Mac Studio M4 Max not recognizing third Studio Display XDR

Question

Mac Studio M4 Max not recognizing third Studio Display XDR

I have three 5k monitors, Apple Studio Display XDR, I was hoping to use with my Mac Studio M4 Max. When all three are connected via Thunderbolt, two work as expected. The third is recognized as being connected (shows in system profile under thunderbolt connected devices), but is not displayed under System Preferences > Displays.

This article, How many displays can be connected to Mac Studio, lists that the Mac Studio M4 Max can support two 6K monitors at 60Hz plus a 5K monitor at 120Hz, so I thought three 5K at 60Hz would not be a problem. It seems that's not the case, and the resolutions have to be explicitly listed there. Three 5K monitors are not, even though it would be fewer pixels than two 6K + one 5K. I tried setting the first two displays to 60Hz before connecting the third, but no luck.

I initially asked this question on Reddit. One person replied saying they were using three of the 2022 Studio Displays with an M2 Max Mac Studio. So likely it is possible for the Mac Studio M4 Max to support three 5K monitors, but perhaps something in the software or firmware is preventing my particular configuration using XDR monitors.

Mac Studio (M4 Max, 2025)

Posted on Mar 31, 2026 5:15 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Grant Bennet-Alder

Level 10

144,425 points

Mar 31, 2026 5:28 PM in response to AlexanderPhoto

YOU MUST be running at least 26.3.1 to get any to light up.

There is a firmware update for the display available in 26.4, that updates the firmware in each display to 26.4 version.

The issue with older firmware was that it grabbed TWO display-generators for each XDR display (old or new) and you ran out before all displays lit up. The new firmware is supposed to fix that.

Please post back with your results.

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Answer 2

Apr 8, 2026 8:26 AM in response to AlexanderPhoto

I now have my setup working successfully! Apple support said the engineers said that all three displays needed to be connected directly to the Mac to work. I had tried this before with no success, but thought it was worth a try again. Of course, initially no luck. But something the support tech said, "All displays need to be connected directly to the Mac for it to configure the maximum refresh rate," got me thinking — maybe I need to restart. That worked! On restart all the displays work! In hindsight I can't believe I hadn't done that before, but I guess I've been spoiled by years of just being able to plug in a monitor and have it work immediately.

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Answer 3

Apr 2, 2026 8:12 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

I did get in touch with Apple support. I believe they escalated my issue for an engineer to review. I provided links to this thread and the similar thread I linked to prior.

For any Apple engineering reviewing this thread: I also have a M1 Max MacBook Pro. I plugged in the three displays into it and it worked! So clearly this is a software issue if the M1 Max can support all three (at 60Hz of course) and the M4 Max cannot. Having a regression in the number of XDR displays supported by a newer chip is a bug in my opinion. I believe the issue is that the M4 Max chip (as well as the M3 and M5 series I believe) is consuming two display generators/pipelines even once the display is set to 60Hz. If this could be addressed, the M4 Max should have no issue driving all three displays at 60Hz. (Note: The issue was filed under my main Apple account, I'm posting here using an alternative account, sorry for any confusion.)

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Answer 4

Apr 1, 2026 8:44 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

From the linked article, How many displays can be connected to Mac Studio

Three external displays

Supports three external displays in any one of these configurations:

Two displays up to a native resolution of 6K (6144 x 3456) at 60Hz or 4K (3840 x 2160) at 144Hz, and one display up to a native resolution of 8K (7680 x 4320) at 60Hz, 5K (5120 x 2880) at 120Hz, or 4K (3840 x 2160) at 240Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI
Two displays up to a native resolution of 8K (7680 x 4320) at 60Hz, 5K (5120 x 2880) at 120Hz, or 4K (3840 x 2160) at 240Hz over Thunderbolt, and one display up to a native resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160) at 60Hz over HDMI

Three 5K displays at 60Hz should work fine (one can even be at 120Hz). The issue is that MacOS detects the displays can be 120Hz, so uses two display generators, leaving me one short on an M4 Max. I think this could be fixed through software or firmware.

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Answer 5

Apr 2, 2026 7:32 AM in response to AlexanderPhoto

to get your complaint in front of Apple employees, but not in a formal, tracked manner, you can post on the Apple product feedback pages:

Product Feedback - Apple

To pursuse a resolution or a formal, tracked Bug Report, contact Apple telephone support.

The telephone support people are more likely to work with you. They will insist that you go through the motions to eliminate software issues. But when they get to the end of their list, Do NOT allow them to tell your it’s fine or there is nothing more they can do for you!

