I was a Mac guy from way back, but switched to using PCs for my work environment years ago. I recently decided to get back to a mid-level MacBook for certain things I wanted to do, so I just purchased a brand new 2017 13" MacBook Pro (with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports) today.
So I’ve been online researching which hubs/adapters I need to get to add the peripherals I want to run, particularly dual 24" monitors I currently use on my PC. But from what I’ve been able to find, newer MacBook Pros do not support extended displays, only mirrored. But there’s a lot of contradictory, confusing info about the matter. Here’s a link where someone asked this question and the replies he got: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7866674?start=0&tstart=0
So am I out of luck? Can I at least add one external display and use it with the built-in MacBook display extended, or would that be mirrored too?
I’m not too happy with the local Apple Store, because I asked this specific question to them and they told me dual extended displays can be done with this MacBook model. Maybe I should have gotten a MacBook Air with its legacy ports instead? I think it has dual monitor support.
That’s a relief to hear, thanks!
I also assumed the MacBook Pro had this problem because of this article which specifically mentions the Pro (second paragraph, then lower down under the subhead “Why only mirroring support for external displays?”):
…but upon reading further, I see it says that the problem is that a Thunderbolt 3-specific dock (rather than just USB-C compatible) needs to be used in order to extend the displays, which at $250-$300 is more expensive than a plain old USB-C dock like the one in the link. It seems to be saying in the article that there’s a function called “MST hub” that Apple could have easily enabled in their OS that would have enabled extended displays with a generic USB-C dock/adapter but chose not to, presumably to make it necessary to buy the more expensive Thunderbolt 3 dock. Does that sound about right?
I am looking at a dock because I want to be able to plug in external speakers with jacks and older USB devices in addition to external monitors. Looks like I’ll be needing to spend another ~$300.
No, it’s the same for Windows systems. I have a Dell laptop and use it with two 4k monitors through a Thunderbolt-3 dock, which Dell sells for $250.
“USB-C” is usually USB 3.1 standard. As I understand, it’s a generic data protocol. A USB-C dock with video output is acting as an independent USB-connected graphics card.
Thunderbolt-3 looks the same as USB-C but is a different standard, and it can carry a video signal from the computer’s graphics chip. This should give you a much better video performance than a USB-C connected video system.
So I’ve been researching this some more and I’m just as confused.
To recap, I have a MacBook Pro with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports. I’d like to connect 2 Dell monitors that use either DVI or Displayport connectors. Can I run them both extended from one of the Thunderbolt 3 ports, so I can leave the other one open? It doesn’t sound like I can daisy chain the monitors together, though there’s conflicting advice in the answers to this question:
…then I can’t run both monitors and charge at the same time. I have a DVI splitter I currently use with my PC and it handles two extended monitors fine, but I expect that using the TB3-to-DVI adapter with the DVI splitter wouldn’t work any better than daisy chaining on the MacBook Pro.
Or maybe I could get a hub like this, use the DisplayPort for one of the monitors, then connect the other monitor with a USB C to DVI adapter on the hub? Don’t know if I want to spend $300 for a multi adapter with some ports I won’t need for a solution that also may not work:
I have a 2017 MacBook and I also want to have two extended monitors plus the MacBook screen but I’m confused as to what’s the best solution. I don’t have the monitors yet as I’m trying to figure out if what I want to do is even possible.
I think the most modern MacBook Pros connect everything to those Thunderbolt ports. They’re “everything ports” now. USB, FireWire, external displays, even the freaking electrical AC-in, all snap onto Thunderbolt ports.
But yes, I think every Apple laptop since the “WallStreet” G3 can do two external monitors (extended mode not mirrorerd) with some combo of additional cards and adapters. Well, maybe not the AirBooks.
I can’t say for certain about the first generation of MacBook Airs, but certainly the ones now and a generation before have no problem with extended monitors.
Well, the question was specifically about hooking up TWO extended monitors, which would be a total of three screens. I wasn’t sure the Airs could do that. My 17" early 2011 MB Pro requires a USB adapter for the second external monitor (with the first hooking to the thunderbolt port) and I recall that the Airbooks are rather port-limited.