I've connected 2 monitors to my MacBook Air M2 via a port. Both monitors work, however the image in the same on both. In the display settings, only 1 monitor is detected. How do I detect both monitors so that I can extend the across all screens. Thanks
MacBook Air, macOS 13.0
A DisplayLink adaptor is not a dock. It essentially creates a virtual displays which will allow for two external monitors. In fact on my M2 MacBook Air, I have run 3 external monitors, two from the DisplayLink adaptor, and the third from a USB C hub. The adaptor I have is a Plugable USBC-6950U, available on Amazon
A DisplayLink adaptor is not a dock. It essentially creates a virtual displays which will allow for two external monitors. In fact on my M2 MacBook Air, I have run 3 external monitors, two from the DisplayLink adaptor, and the third from a USB C hub. The adaptor I have is a Plugable USBC-6950U, available on Amazon
ZeroByOne wrote:
Despite not facing any current problems, I find it perplexing why Apple restricts the newer MacBook Air M2 to only one external monitor.
Why? All of the evidence suggests that
So the M2 MacBook Air can drive at most one external display. It can be a very high-resolution one, but there can be only one. That's the way the hardware is arranged.
If you want support for more displays, you need a higher-end chip (M2 Pro, M2 Max) that has circuitry to support more displays built in. Those chips are found in the 14" and 16" M2 {Pro/Max} notebooks, in the M2 Pro Mac mini, and in the M2 Max Mac Studio.
Of all of those machines, 14" MacBook Pros with M2 Pro or M2 Max chips are the closest to 13" and 15" M2 Airs, when it comes to portability.
After doing a lot of research and taking a chance, I purchased the Kwumsy H1 HUB and this is supporting 2 external displays in addition to my primary built in display. After ordering online directly, I got the product delivered within a week to Canada. I am using this for the last few days only and so far no issues including no fan noise, but definitely too early to give a verdict on reliability / longevity. However this product DOES work with my MacBook Air M2 , currently running Sonoma 14.61.
The product link is here https://kwumsy.com/products/kwumsy-h1-hub. The cost was US $152 including shipping.
Here are a few things to consider ,
If you are ok with this, it definitely solves the problem of supporting multiple displays (upto 3 external + Main) either as Mirror or extended. I am using the external monitors it in extended format and in 1920 x1080 resolution.
This has more details
Hope this helps the community.
The 13" and 15" M2 MacBook Airs support a single external display.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) - Technical Specifications
MacBook Air (15-inch, M2, 2023) - Technical Specifications
nicstevens80 wrote:
So question... I have a Dell Thunderbolt dock and then I have a Hiearcool USB C Hub, USB C Adapter, 7 in 1 USB C Dongle USB-C to HDMI Multi-Port Adapter Compatible for Thunderbolt 3 4 MacBook Pro Air Dell Lenovo HP Laptops and Other Type C Devices. When I plug in the dock, I get one monitor. Then I plug in the Hiearcool USB Hub into the other port on the machine and no matter what I use (HDMI, USB, USB-C) it won't see the other monitor.
I can plug both monitors into the Dell dock but it won't recognize them as being different it just sees both as one dock
Thunderbolt docks that support two monitors rely on using hardware video support provided by the computer. I don't ever think I have seen a Thunderbolt dock that supported DisplayLink or similar workaround technologies.
The M2 MacBook Air only supports a single external display, and thus a Thunderbolt dock connected to the M2 MacBook Air will support at most a single external display. (There is no second hardware video signal available that the dock can repackage.)
I would guess that the USB-C hub you are talking about is this one
https://www.amazon.com/Hiearcool-MacBook-Multiport-Compatible-Nintendo/dp/B07WPTG7NX?th=1
and that it also wants to see a hardware video signal from your computer – which only has one to offer.
Yup! Used the Plugable USBC-6950U with a 2023 M2 Macbook Air 13 inch, and it worked perfectly. Worked both plugged directly into the laptop and plugged into a Thunderbolt port on my Caldigit T3 Plus hub. And it is an old monitor, a Dell E1910, so it was a DVI to HDMI connection and still worked.
