Dual Monitor Studio Display XDR fails on MacBook Pro M3/M4 Pro

I would like to thank you for linking this. I ended up keeping the displays , as I was going to buy a desktop Mac anyway, I tried the dongle solution on my MacBook 14 M3Pro , works absolutely perfect , such a simple 5 USD workaround based on understanding how these things work (handshake order) is truly cool ! thanks a million to everybody having contributed to this solution. I am happy and will buy my next Desktop Mac a couple of weeks later to have the latest gen chips for the Studio Macs, and can enjoy the displays in the meantime. Simply plug the dongle in , plug both displays into individual thunderbolt ports (no Daisy Chaining) and then wait for the first display to come online, unplug the HDMI plug, second one turns on within a second.

Dummy Plug worked…. Used the one that was linked in this thread from Amazon

Welcome to the Apple User-to-User Support Community. Readers here are other Users like you.

Most Apple employees are prohibited from posting here, so they simply do not participate.

To get the attention of Apple employees, you can post a terse message on the Apple product feedback pages:

https://www.apple.com/feedback/

If you feel the Specs of your computer are misleading, you can contact support and ask for a Specialist to assist you with this complex issue. They can file a Bug report on your behalf, but [in my opinion] most likely result is that an asterisk is added to the specs with a footnote that only ONE Apple Display XDR can be supported, or similar weasel-words.

Apple support has some respect for what we do on the forums, and can read what has already been posted if you tell them how to find it. But they do not take our word for things -- they have their own more rigorous procedures that they must follow.

I have skipped over a question I usually ask because you had already done so much debugging. That is a question about what CABLES you are using.

These displays require a very highly engineered data cable, such as the one meter ThunderBolt 5 PRO cable shipped in the box. Use of longer cables, unless they are (much more expensive, starts at over US$100) ThunderBolt PRO cables with ACTIVE signal Re-Drivers, will not produce a picture reliably.

<< that this reduces the total number of external displays you can have. >>

I think you may have cracked the code.

There is no indication that the Thunderbolt -3 or -4 ports can go faster than 40 G bits/sec.

There is no previous hint that there was any sort of bandwidth sharing between display-generators.

But there is precedent as far back as Thunderbolt-2 Apple displays that you can send the data in the output Thunderbolt port if the captive cable became damaged.

you lose the ability to run an additional display because...

...you need to use another display-generator (and in some cases another cable) to get the speed you want.

Today's release of both MacOs and Studio Display Firmware (https://9to5mac.com/2026/03/24/apple-rolls-out-studio-display-and-studio-display-xdr-firmware-updates/) did not address the issue. .. FYI on the firmware update, plug the displays into your Mac separately (or two different ports - not daisy chained). Doesn't look like they both update if daisy chained.

M4 PRO has two display generators for external displays. Since its Thunderbolt ports are rated to 40 G bits/sec, ONE Studio display consumes essentially all of the display bandwidth on that Mac. Resolutions above 60 Hz (or adaptive, which means "up to" 120Hz) will likely force TWO display generators to be used for that ONE display.

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M5 (Plain) also has two display generators for external displays. Since its Thunderbolt ports have the same ThunderBolt-4 as previous Macs (rated at 40 G bits/sec), that consumes essentially all the available display bandwidth for that port at 60 Hz.

We expect that you could NEVER daisy-chain BOTH these displays, even at 60 Hz fixed.

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MacBook Pro with MAX chips have twice as many display generators. M5 PRO and M5 MAX feature Thunderbolt-5, which has closer to 80 G bits/sec potential display bandwidth when EVERY item is Thunderbolt-5 capable.

Hi everyone,

this is my first post here. First of all, thank you to everyone who has shared their findings, troubleshooting steps, and experiences. It’s genuinely interesting to see how much effort and ingenuity has gone into understanding this issue.

I’m experiencing a very similar problem on a MacBook Pro M3 Pro with two Pro Display XDRs (nano‑texture). Each display works perfectly on its own, but as soon as both are connected at the same time, the setup fails.

After a software update, I briefly had a moment where the setup appeared to work, but once I unplugged and reconnected the displays, it stopped again. Since then, I’ve opened a case with Apple. During troubleshooting, I noticed inconsistencies in the reported system profiles , and we ran through their data gathering tool twice. 

Today I received feedback from Apple that I found quite disappointing. I was told that the information on Apple’s homepage is “generic” and that the M3 Pro is not capable of running two of these displays simultaneously. According to them, there is no workaround, no fix, and nothing further they can do or take responsibility for. This conclusion was attributed to “Apple Engineering.”

To be fair, Apple did extend the return deadline, so I will be returning the displays, and I really would prefer to keep them. Still, this outcome is frustrating. I had been looking forward to these displays for nearly three years and was genuinely happy to finally purchase two Pro Display XDRs with nano‑texture glass.

