There is a semi other option if you want more than 2 displays. I'm on an M1 Mini, so limited to 2 screens. I used to have 4 before this on my Mac Pro so it was definitely a downside. I'm glad that Apple expanded things on newer models that let you add another one.
The other possible solution, since you mainly do programming work (as do I) is to use DisplayLink -
NOT DisplayPort (General info:
https://www.synaptics.com/products/displaylink-graphics). Which requires both a software driver (which they do now support Apple Silicon chips) and a hardware component. It then uses your main processor to generate a video signal that goes into the hardware device - one specifically that supports DisplayLink. I'll throw some random links below just so you can see what I mean if you aren't familiar with it.
I had never had a need for using DisplayLink before getting my M1 since my Intel Mac Pro easily handled my 4 displays. I thought the resource load would be too much for the M1 to handle while still performing as-usual. But..
I ended up buying a USB-C hub that has 2 DisplayLink ports (which are DisplayPorts) and have been pretty impressed at the performance and fairly low resource usage for the most part. I don't really play games, if you do then don't use DisplayLink because the resource usage goes way up and the performance isn't nearly as good as the native ports on the machine.
So I have 4 monitors back again, 2 native & 2 DisplayLink-driven. Super happy with this setup. A new Mac Pro Mx would be great to hopefully get native ports in the future. But for now, if you're not getting a new Mx chip'd computer because the only reason is the display limitation, using DisplayLink for monitors where you just do text editing (meaning IDEs like VScode, Panic's Nova which I love or even Xcode), it works really well.
Like i said, the framerate isn't high enough for fast paced games. But it isn't super slow either. All I can say is that it works well for my own needs doing mainly programming related tasks.
If you do get a DisplayLink device, they come in hubs, adapters and other interface types, so as a bonus if you get a hub and need some extra ports then you can get both in one.
Here are some random DisplayLink products on Amazon. And no I'm not using any affiliate links, and I haven't used whatever I'm linking. These are just for the sake of some examples that I
think should work:
USB C Docking Station, IVIIN Quadruple Display Laptop Docking Station, USB C Hub Dual HDMI Monitor, Displaylink Dock Compatible with MacBook Dell HP Lenovo Surface(87W PD 2HDMI VGA USB3.0 RJ45 SD TF)
www.amazon.com
WAVLINK USB 3.0 to HDMI Universal Video Graphic Adapter
www.amazon.com
Performance Featuring the latest DisplayLink DL-6950 chipset, the Plugable UD-6950H DisplayLink docking station lets you connect two external monitors up to a 4K@60Hz resolution using DisplayPort or HDMI to your Windows laptop, or desktop via USB 3.0. Can act as a HDMI splitter for dual monitors....
www.amazon.com
And so many others, just do a search for DisplayLink. And, if you do get one, try to look at the DisplayLink version that the hardware supports and try to get the latest you can.
You'll find lots of opinions about DisplayLink if you look around. There are many threads about it here on MR also. Lots of people will say they don't like it because it isn't native or fast enough. But we're programmers, most of us don't really need to have an open 4K stream running 60fps. If you do, put use your native ports. For other things such as programming usage, it works really well for me.
Just passing on my experience and suggestions if you haven't already looked into it. Or if you have, did you decide to not go with DisplayLink? If so, please let us know why or if you have past experience with it, I would be very interested at least to hear.
Sidecar is always an option too, if you have an iPad and just need a tiny bit of extra screen space for something like inspector pallets or something like that.
EDIT:
I forgot to say that many people
do still play games on those displays, not some insane first person shooter type games, but others. Heck I haven't tried and I should sometime, but I'm now just curious how far I can push DisplayLink.
I also forgot to say that the dock I have is made by Plugable and it works super nice & smooth. And with my hub, I actually can connect even a 3rd display to the dock, so 3 monitors would be running through DisplayLink hardware and then another 2 through the native ports. 5 in total.
I don't have the best or biggest displays, but have no problem running my 30" at 2560x1600 on it. It says it supports 4K at 60Hz even. But I can't test that with my equipment so I can't advise on that. Look through the forum or reddit or just the DisplayLink site to find out more and the different products and prices.