After reading this thread I bought the Plugable USBC-6950U. Hooked it up in 5 minutes and am now connected to two monitors. Works great so far. If you need more than 2 additional monitors, Plugable has other options.
Note, you also need to download the Displaylink driver to allow this to work. But once installed the Plugable does the trick.
E71-21 wrote:
I don't think M2 Airs support two monitors but you can screen mirror/extend to an iPad.
M1 and M2 MacBook Airs only support a single first-class external display. Closing their lids does not free the video output connected to the built-in display, or increase the maximum number of external displays.
M3 MacBook Airs have a limit of two active first-class displays – but they're a bit more flexible. You can have
In Retina scaling modes, I believe the maximum resolution (6K or 5K) refers to the internal canvas resolution. If you had two 4K displays, the "lid closed" one could run either in native 4K mode, or in Retina "like 2560x1440" mode – but it couldn't run in Retina "like 3008x1692" mode (which would require a >5K canvas).
To drive two external displays, at the same time as the built-in screen, you need a Pro or Max chip, such as the ones found in most (but not all) variants of the 14" and 16" Apple Silicon MacBook Pros.
Chrisincolor wrote:
I have a mid-2022 M2 MacBook Air and want to connect (2) Studio Displays to it. If I buy a Thunderbolt Hub will this be possible with this laptop or am I forced to upgrade to an M3 laptop?
The M2 MacBook Air only supports one external display. If you are referring to the 27" 5K Apple Studio Display, it requires Thunderbolt 3, and there are no "workarounds" that will give you that.
Q.E.D., you cannot use two 27" 5K Apple Studio displays with a M2 MacBook Air at the same time.
If you are thinking about upgrading to a newer laptop to connect two Studio Displays to it, I would recommend that you get a 14" or 16" MacBook Pro with a M3 Pro or M3 Max chip. You need a M3 Pro or M3 Max chip to be able to drive two monitors with the lid open. A MacBook Air or Pro with a plain M3 chip can only drive a second monitor if the lid is closed, and then with a lower resolution limit on the second monitor that might translate into less choices for Retina scaling modes for that monitor.
Plugable USBC-6950U. Use with DisplayLink software and it works for my M2.
The only way to use 2 monitors is to get a DisplayLink adaptor. I use one from Plugable, available on Amazon.
nicstevens80 wrote:
So question... I have a Dell Thunderbolt dock and then I have a Hiearcool USB C Hub, USB C Adapter, 7 in 1 USB C Dongle USB-C to HDMI Multi-Port Adapter Compatible for Thunderbolt 3 4 MacBook Pro Air Dell Lenovo HP Laptops and Other Type C Devices. When I plug in the dock, I get one monitor. Then I plug in the Hiearcool USB Hub into the other port on the machine and no matter what I use (HDMI, USB, USB-C) it won't see the other monitor.
I can plug both monitors into the Dell dock but it won't recognize them as being different it just sees both as one dock
Do the Dell Thunderbolt dock, and the Hiearcool USB-C hub, both depend upon the computer's native display support? If they do, and you're attaching them to a M1 or M2 MacBook Air, there would only be a single native, hardware-supported video signal to go around.
This Hiearcool hub, for instance, appears to rely on a computer's native USB-C (DisplayPort) output.
The plugable adapter didn't work for me, but this one from Best Buy did... Hyper - HyperDrive Dual 10 Port USB-C Hub, 4K HDMI, Ethernet, 1 USB-C, 2 USB-A, microSD/SD, travel dock for M1/M2/M3 MacBook - Gray
I don't think M2 Airs support two monitors but you can screen mirror/extend to an iPad.
Yes, with the USBC 6950U. It works both plugged directly into the M2 Macbook Air, and plugged into my Caldigit TS3 Plus Thunderbolt 3 hub. It's an old monitor, so it was a DVI to HDMI cable into the Plugable.
2 Monitors attached to MacBook Air M2
