I have a portable laptop screen extender with 2 screens. I had previously a MacBook Pro and it was not an issue to get both external screens running. But now I got a MacBook Air M2 - it has also 2 USB Type-C ports but in the System settings I only can add 1 monitor? How can I set up both?
As you can see on the attached photo, 1 is connected but the 2nd is black.
MacBook Air, macOS 15.5
Your M2 MacBook Air only supports one external display. It can be a very high-resolution display, but there can be only one.
There are no hubs, adapters, or pieces of software that can give you more first-class, hardware-supported display outputs. The limit of one external display (two displays total, including the output that is permanently dedicated to that Mac's built-in screen) is based on the number of display generators in the plain M2 chip.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) - Tech Specs - Apple Support
MacBook Air (15-inch, M2, 2023) - Tech Specs - Apple Support
When Apple designed the plain M4 chip, they upgraded it so that it could drive a built-in display, and two external ones, at the same time. But in the M1 and M2 days, only 14" and 16" MacBook Pros with Pro and Max chips had that feature.
Your M2 MacBook Air only supports one external display. It can be a very high-resolution display, but there can be only one.
There are no hubs, adapters, or pieces of software that can give you more first-class, hardware-supported display outputs. The limit of one external display (two displays total, including the output that is permanently dedicated to that Mac's built-in screen) is based on the number of display generators in the plain M2 chip.
MacBook Air (M2, 2022) - Tech Specs - Apple Support
MacBook Air (15-inch, M2, 2023) - Tech Specs - Apple Support
When Apple designed the plain M4 chip, they upgraded it so that it could drive a built-in display, and two external ones, at the same time. But in the M1 and M2 days, only 14" and 16" MacBook Pros with Pro and Max chips had that feature.
There are workarounds, based on technologies like DisplayLink, that can let you attach more displays in a second-class way. These require the use of an external "stunt box" (hub, adapter, dual-display adapter, etc.) containing a "magic decoder ring" chip set, and installation of a matching driver on your Mac. Neither the stunt box alone, nor the driver alone, will get you any extra display outputs.
These workarounds may come with significant compromises, like lags, artifacts, unsuitability for applications like video editing and gaming, having screens black out when you try to watch movies from DRM-infested streaming services, or even having your extra monitors stop working when Apple releases a macOS update. (Which would leave you dependent on a third-party vendor to figure out a fix.)
MacBook Air M2 - how do I connect 2 external monitors
