One of many Mac’s best long-term benefits has been the benefit of attaching exterior screens. The attachment connector kind, resolutions supported, and whole amount has diverse over time, but it surely’s a persistently straightforward activity.
Or no less than it was! Over the past six years, Apple launched USB 3 over USB-C (12-inch MacBook, now discontinued), Thunderbolt 3, which makes use of USB-C (and helps many sorts of adapters), and the Apple silicon M-series processor fashions. Some Macs have or nonetheless embrace video-specific connectors, too: previously, that included DVI (a number of varieties), Mini DisplayPort, DisplayPort over Thunderbolt 2, and HDMI.
Extra not too long ago, HDMI 2.0 turned the one remaining video connector that’s not USB-C. Apple constructed HDMI into many Intel fashions in addition to on the M1 Mac mini, the 14-inch and 16-inch M1 Professional/Max MacBook Professional, and the Mac Studio.
Determining what number of screens can plug into which Macs has develop into akin to calculus for a lot of readers, based mostly on our mailbag.
(Have a monitor that makes use of DVI, Mini DisplayPort, or Thunderbolt 2? Seek the advice of our information from 2020 on how you can decide what you have got and which sort of adapter you want. Wish to use an iMac as an exterior monitor? Solely iMacs launched from 2009 to mid-2014 qualify. See “Troubleshooting suggestions for utilizing an outdated iMac as an exterior show for a Thunderbolt 3 Mac.”)
Right here’s the matchup for Macs of the previous few generations, beginning with the most recent, not together with the interior show for iMac and Mac laptops. Connections are by way of a USB-C connection besides the place famous.
The resolutions, for reference, are:
- 4K UHD: 3840×2160 pixels
- 4K: 4096 vast, with widespread variations that embrace 4096×2160 or 4096×2304 pixels
- 5K: 5120×2880 pixels
- 6K: 6016×3384 pixels
The very best decision supported is listed for every configuration or set of choices, however you need to use a lower-resolution monitor, too. As an illustration, the M1 Mac mini permits as much as 6K over USB-C, however you possibly can plug a 4K UHD monitor into that port as a substitute.
M-series Mac monitor choices
Most M1 and M2 Macs enable including solely a single exterior monitor; the Mac mini permits two. Regardless of many reader questions, there’s no adapter or trickery you are able to do utilizing Apple gear so as to add an extra show past the extent Apple helps.* The video circuitry merely isn’t there.
Listed below are your choices grouped by show decisions:
- M1 and M2 MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Professional, M1 iMac: One exterior show at as much as 6K decision
- M1 Mac mini: One at as much as 6K over USB-C and one at as much as 4K over HDMI 2.0
(*You should use {hardware} that makes use of DisplayLink know-how so as to add further screens by way of USB 3. It requires putting in a kernel-level driver from the corporate. Learn our assessment of the Mac-compatible StarTech USB 3.0 to HDMI Adapter with DisplayLink.)
M1 Professional, Max, and Extremely monitor choices
With the introduction in October 2021 of the M1 Professional and M1 Extremely chips adopted by the March 2022 announcement of the M1 Extremely, Apple dramatically expanded the show choices for professional-level fashions:
- 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Professional with M1 Professional: Two exterior shows at as much as 6K over USB-C and one at as much as 4K over HDMI 2.0
- 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Professional with M1 Max: Three exterior shows at as much as 6K over USB-C and one at as much as 4K over HDMI 2.0
- Mac Studio with M1 Max or M1 Extremely: 4 shows at as much as 6K over USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4 and and one at as much as 4K over HDMI 2.0
The Mac Studio’s M1 Max configuration contains two USB 3 front-facing USB-C ports that can’t be used with DisplayPort adapters; the M1 Extremely mannequin upgrades these to Thunderbolt 4, which can be utilized with an ordinary USB-C DisplayPort adapter. This doesn’t lower the variety of screens that may be connected, but it surely may requires an exterior Thunderbolt 4 dock to have sufficient USB-C connectors free for all of your functions.
Intel Mac with USB 3/Thunderbolt 3 monitor choices
Intel Macs with Thunderbolt 3 had a extra baroque array of potential exterior monitor configurations. Listed below are the probabilities for the final shipped model of every Thunderbolt 3 mannequin and the 12-inch MacBook with USB 3 over USB-C:
- 21.5-inch iMac: One 5K show or two 4K UHD or 4K shows
- 27-inch iMac (normal video card), 13-inch MacBook Professional: Both one 5K or 6K show or two 4K UHD or 4K shows
- 27-inch iMac (AMD Radeon Professional 5700 or AMD Radeon Professional 5700 XT): As much as two 4K UHD, 4K, 5K, or 6K shows
- 16-inch MacBook Professional: As much as two 5K or 6K show or as much as 4 4K UHD or 4K shows
- Mac mini: One 5K show by way of USB-C or as much as three 4K shows with a mix of USB-C and HDMI 2.0 ports
- Mac Professional: Relying on the video card, it ranges from one 5K or 6K show or as much as 4 4K shows by way of as much as 4 5K or 6K shows or as much as eight 4K shows
- 12-inch MacBook: One 4K show
Ask Mac 911
We’ve compiled an inventory of the questions we get requested most often together with solutions and hyperlinks to columns: learn our tremendous FAQ to see in case your query is roofed. If not, we’re at all times in search of new issues to unravel! E mail yours to mac911@macworld.com together with display captures as acceptable, and whether or not you need your full title used. Not each query will likely be answered, we don’t reply to e mail, and we can not present direct troubleshooting recommendation.
