7 ms·

Still only supports one display. Also they increased the prices across the board.. Quite happy with my M1 Pro, a beat and a hell of a purchase.

dougmwne 4y ago
Wait, you can't extend the display to a second screen?
- fumar 4y ago
  14 and 16 inch Macbook Pro's support multiple external screens up to 6K. https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/
  - zydex 4y ago
    That's the case for the M1 Pro and M1 Ultra. The regular M1 only supports a single external display.
    - seppel 4y ago
      The M2 as well, unfortunately.
- pdpi 4y ago
  Only supports one external display, as opposed to the 14"/16" machines that can do maybe 3 or 4?
- msh 4y ago
  Yes but only one external display plus the build in display.
  - ryanmcbride 4y ago
    Wait really? I was using 2 external displays alongside the built in desplay on my m1 just a few days ago. Or is it a limitation only with m1 mb airs?
    - coder543 4y ago
      > on my m1 just a few days ago M1 != M1 Pro/Max/Ultra. If you have an M1 Pro or M1 Max or M1 Ultra, that is not "[your] m1". Each chip has significantly different capabilities in a number of aspects. As far as display support goes, M1 = 1 external display[0] M1 Pro = 2 external displays M1 Max = 4 external displays (3 USB-C + 1 HDMI)[1] [0]: the exception is the M1 Mac Mini, which doesn't have an internal display, so it can use two external displays. [1]: once again, the desktop version without a built-in monitor can support one additional monitor, so the Mac Studio with M1 Max can support 5 displays.
      - ryanmcbride 4y ago
        Got it, I thought they were saying it was a limitation of the chip not the specific laptop they had. Thanks for the clarification!
        coder543 4y ago
        It is a limitation of the chip. The M1 chip and the M1 Pro chip are not the same chip. The laptop itself has nothing to do with it. If they decided to put an M1 Pro chip into the MacBook Air, it would be able to have 2 external displays.
        ryanmcbride 4y ago
        alright thanks
      - imwillofficial 4y ago
        M1 Ultra = Every display known to man.
  - conductr 4y ago
    Does the 13" MBP support multiple displays? Sorry- I'm horrible at reading Apple Specs and inferring the capabilities
    - ccouzens 4y ago
      just the one external screen (two screens total including internal). https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/specs/ People have gotten round it by connecting additional screens using display link adapters.
      - conductr 4y ago
        Awesome thanks for the assist! That page makes it clear, I guess I'm actually just horrible at sifting through the marketing to find the spec page :)
      - ig-88ms 4y ago
        Display Link is alrightish for light office work or coding. But not much else.
      - opan 4y ago
        Can you use two external screens if you disable the internal screen? That's what I do now with a ThinkPad.
        yulaow 4y ago
        No sadly you can't
    - freewizard 4y ago
      My 13" 2014 MBP supports 2 mDP + 1 HDMI = total 3 external displays. Running external display at 4k@60Hz is possible but not straight forward, it requires patch core graphic framework, or using 3rd party boot loader. Newer models do not have this limitation afaik.
      - 4y ago
  - caycep 4y ago
    There was some dock from a 3rd party vendor that let you do more screens, but I can't remember which one...
    - imposterr 4y ago
      There are a few. They are able to do this by using something called Display Stream Compression. While it may be find for some, a lot of us would prefer not to have a diminished experience with a compressed stream.
      - herpderperator 4y ago
        DSC doesn't solve the hardware limitation of only being able to drive a single external display on the M1, that's a hardware thing that cannot be changed. You have confused it with DisplayLink, which is basically another graphics card, hence why it "solves" this problem, but the experience is worse because it's CPU-intensive/software rendered.
        imposterr 4y ago
        Good catch. Definitely meant DisplayLink.
      - coder543 4y ago
        Display Stream Compression (DSC) is fine. It is not a "diminished experience". DSC is visually lossless. Instead, those docks use a technology called DisplayLink which has nothing to do with DSC. DisplayLink means that external monitors are basically "software" displays that are tremendously slower and often very limited in resolutions and frame rates. Having any DisplayLink display connected also breaks HDCP and can cause other problems.
        mrob 4y ago
        The relevant standard is proprietary, but Wikipedia quotes it, confirming that "visually lossless" is marketing lies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Display_Stream_Compression https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Display_Stream_Com...
top_sigrid 4y ago
This is disappointing. It has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports but can only drive one external display. So unnecessary, this would be the perfect machine for my home and work setup, but I have 2 external displays in both cases.
- ttul 4y ago
  They are 100% doing this intentionally. They want to drive power users toward spending more and they know that many of us will…
pishpash 4y ago
They did? Seems to be the same price as M1 MacBook Pro.
supergeek 4y ago
Really disappointing considering they now support up to a 6k external display. Yet you can't do 2x 1080p, or 2x 4k. I think Apple knows a lot of customers care about this and want it to be a barrier getting them into a pro machine. The cheapest laptop they sell with multi-external-monitor support is $1k more than their cheapest laptop overall ($2k vs $1k).