You should insist on having your problem escalated to a specialist. Specialists are more likely to actually read your panic or other reports. If still no resolution, ask them to start a formal, tracked Bug Report on your behalf. If they think this might be a Hardware problem they can DIRECT an Apple service provider to swap things (likely mainboard) for a new one.

Apple support does appreciate what we do as Volunteers here on the forums. They can and should read what has already been posted. Be sure to tell them where they can read it. But they do NOT take our conclusions at face value -- they have their own more rigorous procedures they follow.

Contact - Official Apple Support

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Answer 6

Mar 31, 2026 6:49 PM in response to AlexanderPhoto

The limit on a Thunderbolt-3/4 port is about 80 Hz. Going beyond that on a normal display can only be accomplished using Display Stream Compression, or what the XDR displays do, with is NO compression and use TWO display generators for each display.

That specific Mac with its ThunderBolt-3/4 ports does not support six display generators.

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Answer 7

Apr 3, 2026 9:57 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Yes, the M1 Max MacBook Pro was running 26.4 when I tested all three displays.

That is my assumption as well – the old M1 Max chip only uses one display generator for each display because it is limited to 60Hz. The new M4 Max chip assigns two and won't release them after setting the display to 60Hz, leaving me short on display generators.

As I said before, this seems like something which could be fixed via software. The computer is clearly capable of 3x 5K @ 60Hz. It just needs to be unlocked.

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Answer 8

Mar 31, 2026 8:49 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

No problem. Thank you so much for your help so far.

I've been reading through the Dual Monitor Studio Display XDR fails on MacBook Pro M3/M4 Pro thread. It has been rather enlightening.

I wonder if the 5K 120Hz display still uses TWO channels, which would explain why three Studio Display XDRs won't work, while apparently three regular, 60Hz Studio Displays will work. It seems as though a software update is in order to allow three XDR monitors if two are set to 60Hz.

I did have one monitor daisy-chained to another, so I moved all three close enough to plug in directly. No luck. I originally tried plugging in each directly when I took them out of the box, but not after the firmware update. Supposedly up to three (or was it four) of these can be daisy-chained, so I didn't expect that to work but I wanted to be sure.

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Answer 9

Mar 31, 2026 5:57 PM in response to AlexanderPhoto

Based on further replies to the Reddit thread, I'm thinking the issue here is that all three can support 120Hz. If I understand the specs in the article I linked in my original post correctly, three 5k monitors at 120Hz is not supported. However, I would expect that setting all to 60Hz would allow the computer to support all three monitors. So perhaps this is an issue which can be fixed with an OS or firmware update?

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Answer 10

Mar 31, 2026 7:26 PM in response to AlexanderPhoto

..Ok I am thinking of MacBook Pro M4 instead of what I should be doing and looking I up.

If it has Thunderbolt-5 ports, then it can easily support each XDR display on ONE thunderbolt-5 port, using the short Pre-Engineered ThunderBolt cables Apple ships in the box.

If you need longer cables, you will likely need to use ACTIVE Thunderbolt-5 cables, that start at around US$100. Ask if you need more info.

...and if it does Not do that for you, you will have to have Apple Support explain WHY NOT.

Support

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Answer 11

Apr 1, 2026 7:14 AM in response to AlexanderPhoto

the specs for your computer is the display section:

M4 Max

Simultaneous support for up to five displays:

Up to four displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI
Up to two displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at up to 240Hz over HDMI

Since there is no mention of 120 Hz anything, you are stuck using two display generators per 5K at 10 Bits at 120 Hz to light up an SDR display.

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Answer 12

Apr 3, 2026 5:36 AM in response to AlexanderPhoto

very interesting that the older Mac supports both at 60 Hz.

I agree that the only way it could be doing that is to use only ONE display-generator for each display.

¿Were you running MacOS 26.4 on the M1 MacBook Pro MAX processor win you did that test?

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Answer 13

Apr 8, 2026 4:27 PM in response to AlexanderPhoto

I declared victory too soon. 😔

I went to plug in a USB device into the back of one of the displays. I must have bumped the cable, because the monitor turned off. I thought I would just need to restart, but no. I've now restarted at least 10 times, plugging in things and unplugging them trying to get all three to work, but no luck. I contacted Apple support yet again, pushing it back to the engineers. Hopefully they have some idea of what might be going on.

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Answer 14

Mar 31, 2026 5:36 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The computer has been updated to MacOS 26.4.

The firmware on each display is 66.14. I believe this is the latest firmware as I am no longer getting a prompt in System Preferences to update them.

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Answer 15

Mar 31, 2026 6:53 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

The Mac Studio M4 Max has Thunderbolt 5.

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