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Phatalbert1000

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 23, 2016
66
116
Hey, guys!
Wondering if anyone knows whether or not it is possible to run three monitors (in addition to the MacBook screen) with the 13" Touch Bar MBP. I know apple says you can run 2x4k, but what about 1x4k + 2x1440? Perhaps with some daisy-chaining?
Thanks in advance!
 

Phatalbert1000

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 23, 2016
66
116
It should work, but OS X doesn't support displayport daisychaining.
Hmmm... I may be confused, but doesn't this suggest that it can daisy-chain?
MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports) and MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016, Two Thunderbolt 3 Ports) support up to two Thunderbolt displays using Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapters and daisy-chaining.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204154
Like I said, I fully expect that I'm just missing something...
 
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Cougarcat

macrumors 604
Sep 19, 2003
7,766
2,554
You can daisychain with Thunderbolt displays, not displayport ones.

You can put Displayport monitors at the end of the chain. So you could have: Mac-->TB Monitor-->Displayport Monitor.
 

Phatalbert1000

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 23, 2016
66
116
You can daisychain with Thunderbolt displays, not displayport ones.

You can put Displayport monitors at the end of the chain. So you could have: Mac-->TB Monitor-->Displayport Monitor.
You can daisychain with Thunderbolt displays, not displayport ones.

You can put Displayport monitors at the end of the chain. So you could have: Mac-->TB Monitor-->Displayport Monitor.

Gotcha! So maybe I could go with a 4k display through one port and then run a couple of 1440's off a hub connected to another one (using two totals ports on the computer)?
 

Phatalbert1000

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 23, 2016
66
116
Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but now that I've got my 13" MBP and 3 monitors, I'm not having any luck.
Right now I've got 2 4k's running through 2 display port dongles on my left hand USB ports. If I try to hook up a third monitor either via dongle or a hub, I get a black screen. For what its worth, I can run an iPad as a third external monitor via the Duet app just fine.
Any advice?
Thank in advance!
 

Benjinator

macrumors newbie
Jun 17, 2016
20
3
if I remember correctly the Igpu in the 13inch can only run 3 displays. the laptop one and 2 external. have you tried clamshell mode?
 
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Phatalbert1000

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 23, 2016
66
116
if I remember correctly the Igpu in the 13inch can only run 3 displays. the laptop one and 2 external. have you tried clamshell mode?
I haven't, but I don't have an external keyboard and mouse :/
I assume that it's handling the processing for the iPad screen though, and it runs great even with the internal display and the other two monitors.
 

rutrack

macrumors regular
Jan 5, 2017
148
128
The 2015 13" Can run three displays simultaneously, so you can either have 2 external + internal or 3 external, with discrete graphics card you can have 4 simultaneous displays, I suppose it should be the same.
 

Samuelsan2001

macrumors 604
Oct 24, 2013
7,729
2,153
The 2015 13" Can run three displays simultaneously, so you can either have 2 external + internal or 3 external, with discrete graphics card you can have 4 simultaneous displays, I suppose it should be the same.

Not when any of the displays are 4K it can't.
 
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julioromano

macrumors newbie
Aug 4, 2011
6
0
On a "MacBook Pro (13-inch, 2016, Four Thunderbolt 3 Ports)" I can't get 3 external displays to work.
They are 3 DELL U2415 display (1920x1200).

I connect 2 of them using usb-c to Displayport cables and the third one using Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter (with an HDMI cable).

In the 'System Information' app under 'USB' I can see all 3 cables connected: one shows up as 'Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter' and the other two show up as 'Billboard Device'.

Nevertheless, regardless of the combination, only the first 2 out of the 3 connected screens will show a picture. Closing the laptop lid with magic keyboard and magic mouse connected won't change a thing: the built in display will shutdown but the third external display won't lit up.
 

Sir Hartley

macrumors newbie
Nov 24, 2017
1
2
Sorry to dig up an old post but I wanted to throw this out there. These are only 1080P monitors but I'm using 3 of them plus my onboard monitor at work without issue on my 13 inch MacBook Pro w Touch Bar. I'm using a Dell "triple display" USB 3.0 dock. It works fine in MacOS and Windows 10 (boot camp).


23795693_10104031915436352_1898116591053642879_n.jpg
 

DeepIn2U

macrumors G5
May 30, 2002
13,051
6,984
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Sorry to dig up an old post but I wanted to throw this out there. These are only 1080P monitors but I'm using 3 of them plus my onboard monitor at work without issue on my 13 inch MacBook Pro w Touch Bar. I'm using a Dell "triple display" USB 3.0 dock. It works fine in MacOS and Windows 10 (boot camp).


23795693_10104031915436352_1898116591053642879_n.jpg


Ok considering the host and you are generically stating 13” MBP TB I think we should all be more specific - especially the OP cause the thread started in 2016 but was updated when he had his MBP in 2017.

2016 MBP and 2017 models differs in chipsets and what they can support in terms of total external resolution. So guys update which models you have first. Next outline which ports specifically on your respective models is connected. If I recall the 2016 MBP TB only supported 2 USB-C Ports at full TB3 speeds. The 2017 model supports 3 USB-C ports at full TB3 speeds. Knowing which port can do what will affect resolution and monitor connected.

I think that maybe part of the confusion. Once that’s cleared up then maybe in Preferences - Displays will resolve a bit better; hopefully.
 

Black Diesel

macrumors regular
Mar 15, 2011
239
109
Sorry to dig up an old post but I wanted to throw this out there. These are only 1080P monitors but I'm using 3 of them plus my onboard monitor at work without issue on my 13 inch MacBook Pro w Touch Bar. I'm using a Dell "triple display" USB 3.0 dock. It works fine in MacOS and Windows 10 (boot camp).


