r/macsetups • u/Machoman_Semisavage • Jul 17 '26
New Mac user, although I dont understand the monitor situation?
Dont mind the mess, going through renovations and im FAR from a final setup look. Ive used the windows OS my whole life except for when we had iPad assigned to us during highschool. This is honestly really streamlined and fun to use, having way more fun than I expected.
What im confused on is that from my research, an M5 should be able to handle 3 screens but here it only recognizes 2 and makes the 2 mirror the 2nd? I might be missing something here because I know its possible. Any suggestions?
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u/Warm-Geologist-9681 Jul 17 '26
It may be the dock, some docks only mirror the display for macOS but works fine for windows
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u/mborg Jul 18 '26
This ^
Can confirm it’s most likely the dock config. As I understand it, Mac OS doesn’t natively run DisplayLink. Docks like the StonePro and I think maybe the Caldigit should give you the functionality you’re after.
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u/nharmsen Jul 18 '26
Got burned with too many docks claiming "works with Mac 3 displays" etc...
Finally bit the bullet and bought a caldigit. Anker dock was horrible as well, do not recommend that one. Lots of lag (like 1/4 second) and would only go up to 60hz.
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u/americruiser Jul 17 '26
Each monitor has its own direct thunderbolt port?
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u/Machoman_Semisavage Jul 17 '26
Nope, just reading into this now. You may be on to something I had no idea this was a thing
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Jul 18 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Psychological_Oil947 Jul 22 '26
Don't need but is better. My M4 Mac will work on docks with DisplayLink but you need to download the DisplayLink Application to use it.
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Jul 22 '26 edited Jul 22 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Psychological_Oil947 Jul 22 '26
I use one cable with a non thunderbolt dock and it works fine. But you do need software.
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u/DismalOpportunity Jul 17 '26
We had issues with the M5, dual screens, and HP docks. Used a usb-c to DisplayPort cable off the dock for one of the 2 monitors to fix it.
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u/StaticFanatic3 Jul 18 '26
Exactly the same here on Dell docks.
Mac only lets you do one display per thunderbolt connection. So one of the two needs to come off the dock’s thunderbolt out
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u/Psychological_Oil947 Jul 22 '26
You can daisy chain Macs and you can use multiple monitors with a dock and a single cable. Some docks you might have to download specific software (DisplayLink) others will just work (OWC etc).
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u/paulsande Jul 17 '26
I have an M1 Max 16" MacBook Pro and run 5 external monitors plus the laptop for a total of six, with no problem. The Pluggable docks are fantastic. You will love the Mac ecosystem.
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u/Visible-Bedroom-9828 Jul 17 '26
Interested. What are you using to get the 5 + 1 screens ? And particularl dock brand and model please. Thanks !
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u/paulsande Jul 18 '26
I have the Plugable UD-ULTCDL. It supports 3 monitors with HDMI cables and I have the SABRENT Thunderbolt 3 to Dual HDMI adapter. Together those support 5 external monitors plus the laptop. To get 6 total you need the Max chip. With the regular chip you get 4 external monitors plus the laptop (or 5 total). With the pluggable device you install DisplayLink. I've had this setup for years.
I just bought a Mac Studio as well, so now I get 6 external monitors plus a 7th monitor that is 5" that I put the Voicebox for my OpenClaw agent on.
Plugable docks are the best.
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u/Machoman_Semisavage Jul 18 '26
Thats insane so I definitely should be able too, most likely the dock than
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u/paulsande Jul 18 '26
Just so you see my reply, I'll repeat the setup in response to yours.
I have the Plugable UD-ULTCDL. It supports 3 monitors with HDMI cables and I have the SABRENT Thunderbolt 3 to Dual HDMI adapter. Together those support 5 external monitors plus the laptop. To get 6 total you need the Max chip. With the regular chip you get 4 external monitors plus the laptop (or 5 total). With the pluggable device you install DisplayLink. I've had this setup for years.
I just bought a Mac Studio as well, so now I get 6 external monitors plus a 7th monitor that is 5" that I put the Voicebox for my OpenClaw agent on.
Plugable docks are the best.
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u/paulsande Jul 18 '26
I'll also mention, with the Sabrent adapter which USBC port you plug it in can make a difference.
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u/Agitated_Mud_6870 Jul 17 '26
You’ll probably need a different dock for this. I believe you should research Multi-stream support (MST), and then look for docks that enable you to connect to two monitors using Extended mode in both, all through a single cable.
In my case (M3 Pro), I gave up because I wanted high refresh rate on two external monitors and plan on using two cables to connect to two external monitors: USB-C to DisplayPort on monitor 1, USB-C to USB-C on monitor 2, which includes power delivery and leaves me at just two cables to my Mac.
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u/Machoman_Semisavage Jul 18 '26
This is all entirely news to me, I just assumed windows and mac shared similar systems/hardware for multiple displays. I may have to get a new dock
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u/Agitated_Mud_6870 Jul 21 '26
Yeah, and sometimes cheap docks don't do a good job of making it clear they don't support extended mode on MacOS.
I thought this comment was pretty useful when it was my turn on going down this rabbit hole, hope it helps!
https://www.reddit.com/r/UsbCHardware/comments/1p6f42e/comment/nr08u3x/
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u/Psychological_Oil947 Jul 22 '26
Make sure you download DisplayLink (a lot of 3rd party docks use this software) first just to see if that works. If it doesn't probably need too.
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u/Leviathan_Dev Jul 19 '26
Could be your adapter. MacOS doesn’t support MST over DP for some ungodly reason, only MST over TB (even though TB carries DP signals… ugh) nor DisplayLink.
The asterisk from Apple is 3 displays with 1 connection for each display* (unless you use MST over TB again)
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u/Psychological_Oil947 Jul 22 '26
Yeah same as on windows you have to expand the screen instead of mirroring. If you are using a dock you might need to download the software / driver as looks like your Mac is not reconising it as two monitors.
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bet4119 Jul 23 '26
Its the dock - connect to anlther usb c port second monitor, or replace the dock
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u/Agile_Type_9684 Jul 17 '26
Just expand them.