Apple’s M3 MacBook Pro is, belatedly, fixing its one-external-display limitation

Enlarge / Apple's M3 MacBook Pro should be able to drive a pair of external displays soon, as long as the lid is closed. (credit: Apple)

One longstanding limitation of Apple's most basic Mac chips—the no-adjective M1, M2, and M3—has been their inability to work with more than a single external monitor at a time. This was one of the only ways in which the Apple Silicon era has been a step back from the Intel era, where most Macs supported at least two external displays, plus the screen built into the MacBook Air or Pro you were using. (Would an integrated Intel GPU actually work well with that many screens connected? Usually not. But at least you could try.)

When Apple launched the M3 version of the MacBook Pro last fall, the one-external-display limitation was still in place. But today's announcement of the M3 MacBook Air came with a small but pleasant surprise for anyone who wants their Mac to do double-duty as a laptop and a desktop—if the laptop's lid is closed, the M3 can now run a pair of external displays over its Thunderbolt ports. And Apple confirmed to 9to5Mac that the 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro would have the same functionality enabled via a future macOS update (we've asked Apple to verify whether it's coming in the imminent macOS 14.4 update or at some future date).

Apple's spec page for the new M3 Airs explains its newfound multi-display support. (credit: Apple)

As of this writing, the M3 MacBook Pro's spec sheet still doesn't mention support for a second external display. (credit: Apple)

Apple's spec sheets say that the M3 can drive one 6K display at 60 Hz and one additional 5K display at 60 Hz when your laptop's lid is closed. The M3 MacBook Pro's spec sheet still hasn't been updated as of this writing, but we would expect it to be at some point after the relevant software update is released.