23795693_10104031915436352_1898116591053642879_n.jpg
[doublepost=1514837061][/doublepost]Can you please share your MBP specs and update us as to how your setup is working? Any issues?
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,967
4,262
Sorry to dig up an old post but I wanted to throw this out there. These are only 1080P monitors but I'm using 3 of them plus my onboard monitor at work without issue on my 13 inch MacBook Pro w Touch Bar. I'm using a Dell "triple display" USB 3.0 dock. It works fine in MacOS and Windows 10 (boot camp).
The Dell Triple Display USB 3.0 dock does not use the display output of the MacBook Pro's graphics chip. It uses DisplayLink which uses USB to transmit graphics information bypassing the limitations of the graphics chip. DisplayLink has it's own limitations though (not good for video or games because of USB bandwidth).
http://www.displaylink.com/products
 

r3lik

macrumors newbie
Jan 25, 2018
2
1
Los Angeles
I have a mid 2017 13inch MBP with touchar and cannot get 3x 1440p monitors to display video. I'm only able to get 2. I think I read somewhere that it can support 3x 1080p, but not 2k+.

Anyone have any other insight, or suggestions?
Is getting an eGPU the only solution to getting 2+ monitors?
 

yang88she

macrumors regular
Oct 26, 2011
217
34
ATL
I have a mid 2017 13inch MBP with touchar and cannot get 3x 1440p monitors to display video. I'm only able to get 2. I think I read somewhere that it can support 3x 1080p, but not 2k+.

Anyone have any other insight, or suggestions?
Is getting an eGPU the only solution to getting 2+ monitors?

is that in conjunction to your macbook display?
 

Anomaly03

macrumors newbie
May 16, 2018
1
0
Sorry to dig up an old post but I wanted to throw this out there. These are only 1080P monitors but I'm using 3 of them plus my onboard monitor at work without issue on my 13 inch MacBook Pro w Touch Bar. I'm using a Dell "triple display" USB 3.0 dock. It works fine in MacOS and Windows 10 (boot camp).


23795693_10104031915436352_1898116591053642879_n.jpg

Thank you for this! This is exactly what I am trying to achieve at work. Every bit. 3 monitors. Bootcamp. 13inch tb. What are you using to convert to usb?
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,967
4,262
Thank you for this! This is exactly what I am trying to achieve at work. Every bit. 3 monitors. Bootcamp. 13inch tb. What are you using to convert to usb?

With the Dell "triple display" dock, none of the 3 displays are connected to the graphics chip of the MacBook Pro, so they won't be good for video or games. The Dell dock uses DisplayLink to transmit video data over USB (5 Gbps) using compression. A normal 4K 60Hz signal from the graphics chip is over 11 Gbps (3840x2160 60Hz, 24 bit color).

If you really need 3 displays, you can connect two of them directly to the graphics chip (via one or two of the Thunderbolt 3 ports). You can use two of the Thunderbolt 3 ports, or use just one Thunderbolt 3 port with a Thunderbolt 3 device that has two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a DisplayPort output (such as a Thunderbolt 3 dock like the CalDigit TS3 Plus) or you can use a Thunderbolt 3 to Dual DisplayPort adapter.

Then for the third display, you can use a DisplayLink adapter with any USB port (any of the remaining Thunderbolt 3 ports or a USB port on a Thunderbolt 3 dock). With a triple display dock, you could have five displays (two native displays, three DisplayLink displays). A list of devices that use DisplayLink are at http://www.displaylink.com/products
They have devices that support one, two, or three displays.

The driver page at http://www.displaylink.com/downloads/macos mentions incompatibility with the latest macOS 10.13.4, but that's not a problem with BootCamp.

To convert USB-C (or Thunderbolt 3) to USB-A, just use any USB-C (male) to USB-A (female) adapter like the one Apple sells.
 

JAKE_ANDREWS

macrumors newbie
Jul 27, 2020
1
0
Hi guys, I havent seen anyone talk about an issue I'm having. I want to do a tri-monitor setup on a 2019 macbook pro with touch bar, with only 2 usb-c ports. Is it possible to use these three displays using a usb-c to dual hdmi addapter, like this onehttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B07QKVY23...olid=30E0YM29SN358&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it) and another usb c to hdmi adapter. Maybe I can use a displaylink adapter with a usb hub I have, but is it possible to even run three monitors on the Mac? Maybe something like this will work (https://www.amazon.com/UtechSmart-a...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=) but I'm not sure if my Mac will be able to support all three at the same time, even in clamshell mode. I Appreciate all support.
 
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ironjaw

macrumors 6502
May 23, 2006
379
8
Cold Copenhagen
I'm running a MacBook Pro 13 inch (2019) with two external monitors Dell 2419HC, connected by USB C to the only two USB C/TB ports on the right in clamshell mode. I've realised that when I open display, the fans kick in so I've kept it closed. CPU is 54 degrees. I haven't been able to run three displays.

I would like to know if anyone has been able to run 4 external monitors on the new 2020 MacBook Pro 13 inch. I know that the 16 inch allows 4 displays
 

joevt

macrumors 604
Jun 21, 2012
6,967
4,262
I would like to know if anyone has been able to run 4 external monitors on the new 2020 MacBook Pro 13 inch. I know that the 16 inch allows 4 displays
13 inch has Intel graphics (limited to 3 displays; 2 external, 1 internal)
16 inch has AMD graphics (4 external displays + internal)

If you want more displays, then you need to use something like DisplayLink.
 
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