MacBook Air M4 with HP G5 Dock and external displays

I spoke too soon.

When I looked up my notes, the HP Thunderbolt dock that had more than two places to connect displays was a HP G4 dock. Not the G5 dock you mentioned.

The HP USB-C G5 Dock appears to be a plain USB-C dock with multiple places to connect displays. I'm guessing that it has all of the outputs wired to each other in MST fashion (whereas the HP Thunderbolt G4 dock had certain sets of outputs wired together that way).

Macs support driving at most one display via a plain USB-C ("DisplayPort Alt Mode") dock. If you want to connect both displays to a dock (instead of connecting one or both directly to the Mac), you're going to need a Thunderbolt dock or hub. I would suggest looking at the offerings from Other World Computing, SonnetTech, and CalDigit, as all three companies have been in the business of providing Thunderbolt accessories to Mac users for a long time. Note that your HP laptop will only be able to use a Thunderbolt dock if it has a Thunderbolt port. Some PC notebooks do not; they either do not have USB-C ports, or have ones without the Thunderbolt feature.

You'll either need a new dock or need to connect the two displays directly to the Mac. Many PC docks use a technology (MST) that Macs do not support.

A dock recommendation would depend on what ports your work HP laptop has available.

If you are looking for a Thunderbolt hub, dock, or dual display adapter that would let you attach two monitors to a single port of the M4 MacBook Air, I would suggest looking at offerings from

• Other World Computing
• SonnetTech
• CalDigit

These three vendors have been in the business of providing Thunderbolt gear to Mac users for a long time.

If you stick with the G4 dock – and the single-monitor limit – I don't see where there would be much advantage in getting one that can provide 240W as opposed one that can provide 140W. I doubt if a 13" M4 MacBook Air would use even the full 140W. That MacBook Air comes with a 30W or 35W power adapter, and it is fast-charge capable with a 70W USB-C power adapter. My guess is that for thermal regulation reasons, the MacBook Air will not charge at a rate much higher than 70W even when more power is offered.

The issue is that Macs support driving at most two monitors from a Thunderbolt dock. That dock has more than two places where you can connect monitors, which means that it drives some in ways that Macs do not support. Use the wrong pair, and the dock feeds the same signal to two monitors, and the Mac only sees one monitor.

I believe there is a particular combination of outputs you can use on that dock to drive two displays in extended desktop mode. I don’t have access to my notes right now, but may try to look them up later.

I’d add Brydge to that list. I’ve been using Stone Pro docks for years. Still using their TB3 dock with my M4 Pro and M1 Pro MBPs, I like the form factor and see no need to upgrade based on my peripherals.