Apple’s macOS Sonoma 14.6 update, released on July 29, has brought a highly anticipated feature to the M3 MacBook Pro: support for two external displays. This functionality has been in high demand since the M3 MacBook Air launched in March with the same capability. While Apple confirmed their intention to introduce this update around the time of the M3 Air’s release, the delay in its arrival remains unexplained.
However, it’s important to note that the M3 MacBook Pro’s dual-display support shares a limitation with its Air counterpart – it only functions when the laptop is closed. This contrasts with MacBook Pros equipped with more powerful chips such as the M1 Pro, M2 Pro, or M3 Pro, which can manage two external monitors alongside the laptop’s native display concurrently.
The reason behind this limitation lies in the demanding power requirements of managing multiple screens. The standard chips, designed for general tasks, have limitations in their capacity to handle such demands, while the more expensive chips, capable of handling heavier workloads, excel in this area. For instance, MacBook Pros equipped with the M2 Max or M3 Max chips can support up to four external displays.
While some users might anticipate that an M3 chip or a MacBook Pro should effortlessly match the capabilities of older Pro models, this isn’t necessarily the case. Standard chips are designed for standard tasks and come with certain limitations. Achieving higher performance generally necessitates paying a premium. The two-display compromise for the M3 chip offers a balance, providing a compelling way to leverage the benefits of both worlds.
