Macbook Pro M2 closed and working with two external monitors. Help.

[epicruchi]

Hi. I'm waiting for a Macbook Pro M2. Could I work with the laptop closed and two external monitors?. I've read some discussions about multiple external monitors through Displaylink, but I´ve never heard about this option. My purpose is to have one external monitor mirroring the laptop, and the second one as second display.
Thanks in advance.

 

[chrfr]

Hi. I'm waiting for a Macbook Pro M2. Could I work with the laptop closed and two external monitors?. I've read some discussions about multiple external monitors through Displaylink, but I´ve never heard about this option. My purpose is to have one external monitor mirroring the laptop, and the second one as second display.
Thanks in advance.

The M1 and M2 (non Pro/Max/Ultra) computers can drive a total of 2 displays, and this number doesn’t change if the lid is closed. You’d need a DisplayLink adapter with drivers installed, to use 2 external displays on this computer, regardless of whether or not you’re using the internal display.

 

[epicruchi]

I’ll check it out. Thanks

 

[hovscorpion12]

The above post is actually incorrect.

Per Apple's technical specifications for the revised MacBook Pro, the M2 only supports one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

In order to have dual-monitor setup, you would need a USB-C DisplayLink docking stations. A USB-A to HDMI video adapter.

Currently, I use a few stations/adapters from Kensington.

Set Up Dual Monitors on Apple M3, M2 or M1 MacBooks | Kensington

Seamlessly transform your M1/M2/M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra-powered MacBook into a multi-monitor powerhouse with Kensington’s docking stations and video adapters. Discover our straightforward guide to creating a dynamic dual-display setup and boost your productivity.

www.kensington.com

 

[IncreasinglyFrustrated]

The above post is actually incorrect.

Per Apple's technical specifications for the revised MacBook Pro, the M2 only supports one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

In order to have dual-monitor setup, you would need a USB-C DisplayLink docking stations. A USB-A to HDMI video adapter.

Currently, I use a few stations/adapters from Kensington.

Set Up Dual Monitors on Apple M3, M2 or M1 MacBooks | Kensington

Seamlessly transform your M1/M2/M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra-powered MacBook into a multi-monitor powerhouse with Kensington’s docking stations and video adapters. Discover our straightforward guide to creating a dynamic dual-display setup and boost your productivity.

www.kensington.com

Do you know if DisplayLink-connected monitors affect the display limit attached to TB?

For example, could an M2 13" MBP support 4 monitors using an external TB display connected one TB port, and a 3-monitor Kensington Dock attached to the other?

 

[chrfr]

The above post is actually incorrect.

Per Apple's technical specifications for the revised MacBook Pro, the M2 only supports one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz.

In order to have dual-monitor setup, you would need a USB-C DisplayLink docking stations. A USB-A to HDMI video adapter.

Currently, I use a few stations/adapters from Kensington.

Set Up Dual Monitors on Apple M3, M2 or M1 MacBooks | Kensington

Seamlessly transform your M1/M2/M3 Pro, Max, or Ultra-powered MacBook into a multi-monitor powerhouse with Kensington’s docking stations and video adapters. Discover our straightforward guide to creating a dynamic dual-display setup and boost your productivity.

www.kensington.com

My post is correct. The M2 supports a TOTAL of 2 displays. The internal display counts as one of those two.

 

[chrfr]

Do you know if DisplayLink-connected monitors affect the display limit attached to TB?

For example, could an M2 13" MBP support 4 monitors using an external TB display connected one TB port, and a 3-monitor Kensington Dock attached to the other?

Because DisplayLink uses USB and software drivers, it has no bearing on the native display capability. I don’t know anything about the dock you‘ve mentioned so I can’t comment on that.

 

[Michael_S]

Hi, I'm about to add a 14 inch Macbook Pro M2 Max to my setup (currently use a Dell XPS 13 with 4k touch screen, Dell thunderbolt 3 dock and 2 x 4k Dell ultrasharp monitors) for Lightroom CC, Photoshop with about 50,000 images in my Adobe LR library.

The Macbook will be my main editing machine in future, and the Dell will become my backup.

So I want to maintain the Dell and its Dock, plus 2 x 4k Dell monitors but also use the spare ports on the Dell monitors to link to a Dock for the Macbook Pro. The Dell monitors have DP, MDP and HDMI interfaces so I'm a bit spoilt for choices here ...

Now my questions:

1. Anybody have experiences of linking 2 x 4k monitors to a new M2 Max 14 inch MBP and having the MBP screen and 2 external screens working? - note I won't be running the Dell and MBP at the same time (well, not at first... ).

2. Can anybody recommend a Thunderbolt / other adapter/dock to give me the ports I need to feed my 2 external Dell monitors (I note that the M2 Max 14 inch Macbook pro is supposed to be able to drive 4 x external monitors)

The external monitors will be running at 60Hz

P.S. its 15 years plus since I have used a Mac, so I'm a bit 'rusty' regarding Macs...

thanks

Michael

 

[Christopher Kim]

Yes, the 14" MBP's (either M2 Max or M2 Pro) can easily handle 2 external displays + internal. I think the M2 Max can even do up to 3 external displays via Thunderbolt + 1 4KTV via HDMI.

This thread is about the 13" Macbook Pro w/ M2 (eg. the one in the old MBP body from the 2016 - 2020 generation) that only has 2 Thunderbolt ports on 1 side of the laptop.

So should be no problem.

In terms of docks, it somewhat depends on what other features / inputs you're looking for. OWC and CalDigit are 2 well-known brands that make well-regarded Thunderbolt 3/4 docks specialized for Macs.