macbook pro m1 2020 dual monitor set up

in 2020, Apple released TWO different 13-in MacBook Pro models. You posted the specs for the Intel model, Two ThunderBolt ports.

But you insist that you have the Apple-silicon M1 model with (plain) processor.

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

Thunderbolt 3 digital video output

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

from:

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

Apple introduced three MacBook Pros in 2020:

• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2020, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)

You posted a screenshot of the Technical Specifications for the second. But the title of your post says "MacBook Pro M1", which clearly indicates that you have the third model.

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

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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

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There is no way to add more first-class, hardware-supported display outputs to that Mac.

There are "workaround" products, using DisplayLink or similar technologies, that may let you drive more displays in a second-class way. These may involve various compromises.

Apple-Silicon 2020 M1 13-in MacBook Pro and Air and subsequent models with M-series (plain) processors are extremely-capable entry-level computers. They can support the internal display AND an External display up to the previously unheard of size of the Apple 6K display at billions of colors. But only ONE in addition to the internal display.

This may not match the way older computers forced you to work, since older computers were not able to support a really large external display. But it is NOT a defect. The spec was available long before you could purchase the computer.

The Apple standard for its built-in hardware-accelerated displays, makes them suitable for full-motion video for production/display of cinema-quality video with NO dropped frames, and NO dropouts or partial-blank scan lines due to memory under-runs or other issues. This requires a hardware rasterizer/display-generator for each fully-accelerated display, supported by Huge memory bandwidth to refresh each display 60 or more times a second.

If you need more hardware-accelerated displays than the built-in and ONE external display, and an un-accelerated iPad if desired, you probably need a more capable computer.

OK, so explain the difficult you're having. What is the model number of your Mac, what monitors are you trying to connect, via what method/cables/adapters, what version of macOS is your Mac running, and what exactly is going wrong? Posting that you're not "accepting any answers you read" without providing any details about your issue and what you've tried that you're rejecting makes it impossible for us to even guess as suggestions.

Regards.

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

Apple-Silicon 2020 M1 13-in MacBook Pro and Air and subsequent models with M-series (plain) processors are extremely-capable entry-level computers. They can support the internal display AND an External display up to the previously unheard of size of the Apple 6K display at billions of colors. But only ONE in addition to the internal display.

The (plain) M4 Macs that Apple introduced recently seem to have changed the rule a bit.

M4 Mac minis support up to three displays. 14" M4 MacBook Pros can drive two external displays at the same time as the built-in display. This suggests that plain M4 chips support at most 3 displays (total) – versus 2 for plain M1, M2, and M3 chips.

That is a very specific requirement:

Up to two 4k displays...

With 4096-by-2304 resolution...

At 60Hz...

At millions of colors.

If you are attempting to connect two monitors and one falls outside this limited specification then "up to two" would likely be a limiting phrase.

just when we thought we had figured out the rules, Apple decides to make the product better, invalidating everything I though I knew, again. Will try to fix my saved notes. Thanks for the heads-up.

Maybe I won't need that explanation quite so much any more.

...and when you shop for a replacement DO NOT buy a computer with only 8GB RAM.

Apple has discontinued every model that has only 8GB RAM.