May I ask why? I assume you were aware of this limitation, as Apple was pretty clear in the specs about it, that it only supports one external monitor.
If you pull the trigger on a purchase without reading the specs, then it's pretty much on you, no?
Pretty much this. At the moment, I am trying to sort this out for my parents who bought a MacBook Air to replace a 12" MacBook and want to know if it is still possible to use a pair of 23" 1080p HP displays with it.
They don't care about resolution so much, nor does my brother who tested this setup with his 2017 MacBook - bad keyboard and all.
(On that front, last I heard, there was a hidden preference for non-HiDPI displays which has been completely removed, causing some issues.)
So far as I can tell, it is possible to run more than 1 display on the M1 - but it requires using a version of the DisplayLink driver with some extra [hardware][1], which is not exactly straightforward and I question how well this works in practice.
Sonnett is not the only one doing this, but it's the first one I found.
I have two external monitors on my M1 Air. The "main" one is connected via hdmi and runs at 120Hz, and another one is connected via DisplayLink compatible adapter which is connected via usb to the same usb hub as the first monitor. That hub is then connected with two usb type-c connectors+cables to the laptop. It works quite fine. There is a small caveat though. The monitor connected with DisplayLink has a very small input lag, but for light work it works just fine. I would not tolerate it for a main monitor (some people would I guess), but it defintely is much better than not having a monitor.
You mentioned input lag - how noticeable is this effect and is it something you can "hide" by increasing the tracking speed or other settings?
While it might be down to the mediocre Logitech gear he's using, one complaint I have gotten on occasion is how the cursor does not always keep up with his mouse inputs.
The effect to me is noticeable. If I gave it to my SO or some average user I dont' think it would be noticeable. But at the same time, we're all here, so we're not average users. However, on that monitor I have terminal or documentation so for me it works quite fine. Increasing the tracking speed or mouse refresh rates won't help in this case.
I will say though that the system is rock solid for me. I've read complaints about monitors not waking up or similar, but I've never experienced anything like it.
Also the mouse does keep up. The 60Hz refresh rate will keep up with it. There is just a small amount of lag, but that's that. Better than not having additional monitor in my case.
Good to know. He's currently using both screens via DisplayPort with USB-C going from the HP hub back to the computer - might need to consider other options to see if they will work better.
The hub is a Ugreen branded one with two USB type C connectors which you can plug directly to your laptop. It also has 2 HDMI, 1 USB type A connectors, USB type C power input, and SD+micro SD card reader. I don't advise plugging this hub directly to your laptop because it heats up and that heats up the laptop's battery which I'm sure doesn't like it. I just keep it on two short USB type C cables so the heat doesn't transfer to the laptop. I've been using it for two years like this.
The DisplayLink compatible adapter is then connected to that hub via USB type A cable. It is made by Startech and has two DisplayPort connectors as outputs. I only use one out of those.
I get what you are saying, but most people don’t question if a computer can support 2 external monitors in 2021/2022, so it’s very unlikely they would glance at that in the specs.
Hell my 2016 MBPro can push at least 4 external monitors. Maybe more I honestly don’t know, it’s not like I ever needed that information.
It’s like a more extreme version of buying a phone and finding out it doesn’t come with a charger. Sure, it’s probably somewhere on the box, but who wouldn’t be surprised?
>but most people don’t question if a computer can support 2 external monitors in 2021/2022
And yet Apple has shipped just that. Apple is notorious for removing features that have been standard for years so they can sell you the "solution" at an extra cost (a.k.a the Apple tax), so, if you just impulsively buy the latest 'shiny' without reeding the spec sheet, then sorry, but that's 100% on you.
It's the basics of leveraging market segmentation, a tactic which Apple is perfect at. They determined that whoever buys a MacBook Air probably has no need for more than one external monitor, so they removed that feature that was a given on Intel based systems to save cost, and assumed that people who run multi monitor setups are more likely to be businesses and professionals who can pony up the extra cash for a more expensive M1 Pro/Max model. It's how Apple, and others, squeezes more money out of their customer base, and now with their own silicon, they can now charge you extra for what was standard on basic Intel chips 8 years ago. Enjoy ;)
I also don't like this practice, which is why I don't own any Apple HW, but I can't blame Apple here when it's their customer base at fault for buying their products without reading the spec sheet where Apple was transparent about the limitations of the basic M1 chip.
I guess we just aren’t going to agree here. While yes, you are correct people should check that stuff in general, again I can’t blame people for not doing so. It’s just such a basic thing we’ve assumed computers can do for - as you pointed out - roughly a decade.
As a video editor most definitely. And yes there are more professional machines but frankly their low to mid-tier models have a ton of firepower and work great for me these days. I used to drop $2500-$3000 on my Macs to edit but I can do great with $1350-$1800 now, especially since I don't need After Effects/Motion much
But the comment says "M1-based iMac". The M1 iMac was released 6 months after M1 was first released with the Mac Mini, Macbook Air/Pro. I can understand if you bought the original M1 Air/Pro and were surprised it doesn't support more than 1 external display since it was indeed surprising behavior. But 6 months after the release of the chip is plenty of time to be informed on what you're buying.
> Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and:
One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz
Literally stated on the tech specs day of launch. Yes, Apple historically under promises[0] and over delivers, but in this case they stated exactly what it supported.
[0] Apple has never claimed support for more than 3x monitors to my knowledge on a laptop, but using an Intel MBP I was able to drive nine, all GPU backed without using Displaylink.
Not really, every single Mac Mini I can think of in the past decade has been able too support more than one display. Honestly, it's the kind of thing I just assume an expensive machine (yes $700 is expensive) would support.
If you pull the trigger on a purchase without reading the specs, then it's pretty much on you, no?