Dual Monitor Issue with MacBook Air and Docking Station

[9 Stone Elvis]

This may be something really obvious but its a hard one to google so I hope someone can give me the solution and I won't look too stupid.....

I am a hybrid worker and when Im working from home I have my work windows laptop plugged into an HP dock. Into that dock is fed my 2 HP work monitors (display port and HDMI) and keyboard, mouse, external HD etc. This works really well. However I also have a MacBook Air M2 as my personal machine. When I switch away from work I simply pull the USB C cable out of the work laptop and into the MacBook and I'm now in my "home" environment with all the same peripherals. This works really well except for one thing. To the best of my knowledge the Mac won't support two monitors so I get a replica on the second screen. Assuming there is no way to utilise the two monitors its quite anoying having the mirror display. When I look in the settings I don't think the Mac even recognises its there so I can't disable what isn't there, and when I simply switch off the monitor I don't want both go off!

Is there an obvious solution I'm missing that doesn't involved plugging and unplugging cables? I feel Im missing something really simple but I'm tired and I'm not seeing it!!

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

Ah Ive actually solved this problem myself by swapping the monitors over as it's only one monitor that switches them both off. This is obviously dependent on the connection type Im guessing. I am right in saying the MacBook won't support both monitors though?

 

[Nitefly]

If it’s an M1 MacBook it will only have ‘one external monitor’ support, IIRC.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

Its an M2, from what Ive read it would work if my HP dock had the display link functionality but just my luck it doesn't!

 

[HACO]

M2 Air supports 1 external display, but MacOS doesn't support DisplayPort MST so this setup would not work, the screens will need to be plugged into different ports on your mac. DisplayLink might work but generally they're quite laggy and buggy.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

M2 Air supports 1 external display, but MacOS doesn't support DisplayPort MST so this setup would not work, the screens will need to be plugged into different ports on your mac. DisplayLink might work but generally they're quite laggy and buggy.

If I plugged two monitors into two ports on the Mac are you saying I could use both displays? It’s not a deal breaker.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

From what Im reading the answer is no. Change my dock or use one monitor it seems. Will just use my iPad as a second screen, that works really well too.

 

[HACO]

If I plugged two monitors into two ports on the Mac are you saying I could use both displays? It’s not a deal breaker.

Not with the Air (which supports just one external). But with others you still need to plug them in separate ports.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

Feels like a major omission from Apple. Not something I NEED but surely something that should be a pretty standard feature without having to find work-arounds.

 

[Feek]

It's to push you to a more expensive model.

 

[9 Stone Elvis]

It's to push you to a more expensive model.

Yeah I guess so, just feels like something fundamental. I would rather they added stuff into the more expensive stuff rather than strip it out of what we will call the "cheaper" models! . That being said the Macbook air through the dock is brilliant and Im chuffed with the overall set up sonot complaining too much.

 

[oweneades]

Isn't the one monitor thing a limitation of the I/O on the M1/M2 (and I assume M3) SoC's?

Quick Google suggests a limit of 2 simultaneous video streams - one Internal and One external regardless of how said external monitor is connected (TB or HDMI).

Now as to this being acceptable in 2020+ that is a whole different question.

 

[bloodiedathame]

There are specfic adapters that allow you to run two different monitors, I have one from OWC that does this.

Update* OWC - Thunderbolt 3 mini Dock - two screens running at 4k and the laptop display itself, no mirroring.​