Does my new iMac have enough ports?

[morecowbell]

I’ve ordered a 2020 27 inch iMac with the I7 and the Radeon Pro 5700XT.

I will be driving two external 4k displays, both of which are Dell UltraSharp U2720Q. The dell monitors have the following connection options:

USB, DisplayPort, USB Type C, HDMI

I also have an external thunderbolt Drive.

Question: How do I set up these three items to work at the same time? Is this even possible?

 

[ruslan120]

No, but ironically, if you get a Caldigit TS3 Thunderbolt 3 Dock you’ll be able to connect everything over 1 Thunderbolt 3 port and leave the other one free.

Tb3 <— Caldigit
- DisplayPort: Monitor 1
- USB C: Monitor 2
- Thunderbolt 3: Drive

 

[ruslan120]

Alternatively, you can look for a cheap used Sonnet Puck eGPU and connect it to Thunderbolt 3 and both monitors over DisplayPort to the eGPU. And use your iMac’s other Thuderbolt 3 port for the drive.

 

[morecowbell]

thank you!!!

What kind of cable do I use to connect the monitors?

 

[Whiteman007]

thank you!!!

What kind of cable do I use to connect the monitors?

USB-C to hdmi or DisplayPort. I just ordered a ISB-C to DisplayPort one. You don’t need a hub if you don’t want you could use the 2 thunderbolt 3s with 2 of whatever cable you get

 

[sco]

What model is the external drive - does it have two thunderbolt ports? You could get a thunderbolt to dual display adapter and connect to the external drive (if it has two ports). That leaves you with one free thunderbolt port on the iMac.

e.g. https://www.owcdigital.com/products/thunderbolt-3-dual-display-adapters

There are bunch of these under different brands so shop around for the best price if you go down this path. I bought one a while back and the ALogic branded one was the cheapest at the time.
[automerge]1596859733[/automerge]

 

[joevt]

No, but ironically, if you get a Caldigit TS3 Thunderbolt 3 Dock you’ll be able to connect everything over 1 Thunderbolt 3 port and leave the other one free.

Tb3 <— Caldigit
- DisplayPort: Monitor 1
- USB C: Monitor 2
- Thunderbolt 3: Drive

The CalDigit TS3 Plus does not have a USB-C port that supports a display except for the Thunderbolt port.

You cannot connect two displays to a single Thunderbolt port of a Mac unless the second display is at the end of the Thunderbolt chain, or you have more than one Thunderbolt dock in the chain. The iMac has two Thunderbolt ports so there's no reason to try to connect everything to a single Thunderbolt port.

You didn't say what kind of Thunderbolt drive you have. Does it support USB? Does it have a second Thunderbolt port? What speed can it support? Does it have a DisplayPort output? The answers to those questions will determine the best connections to make.

 

[ruslan120]

The CalDigit TS3 Plus does not have a USB-C port that supports a display except for the Thunderbolt port.

Ah apologies @morecowbell, @joevt you’re right, I misspoke, for transparency I did this (when adding 4 screens to an iMac):

[1]Caldigit
- DisplayPort:4K
- Thunderbolt: USB C Hub with HDMI - 1080p
[2] eGPU
- DisplayPort: 1080p using an adapter
- HDMI: 1080p

You can still use the Caldigit if you’re going to need more ports in the future, or an eGPU if you think you’ll need more than two monitors in the future.

Edit:

How to use Brightness Keys on External Displays in macOS Catalina