Adding 2 x External Displays to my MacBook Pro M2 Model A2338

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Adding 2 x External Displays to my MacBook Pro M2 Model A2338

I have bought 2 x External displays brand new and I have also purchased an Alogic USB-C 12 in 1 Mini Dock - MV2 and I have updated my software on my computer which is a MacBook Pro M2 chip Model is A2338. Only 1 new display is showing in the displays and the other mirrors that monitor (both displays are hooked in using HDMI cables and are plugged into the dock along with the charging cord for the laptop and then the dock is plugged into the USB-C port on laptop which I have tried to plug into both ports on laptop). When we plug in the dock it does not appear in the locations in Finder so I don't know if that is an issue. I really need help as I don't know if the dock is not compatible or if there is an issue with my MacBook. Please help as I am not the most tech savvy person.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Sep 13, 2025 08:42 AM

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Answer 1

Sep 13, 2025 08:58 AM in response to MadKat5

Your Mac supports full native resolution on the built-in display at millions of colors and one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz. The dock you bought will not change that.

The manufacturer's description states: "With MacOS only a single monitor is supported in extension mode. Multiple monitors are ONLY supported in mirror mode."

Since your Mac only supports one external display natively, any dock that actually allows two displays in extended mode will need to use DisplayLink to do it, which is a software 'trick' that results in sub-optimal video performance. Ok for editing a spreadsheet, maybe, but not for watching a video. DisplayLink products also frequently stop working after a macOS update, until DisplayLink updates their drivers. I'd pass. If you need >1 external display, get a newer MacBook Pro that supports it (the base model M4 MacBook Pro supports the internal display plus two external, the base model M3 supports two external but you have to close the lid for that, M# Pro and M# Max models support at least two external displays plus the internal one).

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Answer 2

Sep 13, 2025 12:49 PM in response to MadKat5

¿Did you download the displayLink software that makes that Alogic stunt-box GO?

DisplayLink technology creates a "fake" display buffer in RAM, sends the data out over a slower interface to a stunt box with DisplayLink custom chips that put that data back onto a "legacy" interface. It is not a true "accelerated" display, and it can suffer from lagging. Just adding the DisplayLink Driver is not adequate to get a picture -- you need a DisplayLink "stunt-box" or a Dock that includes DisplayLink chips.

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It may be acceptable for a second display showing slow-to-change data such as computer program listings, stock quotes, or spreadsheets, but NOT for full motion Video, not for Video editing, and absolutely not for gaming. Mouse-tracking on that display can lag, and can make you feel queasy.

In a pinch, it may even play Internet videos (as one user put it) “without too many dropped frames".

If you are only doing program listings spreadsheets, stock quotes, and other slow to change data, DisplayLink can work for you, but requires you to make some strong compromises.

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It is really nice to know that you can use a DisplayLink display if you MUST have an additional display for some of the types of data I mentioned. But that is NOT the same as the computer supporting a second, built-in, Hardware-accelerated display.

These displays depend on DisplayLink software, and are at the whim of Apple when they make MacOS changes. There have been cases where MacOS changes completely disabled DisplayLink software, and it took some time for them to recover.

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I think the Big Surprise for a lot of Hub/Dock buyers is that they thought they were getting a "real" display, but actually got a DisplayLink "fake" Display. If you got what you expected in every case, I would not use such pejorative terms to describe DisplayLink.

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Answer 3

Sep 13, 2025 12:55 PM in response to MadKat5

That's a 13" MacBook Pro with a plain M2 chip. It only supports one external display. That display can be a very high-resolution display (e.g., a 27" Apple 5K Studio Display or a 32" Apple 6K Pro Display XDR), but the plain M2 chip only supports two displays total, and the built-in screen counts as one whether the lid is open or closed.

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M2, 2022) - Technical Specifications - Apple Support

As for the docking station (ALogic – MV2 USB-C Dual Display DP Alt Mode Docking Station), this appears to be a plain USB-C dock that uses the equivalent of DisplayPort MST daisy-chaining to drive its two outputs. Macs don't support that, so even if you had a Mac that supported multiple external monitors, this would be the wrong dock to use. The manufacturer's description of the dock says that

"*With MacOS only a single monitor is supported in extension mode. Multiple monitors are ONLY supported in mirror mode"

This is a typical symptom. What happens is that the dock takes the single video signal provided by the Mac – and sends a copy of that signal to both monitors. The Mac only detects a single monitor, and since both monitors are running off the same signal, they appear to mirror each other.

If you had a Mac that supported multiple external monitors, and you wanted to attach two monitors to a single dock, what you would need is a Thunderbolt dock.

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Answer 4

Sep 13, 2025 01:03 PM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Grant Bennet-Alder wrote:

¿Did you download the displayLink software that makes that Alogic stunt-box GO?

I could be mistaken, but I do not believe that the ALogic dock in question is a DisplayLink-based "stunt box".

It appears to drive both of its video outputs off hardware video output ("DisplayPort Alt Mode"), and to rely on DisplayPort MST. My understanding is that many Windows PC support MST, but that Macs don't – at least not when it comes to driving two monitors off of a "plain" USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode) connection.

There are other docks and dual-display adapters that are DisplayLink "stunt boxes"; that would allow the OP to attach two (or more) displays to that 13" M2 MacBook Pro, and to which your comments would apply.

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