# M1/M2 And Thunderbolt Dock Question



## SOAREVERSOR (Jul 11, 2022)

So we have an aging thin and light laptop that needs to be retired and are looking at possibly the new air.  It's suitable for what she needs a laptop for and the form factor is fine and for a few reasons the mac ecosystem would be better on this purchase.   However there is an issue, they don't have dual external monitor support.   Looking at this it seems display link is sort of a work around.   However this dock is not a display link dock.

Has anybody tried pulling dual monitor support over a TB3 dock with an m1/m2 based mac?   The monitors are both LG 4k 60hz with DP and HDMI in.   If that's not an option we'd need to spring for the pro but the form factor isn't what she wants on that.   And at this point she'd rather lose a screen than deal with a dell/lenovo/hp laptop.


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## Leiesoldat (Jul 11, 2022)

According to the monitor resolutions table on the CalDigit Element hub page, the regular M1/M2 chip won't support more than one display: https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/.

The M1 Pro is what you will need for dual 4K 60Hz monitors. I recently ordered a M1 Pro for work and the lead times are pretty bad (2-3 months).

Edit: The 14" Macbook Pro isn't that much larger than the largest M2 Macbook Air and it is a little under a pound heavier than the Air.


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## SOAREVERSOR (Jul 11, 2022)

Leiesoldat said:


> According to the monitor resolutions table on the CalDigit Element hub page, the regular M1/M2 chip won't support more than one display: https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/.
> 
> The M1 Pro is what you will need for dual 4K 60Hz monitors. I recently ordered a M1 Pro for work and the lead times are pretty bad (2-3 months).
> 
> Edit: The 14" Macbook Pro isn't that much larger than the largest M2 Macbook Air and it is a little under a pound heavier than the Air.



It doesn't but displaylink will do a second off of USB software trickery.  It's not that the chip can't, it's that apple locked it.   She wants the air because form factor.   It's mostly for light work.   Really at this point it might be worth saying "fuck it all" and just getting the thinnest thing we can get and loading linux.  Don't trust lenovo, had bad luck with HP, and if it's not going to work with the TB3 dock there's nothing saying I can't just toss fedora on something.  She's frequently on the plane or train for hours at a time.


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