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Comment by anemoiac | Hacker News Reader

Can we use more than one external display yet?

Seemingly no. So far it looks like (someone please correct me if I’m wrong): - M3, 1 external display - M3 Pro, 2 external displays - M3 Max, 4 external displays

This has to be a product differentiation decision at this point, right? Is there any serious technical limitation against more displays in the base chip, that Apple has not been able to solve in three generations?

Mac Mini with the M2 Pro can drive 3 monitors, Macbook Pro with the M2 Pro only 2.

M2 Pro can always drive 3. The MBP just has one display built-in, so can drive 2 more.

Unfortunately tho, iirc, clamshell mode does not get you the use of an additional external display.

It’s frustrating. I wish they would just charge an extra $X for the privilege of using multiple external monitors. I like the form factor of the MBA as is… if I need to compromise on that, I might as well choose a different machine.

> I wish they would just charge an extra $X for the privilege of using multiple external monitors.

They do, you have to pay more for an M3 Pro or M3 Max.

The person you replied to wants the nicer form factor of the MBA with the ability to use multiple external displays.

That combo isn't currently offered, and judging from today's M3 specs the next MBA won't likely offer it either.

I assume the iMac has the same limitation, which is a bit of a downer for some uses. It would be nice to drive a second monitor and a wall-mounted TV or projector from an iMac in sleek a home setup.

My bad, I missed that specification. I would agree with them, it would be nice if you could pay more for a MacBook Air with multiple external display support.

For context, you were able to do 2 external display with Macbook Air 2018-2020.

...and almost any Windows laptop at the same price point.

Same, the M2 MBA is all the power I need and I vastly prefer the smaller size, but the monitor issue is killer.

I finally bit the bullet and bought a DisplayLink dock, which gets the job done, but just seems like a silly compromise when the Intel MBA could support 2 external monitors natively.

I hear the DisplayLink solution is very half-baked and has many issues. I'm going to skip mac laptops for as long as they don't ship a Macbook Air with dual external display support -- I am doing fine with Windows laptops, and they really have improved in performance and efficiency over the last few years.

Of course. Have been since M1 Max. My MacBook Pro M1 Max powers two external displays.

With a MBP, sure. I don’t want a machine that large however. I have both a 14” Pro and a 15” Air that feels significantly smaller than its “smaller” counterpart…

I'm sitting here on an M1 Max with two external screens ..

Careful when sitting on computers, they might brake!

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