive more directly-attached monitors than this. That suggests (although it does not absolutely prove) that we are looking at a hardware limitation of these chips.

RE: "It is advertised that they have Thunderbolt 3 and Displayport 2 support which shows capacity for 2 screens (40gb/s)"

Actually, for every Apple Silicon Mac released to date, Thunderbolt 3 indicates lack of support for the number of displays that you want. Thunderbolt 3 itself has the potential for dual displays, but it doesn't require support for them if the GPU does not have the ability to drive them. While Intel-based Macs with Thunderbolt 3 often could drive two low-resolution monitors or one 5K monitor over their USB-C (DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3) ports, the M1 Macs can only drive one monitor (which can be a 5K monitor) in this way.

Thunderbolt 4 is a refinement of Thunderbolt 3. One of the things a computer needs for TB 4 certification is the ability to drive two external monitors over USB-C / Thunderbolt (although perhaps not over the same port).

So Apple Silicon Macs based on the more capable Pro, Max, and Ultra chips are shown as having Thunderbolt 4 support in their technical specifications. The M2 Mini is also listed as having Thunderbolt 4. It limits you to two monitors (just like the M1 Mini), but it is more flexible about how you can attach them.

"I have not yet heard of a Mac using the base M1 chip or the base M2 chip that can drive more directly-attached monitors than this."

You can actually workaround this using https://support.displaylink.com/, it just requires 3rd party software and a expensive dongle.

It’s almost certainly an artificial limitation. As equally one cannot use two external displays when the built in isn’t in use so it's not a graphics problem. I can also drive a 4k display but not 2 1080p displays. In fact the 2020 intel mac air could support multiple 4k displays (https://9to5mac.com/2020/03/20/new-macbook-air-external-display-support/). Given the relative performance of the chips I would predict there is no hardware limitation, apple have form in terms of not supporting MST for years even when the hardware is capable.

Many people would see Thunderbolt or Displayport with the kind of data throughput they offer and assume they support this. Also they don't offer MST on Displayport which has been software locked for years.

I don’t get why one would be an apologist for this kind of anti-consumerism.

Slartibartfast_42 wrote:

You can actually workaround this using https://support.displaylink.com/, it just requires 3rd party software and a expensive dongle.

There is no workaround. Using Docks does not increase the number of displays supported. From the Apple Documentation: "Docks don’t increase the number of displays you can connect."

Slartibartfast_42 wrote:

Many people would see Thunderbolt or Displayport with the kind of data throughput they offer and assume they support this. Also they don't offer MST on Displayport which has been software locked for years.

I don’t get why one would be an apologist for this kind of anti-consumerism.

If support for multiple external displays is needed then buy a computer that supports multiple external displays.

If you need a tool that can drill 3 inch holes why would you buy a tool that can only drill 2 inch holes then argue that the 2 inch capable tool has the power to drill 3 inch holes? Use the right tool for the job.

I’ll need to challenge the M1 MacBooks capabilities since at our job site with Dell dock D6000 and displaylink drivers

we are able to project on two screens. We have this set up for all our MacBooks users.

Kidxanga wrote:

I’ll need to challenge the M1 MacBooks capabilities since at our job site with Dell dock D6000 and displaylink drivers

we are able to project on two screens. We have this set up for all our MacBooks users.

Glad to hear it is working for you. Try displaying resource intensive video on both displays. The result will not be that specified in the computer specifications, and in some cases may be unacceptable display performance.

Well I have to say, this is the best thing ever, I have every since I bought my mac tried to figure out how to do two additional monitors and now I got it. This was a breeze and I can see three different screens and work on each one separately. I want to give a great shout out to you for this suggestion for the J5. One thing to all that may review this, I paid a total $72.21 this was off the $90 price at Walmart in store price. Better to order it from Walmart online you will save money and enjoy the look of having three screens to work with.. I am so excited!!!!!!

Glad thats working for you, remember to submit feedback to apple that this is something you would like to see natively supported. Its not good enough that they software lock capabilities to upsell ‘pro’ laptops.

On the site for that J5Create hub, one picture has a little logo "Powered by MCT" and the words "Multi Display Technology Patent. MCT is a patent owner of USB Multi Display Technology."

Then before the next photo, it says "Connect up to 2 external monitors (driver required). Your laptop

display, plus the 2 external monitors, gives you a total of 3 monitors."

Although the MCT Web site is not as readable as the DisplayLink Web site, it would seem to be a similar idea. You're not getting an extra hardware video output. You're installing a driver on your computer that creates a virtual software display, and steams updates to a dock equipped with a MCT USB Graphics Chipset which, in turn, decodes the USB data stream.

It's a cute trick, but it's not the same thing as making the M1 or M2 drive an extra monitor directly.

I would assume that MCT, like DisplayLink, makes their money off selling chipsets and the driver software for them to hub vendors.

https://www.mct.com.tw/edcontent_d.php?lang=en&tb=1&id=80

The M1/M2 is driving an extra monitor with extra overhead here so it clearly can be supported directly with less overhead. This has been the point of this entire discussion.

The ability to do something in a "slow path', with software, with drawbacks, proves that it must be possible to do a similar thing in a better way in a "fast path" that might require dedicated hardware support?

And to retroactively add that dedicated hardware support to existing hardware with a software patch?