What bothered me most wasn’t just the technical limitation, but the way the situation was handled. There could have been alternative approaches — clearer communication, trade‑in options, or at least consistent information across support calls. Instead, I was made to feel defensive simply for pointing out conflicting statements between different Apple representatives.

In the end, regardless of how the internal decision was reached, the final message was simply that an M3 Pro cannot drive two Pro Display XDRs at the same time — even though each works individually and briefly after Software updates until unplugged

I’m sharing this in case it helps others who are trying to make sense of the situation.

Best

<< What bothered me most wasn’t just the technical limitation, but the way the situation was handled. >>

Welcome to the Apple User-to-User Support communities. Readers here are other Users like you. Most Apple employees are prohibited from posting here, so they generally stay away.

To get the attention your complaint about situation handling deserves, please post it on the Apple Product Feedback pages, where Apple employees will read it and discuss it internally.

Product Feedback - Apple

Yes! I truly believe this is a negotiation issue. Plug one in and you get 5k 120hz to m4 pro. Plug a second one and you get 2 at 60hz.

As I said I’ve literally had both working on m4 pro with “Adaptive 47-60hz” with the screenshots below. I used the displays for over an hour without any issue. I adjusted the arrangement, the resolution, swapped to main / extended. I tried everything to “break” it. Once I re-plugged I was back to square 1.

I've installed 26.4.1 and have no change. I did not expect so. Any update for this issue would be in the next release at the earliest.

I still can't believe it worked for me for about a day… it's like I dreamed it. Now nothing I do will restore it.

I have a Thunderbolt 4 hub I used with my MacBook prior to buying the Mac Studio. I can hook up two displays to the hub. One runs at 120Hz, the other is limited to 60Hz. Unfortunately plugging the third display into the computer directly still results in a black screen.

I'm pretty sure it's Apple intention to allow these displays to fall back to 60Hz if necessary, it's just not working in all circumstances at the moment.

I've installed 26.4.1 and have no change. I did not expect so. Any update for this issue would be in the next release at the earliest.

I still can't believe it worked for me for about a day… it's like I dreamed it. Now nothing I do will restore it.

I have a Thunderbolt 4 hub I used with my MacBook prior to buying the Mac Studio. I can hook up two displays to the hub. One runs at 120Hz, the other is limited to 60Hz. Unfortunately plugging the third display into the computer directly still results in a black screen.

I'm pretty sure it's Apple intention to allow these displays to fall back to 60Hz if necessary, it's just not working in all circumstances at the moment.

I have not had any luck with 2 Studio XDRs except for one reboot after installing 26.4.1. Not sure what happened, it was a freak occurrence. I've tried many things, through troubleshooting with claude code, all documented here:

• https://discussions.apple.com/thread/256265241?answerId=261918856022&sortBy=rank#261918856022
• https://www.reddit.com/r/mac/comments/1rzafpz/troubleshooting_the_studio_xdr_with_claude_code/?solution=9c9097e9919c86039c9097e9919c8603&js_challenge=1&token=bbbe4bf1c9a2b5160829c4be34da5861f6227a8559a4c9cf46f2a54da2aa21d6

But have not had much movement. I filed via Feedback Assistant

Did anyone find a solution?

i just got both my xdr’s and connected them to my macbook pro m3 pro, but only one of them displays at a time. I tried:

• updating mac os to the lastest version available (26.5)
• restarting with just one monitor connected to my laptop at a time. (I noticed some update was installed to each xdr)
• tried restarting with each connected directly to my laptop
• tried restarting daisy chained with different xdr’s connected directly to my laptop.
• tried manually setting the refresh rate to 60hz on each on individually and plugging them both back directly and restarting

in all situations its the same thing - only one screen displays at a time, and the other is black. If i connect both directly to my laptop, the one that is plugged in first has a picture and the other is black. If i unplug the first, then the second lights up. If i plug the first back in it stays dark. If i unplug the second then the first lights up again.

the funny thing is, i know mac os knows the monitor is there even though both don’t show up at the same time in the “displays” screen of settings - if i play something on apple tv, the audio came out the xdr that had a black screen while the video was on the other. When i went to sounds, i could see both xdr’s showed up as output sources.

i also noticed that when updating the second monitor, both monitors had status messages displayed on their individual screens, so technically both can work. There must be some kind of software bug. My macbook pro worked fine with the two dell monitors i was using before this.

any suggestions how to get both displaying at the same time?

Doesn't work on Apple M4 Pro Mac OS 26.6.1

I am left with some big decisions. I have dual XDR's mounted on an monitor arm, and have thrown away the boxes. All marketing material said this was slam dunk. I even purchased a new (refurbished) M4 Pro to prove it was unrelated to my MackBook; Going to return that now.

I can drag these 2 monitors down to the Apple Store and return them, and go back to my gen 1 Studio Display on a stand, or wait for a new fw or OS update.

After talking to (enterprise) support a number of times, it's unclear if Engineering is actively worked on the issue.

Steve Jobs would not be happy. One of Apple's biggest advantages, is that it "just works".