dougmwne 4y ago

Wait, you can't extend the display to a second screen?

fumar 4y ago
14 and 16 inch Macbook Pro's support multiple external screens up to 6K. https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-14-and-16/specs/
- zydex 4y ago
  That's the case for the M1 Pro and M1 Ultra. The regular M1 only supports a single external display.
  - seppel 4y ago
    The M2 as well, unfortunately.
pdpi 4y ago
Only supports one external display, as opposed to the 14"/16" machines that can do maybe 3 or 4?
msh 4y ago
Yes but only one external display plus the build in display.
- ryanmcbride 4y ago
  Wait really? I was using 2 external displays alongside the built in desplay on my m1 just a few days ago. Or is it a limitation only with m1 mb airs?
  - coder543 4y ago
    > on my m1 just a few days ago M1 != M1 Pro/Max/Ultra. If you have an M1 Pro or M1 Max or M1 Ultra, that is not "[your] m1". Each chip has significantly different capabilities in a number of aspects. As far as display support goes, M1 = 1 external display[0] M1 Pro = 2 external displays M1 Max = 4 external displays (3 USB-C + 1 HDMI)[1] [0]: the exception is the M1 Mac Mini, which doesn't have an internal display, so it can use two external displays. [1]: once again, the desktop version without a built-in monitor can support one additional monitor, so the Mac Studio with M1 Max can support 5 displays.
    - ryanmcbride 4y ago
      Got it, I thought they were saying it was a limitation of the chip not the specific laptop they had. Thanks for the clarification!
      - coder543 4y ago
        It is a limitation of the chip. The M1 chip and the M1 Pro chip are not the same chip. The laptop itself has nothing to do with it. If they decided to put an M1 Pro chip into the MacBook Air, it would be able to have 2 external displays.
        ryanmcbride 4y ago
        alright thanks
    - imwillofficial 4y ago
      M1 Ultra = Every display known to man.
- conductr 4y ago
  Does the 13" MBP support multiple displays? Sorry- I'm horrible at reading Apple Specs and inferring the capabilities
  - ccouzens 4y ago
    just the one external screen (two screens total including internal). https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/specs/ https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/specs/ People have gotten round it by connecting additional screens using display link adapters.
    - conductr 4y ago
      Awesome thanks for the assist! That page makes it clear, I guess I'm actually just horrible at sifting through the marketing to find the spec page :)
    - ig-88ms 4y ago
      Display Link is alrightish for light office work or coding. But not much else.
    - opan 4y ago
      Can you use two external screens if you disable the internal screen? That's what I do now with a ThinkPad.
      - yulaow 4y ago
        No sadly you can't
  - freewizard 4y ago
    My 13" 2014 MBP supports 2 mDP + 1 HDMI = total 3 external displays. Running external display at 4k@60Hz is possible but not straight forward, it requires patch core graphic framework, or using 3rd party boot loader. Newer models do not have this limitation afaik.
    - 4y ago
- caycep 4y ago
  There was some dock from a 3rd party vendor that let you do more screens, but I can't remember which one...
  - imposterr 4y ago
    There are a few. They are able to do this by using something called Display Stream Compression. While it may be find for some, a lot of us would prefer not to have a diminished experience with a compressed stream.
    - herpderperator 4y ago
      DSC doesn't solve the hardware limitation of only being able to drive a single external display on the M1, that's a hardware thing that cannot be changed. You have confused it with DisplayLink, which is basically another graphics card, hence why it "solves" this problem, but the experience is worse because it's CPU-intensive/software rendered.
      - imposterr 4y ago
        Good catch. Definitely meant DisplayLink.
    - coder543 4y ago
      Display Stream Compression (DSC) is fine. It is not a "diminished experience". DSC is visually lossless. Instead, those docks use a technology called DisplayLink which has nothing to do with DSC. DisplayLink means that external monitors are basically "software" displays that are tremendously slower and often very limited in resolutions and frame rates. Having any DisplayLink display connected also breaks HDCP and can cause other problems.
      - mrob 4y ago
        The relevant standard is proprietary, but Wikipedia quotes it, confirming that "visually lossless" is marketing lies: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Display_Stream_Compression https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Display_Stream_Com...

top_sigrid 4y ago

This is disappointing. It has 2 Thunderbolt 4 ports but can only drive one external display. So unnecessary, this would be the perfect machine for my home and work setup, but I have 2 external displays in both cases.

ttul 4y ago
They are 100% doing this intentionally. They want to drive power users toward spending more and they know that many of us will…

pishpash 4y ago

They did? Seems to be the same price as M1 MacBook Pro.

supergeek 4y ago

Really disappointing considering they now support up to a 6k external display. Yet you can't do 2x 1080p, or 2x 4k. I think Apple knows a lot of customers care about this and want it to be a barrier getting them into a pro machine. The cheapest laptop they sell with multi-external-monitor support is $1k more than their cheapest laptop overall ($2k vs $1k).