MacBook Air M1 Dual Monitor In Clamshell Mode

JohnJohnsonIII wrote:

I would like to use my MacBook Air M1 with dual monitors in clamshell mode and have heard about DisplayLink-compatible hubs that allow you to use dual monitors, but mostly seem to have trouble operating in clamshell mode. Has anyone ever been successful getting two monitors to work in clamshell mode? Thanks in advance!

The M1 Macs support one external display.

JohnJohnsonIII wrote:

Natively, yes. But you can easily extend to three with DisplayLink hardware. The question is whether it can operate in clamshell mode.

How many displays can be connected to MacBook Pro - Apple Support

"Using a hub or daisy-chaining displays doesn't increase the maximum number of displays that you can connect."

Let me try an analogy.

You are a farmer with a water well that produces 1000 gallons of water per hour. You are watering a field that requires 1000 gallons per hour to keep the crops alive. All works well.

You decide to plant the adjoining field with similar crops that require watering at a rate of 1000 gallons per hour. Regardless how many or what kind of extra pumps/manifolds you connect, neither field will receive 1000 gallons per hour simultaneously.

If your Mac M1 can support 1 external display, it does not matter how many or what kind of docks you connect, only one external display will work at the specified level. Display performance will be reduced as you add displays just as watering was reduced in my farm field analogy.

"MacBook Air M1 Dual Monitor In Clamshell Mode:”

———-

Q1. “Can it operate in clamshell mode(lid closed)?”

A1. Yes. It operates in Clamshell Mode.

Q2.“what did you mean by a display projector?”

A2. A projector being used as a display

"MacBook Air M1 Dual Monitor In Clamshell Mode: I would like to use my MacBook Air M1 with dual monitors in clamshell mode and have heard about DisplayLink-compatible hubs that allow you to use dual monitors, but mostly seem to have trouble operating in clamshell mode. Has anyone ever been successful getting two monitors to work in clamshell mode? Thanks in advance!"

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See if this is of any help...

Based on personal experience...

Getting Multiple External Displays:

The J5 USB-C Dual HDMI Docking Station allows for more than two extra monitors. How so? Well, plug in a display projector the Mac using the USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter and then plug the J5 hub with 2 HDMI displays (one 4K), and then you'll have 3 external screens. It all mirrors and extends.

A display projector would be the sort of device that you find in conference rooms – sometimes mounted near ceiling height, sometimes on a cart or table.

It takes video input from a computer or home video source, and projects an image onto a screen, like a digital projector at a movie theater (but generally not with that level of quality or expense).

Some projectors are still stuck back in the VGA era, although there are others that have 4K resolution.

JohnJohnsonIII wrote:

And yet there are hundreds if not thousands of people using MacBook Air in 3-4 monitor mode just fine without any visible issues.

Docks provide the physical capability to attach additional monitors. Performance is not as specified. If all you are doing is reading email I guess reduced performance will work. If you are watching video, playing action games, or expecting performance to specified levels, only one external display on a M1 Mac will result in expected/satisfactory performance.

The farmer in my analogy can attached for example 2 pumps to his well if he only wants to provide 500 gallons per hour to each of his two fields. But the crops will not do well.