Lower-End Apple Silicon Macs With 10-Core M4 Chip to Fully Support Two External Displays

In addition to the new iMac with the 10-core M4 chip being the first-ever Mac with support for up to an 8K external display at 120Hz, the computer also supports up to two 6K external displays at 60Hz. That's a very notable upgrade, as lower-end Apple silicon Macs like the MacBook Air, entry-level MacBook Pro, and previous iMac models have mostly been limited to a single external display, at least on an official basis.

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Two exceptions are the MacBook Air and 14-inch MacBook Pro models with the M3 chip, which support up to two external displays, but only when the laptop's lid is closed. Another exception is the Mac mini, which has an HDMI port for connecting a second display. DisplayLink adapters have also been a viable solution for multiple external displays ever since the first Apple silicon Macs with the M1 chip launched in 2020.

But the 10-core M4 chip is notable in that it will bring proper support for two external displays to more lower-end Macs for the first time since Apple silicon launched, without any special tricks required. No more DisplayLink adapters, and no needing to have the MacBook's lid closed. That's a significant, long-awaited advancement for Apple silicon.

Higher-end Apple silicon Macs have supported multiple external displays since the MacBook Pro models with M1 Pro and M1 Max chips launched in 2021.

Apple is expected to announce a new entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro with the 10-core M4 chip this week, and an alleged leak already confirmed that the laptop will support two external displays with the lid open. Next year, the M4 chip should expand to the MacBook Air, and 10-core configurations should likewise support two external displays.

The new iMac is available to pre-order now, and it launches on Friday, November 8.

Related Roundups: iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro
Related Forums: iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro

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Top Rated Comments

bradman83 Avatar
22 minutes ago at 02:54 pm

No 27 inch or 32 inch iMac - My iMac is 5 years old. I think they have decided not to go big with the displays.
Apple literally said last year with the M3 iMac launch that they felt 24" was the sweet spot between the 21" and 27" models and that they had no intention of making a larger iMac. Given that Apple rarely comments on future products I would call that a big signal to stop waiting.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bradman83 Avatar
23 minutes ago at 02:52 pm

The lower-end M1 Mac Mini has always supported two external displays. I imagine the new M4 Mini will support up to 3, with perhaps the M4 Pro Mini supporting 4.
The M1 has always supported two displays, but one of them was always hard-wired to the internal display for all of the Macs that have internal displays. The correct way of thinking about it is that the iMac now supports three displays with the base M4 chip.

Random side note, the M1 mini only supports two displays if you use the Thunderbolt and HDMI ports at the same time. The M2 mini on the base model removes this requirement, a single Thunderbolt port can drive two displays (and thus be called Thunderbolt 4 as that's a requirement).

Given that the new iMac can support Thunderbolt on all four USB-C ports I'm guessing Apple gave the M4 some pretty substantial I/O upgrades.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Mrkevinfinnerty Avatar
53 minutes ago at 02:23 pm

The lower-end M1 Mac Mini has always supported two external displays. I imagine the new M4 Mini will support up to 3, with perhaps the M4 Pro Mini supporting 4.
Only with the lid closed :oops:
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Joe Rossignol Avatar
48 minutes ago at 02:28 pm

The lower-end M1 Mac Mini has always supported two external displays. I imagine the new M4 Mini will support up to 3, with perhaps the M4 Pro Mini supporting 4.
Updated the article to mention the Mac mini.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Dr McKay Avatar
48 minutes ago at 02:28 pm

Mac mini doesn't have a lid!
You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bleakend Avatar
35 minutes ago at 02:41 pm
Meanwhile, my M2 Pro Mac mini that used to get 144hz on 3360x1890 could only do 120hz with macOS 15.0 & 15.0.1. When I updated to 15.1 earlier, I noticed that it dropped to 100hz for the same scaling option. Somewhere along the way in macOS 14, the external monitor (Dell G3223Q) started turning on when I wake it, going to a blank screen immediately after and then taking around 10s to come back on with the login page. It still happens for waking (before entering password) & rebooting (after entering password).

Hope they work on their external monitor support properly before trying to add the ability for more external monitors.
Score: 1 Votes (Like | Disagree)