Dual Monitor MacBook Air

[Uncdub4]

I have a 3 in 1 thunderbolt adaptor for my MacBook Air and tested it out with an HDMI monitor and VGA monitor. The main display is still on the laptop and both monitors are mirroring each other. When I detect displays, it does not recognize the VGA monitor. I would like to close the laptop and have the HDMI monitor being the main display and VGA monitor be the second display. Help please!!

 

[meme1255]

I am sorry. This will not work.

 

[Uncdub4]

If I leave the laptop open is there a way for it to detect the third monitor? If not, what are my options to make this work?

 

[saulinpa]

Those cheap adapters are dumb and only support mirroring on their ports. You need to get a dock that supports multiple monitors. And, unfortunately, one monitor needs to be Thunderbolt.

Other option is to use a USB to VGA dongle to drive one of the monitors. OK for displays but not good for any complex video.

 

[crusher372]

That’s the limitations of the air in supporting only one external display. There are work arounds but they all are compromised.

 

[Boyd01]

You need to get a dock that supports multiple monitors. And, unfortunately, one monitor needs to be Thunderbolt.

I looked at a variety of options when I started working more with video and wanted two screens. It has been widely reported that you can use a second monitor with a dock BUT you need to plug another thunderbolt device (such as a disk) into the dock, then plug the second monitor in to the disk's pass-through port. As I understand it, this is because each thunderbolt device can support one monitor and the disk is your second device.

I got an OWC Thunderbolt dock and was planning to do this, but couldn't even get one monitor to work reliably. Ended up returning it and getting a 2012 quad mini for my video editing.