Both monitors work fine, but the Mac things they are one and the same. I presume that my 3rd party dongle to give me 2 HDMI ports is the issue. Does Apple provide the right accessory to use 2 external monitors with this brand new MacBook Air M3?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 14.6
Use dual monitors with your MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M3 chip - Apple Support
Extend or mirror your Mac desktop across multiple displays - Apple Support
Bill_Congo wrote:
Both monitors work fine, but the Mac things they are one and the same. I presume that my 3rd party dongle to give me 2 HDMI ports is the issue.
Macs do not support DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining. So the only supported way to connect two monitors to your M3 MacBook Air would be
Your "USB-C dongle" is probably a plain USB-C dock or adapter, one that relies on DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining or on some "workaround" like DisplayLink to support the second HDMI output.
A Thunderbolt connection provides a wider "data highway" than a regular USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode) one – and the Mac wants to see this wider "data highway" even if the resolutions of your two monitors are so low that there is not a real need for it.
Does Apple provide the right accessory to use 2 external monitors with this brand new MacBook Air M3?
Apple sells an Apple-brand USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter with three ports: a HDMI port, a USB-A port, and a place to plug in a USB-C cable from a USB-C power adapter (to supply pass-through charging power to your Mac). But other than that, they largely leave it up to third parties to provide display adapters, hubs, docks, etc.
Use dual monitors with your MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with M3 chip - Apple Support
Extend or mirror your Mac desktop across multiple displays - Apple Support
Bill_Congo wrote:
Both monitors work fine, but the Mac things they are one and the same. I presume that my 3rd party dongle to give me 2 HDMI ports is the issue.
Macs do not support DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining. So the only supported way to connect two monitors to your M3 MacBook Air would be
Your "USB-C dongle" is probably a plain USB-C dock or adapter, one that relies on DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining or on some "workaround" like DisplayLink to support the second HDMI output.
A Thunderbolt connection provides a wider "data highway" than a regular USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode) one – and the Mac wants to see this wider "data highway" even if the resolutions of your two monitors are so low that there is not a real need for it.
Does Apple provide the right accessory to use 2 external monitors with this brand new MacBook Air M3?
Apple sells an Apple-brand USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter with three ports: a HDMI port, a USB-A port, and a place to plug in a USB-C cable from a USB-C power adapter (to supply pass-through charging power to your Mac). But other than that, they largely leave it up to third parties to provide display adapters, hubs, docks, etc.
You can only use 2 monitors at once. So that can be 1 monitor and the MacBook Airs screen. Or with the lid of the Mac closed you can use both monitors. So only 2 at a time.
Hope this helps
Apologies for the late feedback. And thanks again for the above responses.
I went to the Apple Store two more times. First time, a young staff person sold me a USB-C hub he said would work. At home, it did not. The next day I returned and happened to see the manager on the floor. Explained the issue. He had his two best techs come over to consult. One was not too sure which hub to recommend. The other one (a tech who was called from the back room) strongly recommended the Apple hub over the other brand previously sold to me. The manager gave the Apple Adapter to me free of charge, which I did not expect or request.
The (normally) $69 Apple USB-C to digital AV Multiport Adapter worked fine, and now I have two external monitors working perfectly. My external hard drive along with a couple of USB peripherals also work just fine. All’s well that ends well, and as usual Apple support was excellent.
Yes, that is correct. Thanks. Mac lid closed. Which is a bit inconvenient because then the fingerprint button is covered. But foreseeing that, I had a second external keyboard ordered from Apple which has this key (the white version was out of stock at our Apple Store). I believe the after-market interface device from AMZN with the two HDMI ports is at fault, and it's simply splitting the signal to two monitors. There is a use for that, but not in my case. I went to the Apple Store this afternoon and they sold me a USB C to single HDMI adapter with a USB C outlet as well, and they also sold me a display port adaptor to a second HDMI port to daisy chain to the first one. Unfortunately I took the Genius's word that it would work, but when I got home and opened the boxes, I found that the plug on the adaptor is incorrect. It's a Mini Display Port plug which of course will not plug into the USB C outlet :-(. Totally my fault; I should have opened the boxes to check before leaving the store. I'll go back tomorrow and see if they have the right part.
Thanks for taking the time to respond.
I'll report results after the next visit to the store. Have to go there tomorrow anyway to pick up a new iPad for my wife.
Many thanks. I'll read up on your links. And I'll take your good message to the Apple Store tomorrow and we'll see if we can sort it out.
Thanks again !!
dual external monitors apple MacBook Air M3 chip
