External monitors through Thunderbolt 4 Dock

Question

Grambles_ Author

Level 1

4 points

External monitors through Thunderbolt 4 Dock

I have an M3 Pro MacBook Pro.

I am plugging it into an Anker TB4 dock.

I have a Samsung Odyssey G7 (4k 144hz) monitor through displayport

I also have an MSI monitor (1080P 144hz) monitor through HDMI

When I have both plugged into the dock the MBP displays on both at 1080P and only recognises the MSI one in settings

Even if the MSI monitor is off and I'm only using the Samsung one it still does not show up in settings and it's capped at 1080P like the MSI, as long as the MSI is plugged into the dock. If I unplug the HDMI from the MSI monitor it recognises the Samsung monitor and switches back to 4K but the monitor is washed out and kind of green like the colours are all off.

I've tried manually changing the colour space in the monitor settings and the MBP settings to match each other but this doesn't help beyond marginally

Any help on either of these issues is very much appreciated :)

MacBook Pro (M3 Pro, 2023)

Posted on Dec 6, 2023 4:54 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

139,883 points

Dec 7, 2023 7:25 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

A closer reading of Mac-specific features suggests that dock supports up to two external displays PROVIDED at least one is connected to the downstream Thunderbolt output. it explicitly says: "For MacOS, monitors connected to the DisplayPort/HDMI are mirrored."

https://www.anker.com/products/a83a9?variant=42385573871766

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Answer 2

Dec 7, 2023 6:30 PM in response to Grambles_

Tatt model Mac supports up to TWO external displays on one cable when the port, the (appropriately short) cable, and the first device, (Dock or Display) are all genuine ThunderBolt.

Why not plug your HDMI cable directly into the Mac's HDMI port? 2023 MacBook Pro HDMI supports HDMI 2.1.

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Answer 3

Dec 7, 2023 11:40 AM in response to Grambles_

wait, NO captive lead-in cable?

...Then the Genine ThunderBolt cable you use as a lead-in cable must have the ThunderBolt symbol on each end AND be shorter than 0.5 meters in length.

¿Does yours meet that description?

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Answer 4

Dec 7, 2023 5:00 PM in response to Grambles_

HDMI cables you want for HDMI-only Displays (higher resolutions than 720p TV sets) are marked as Certified with an anti-counterfeiting tag and are labeled:

"Premium High Speed HDMI cable" or that + "with Ethernet" --OR--

"Ultra High Speed HDMI cable" or that + "48G" <-- required for 4K displays

Cables with No Certification tags are good for your standard 720p TV set, and not much more.

HDMI was invented for HD TV sets. it works great at its original resolution of 720i or 720p. At higher resolutions, it quickly develops issues that are complex to solve, and the cables and adapters required to solve are NOT intuitive.

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Answer 5

Dec 7, 2023 5:20 PM in response to Grambles_

Documentation on that dock suggests it is capable of supporting two displays like the ones you have connected. (but not three unique external displays when connected to a Mac.)

Your Dock may have died.

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Answer 6

Grambles_ Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 7, 2023 5:24 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

It’s a brand new dock and it supports up to 4 external displays through 1x HDMI 2.1, 2x DP1.4 and downstream TB4 and the M3 Pro supports up to 2 external displays

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Answer 7

Grambles_ Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 7, 2023 5:05 PM in response to Grambles_

The MacBook, HDMI cable, monitor and dock are certified HDMI 2.1 and/or TB4

if I use the MacBooks HDMI port with a certified cable into the monitor it’s the same, if I use DP 1.4 through the dock it’s the same as going through HDMI

any combination of cables or ports results in the same outcome but all ports and cables are certified TB4, DP1.4 or HDMI 2.1

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