Macbook Pro 16 - M1 Max Multi Monitor Impressions - Still not perfect

Quick video on how Multi Monitor Interaction is working for me.
One 1080p monitor connected through HDMI
One 1440p 144hz monitor connected through USB-C Dongle

Can drive 144hz when only connected to 144hz Monitor
When HDMI is connected to 1080p monitor for 3 monitor setup - can no longer push 144hz.

Parallels 17 - M1 Compatible

Macbook Pro M1 Max

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[shibainu]

It could be your cable. I upgraded my old adaptor to a new Thubderbolt to DP cable that supports 4k 120hz and it works.

[mediacafeonlinellc]

Both the 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 16-inch version have one HDMI port that conforms to the HDMI 2.0 specification rather than the newer HDMI 2.1.

According to the technical specifications on Apple’s website, this limits you to connecting one external display with 4K resolution at sixty Hertz via the notebook’s HDMI 2.0 port. To be perfectly clear, this is standard dynamic range (SDR) we’re talking about as HDMI 2.0 doesn’t support high dynamic range (HDR) content.

As for capping the refresh rate in 4K resolution to sixty Hertz, this means you won’t be able to take advantage of an external monitor via HDMI that supports higher refresh rates. If your monitor supports refresh rates up to 120Hz via HDMI 2.1, for example, connecting it to the MacBook Pro’s HDMI 2.0 port will limit the refresh rate to sixty Hertz.

[BlendlogicTech]

Do you need to drive 144hz?

Edit: Upon testing - I believe its a bug with memory of monitors. My USB-C has Displayport and HDMI - and when I connected both to the one dongle it wasn't able to push 144hz.

When i got a SECOND USB dongle which had HDMI- it was able to push 144hz with both external monitors connected - and then when I used the HDMI port it could still drive 144hz.

Definitely some wonky behavior

[aarron]

Quick little fact here as to how macOS handles multi monitor support unlike windows macOS gets locked to the slowest refresh rate monitor in the chain so for example if you have three displays and one of those displays is 60 Hz but all the other ones are 144 Hz you’ll be stuck with 60 Hz on all the displays I would suggest trying it with monitors that are all capable of the same speed to see if the issue persists I’d also like to see if when running a USB-C dock if this issue still occurs as it could be a band with limitation with the HDMI implication that they have on the computer

[khoifoto]

Drive both LG 27gn950 4k 144hz without any issue, then I attached another LG 27gp850 in and 2k 165hz with variable refresh rate works perfectly fine.

[skittou]

It is perfectly normal. The HDMI port is only HDMI 2.0, so it only supports 60 Hz (not Hz per second by the way). Should you want to connect monitors with higher refresh rate, you have to connect it to a thunderbolt port.

[psyclptic]

weird....What issue do you have with scaling? OSX handles scaling way better than Windows or Linux. In fact thats the reason I switched to OSX was to use it's better scaling for higher resolution monitors. Also it's refreshes per-second, not frames per-second. Refreshes and frames are different and independent, not the same.

[dmoustakas]

Any updates on this one? I'm looking to buy an M1 Max just for the ext. display support. I got 3 monitors: 
1) 1440p - 144hz that uses HDMI/DP 
2) 1080p - 144hz that uses HDMI/DP 
3) a 1080p - 60hz portable display that uses TB Cable.

I have a Dell WD19S dock and planning to connect the 1440p display to mac HDMI, the 1080p 144hz display to the dock's DP port and the other using the TB Port of the dock.
My question is, was it a bug after all?

[justsa]

Can you do a video on how you are setting up the dual displays via the new mbp’s ? Like are you using the 2 USBC ports to connect to the monitors to get 144hz?

[dris]

I find scaling on macOS to be 1000x better than on WIndows. For example, when I use PS or any video editing program on my 5K monitor, the buttons are all perfectly sized as if on a 1440p monitor, but the content is full res, unscaled. This is the way it should be. On Windows, you have to have it at 4K which can make the interface way too small to be useable, or you can upscale and lose real estate for the content. Windows is a decade behind in scaling. I found this issue when using a drawing tablet that is 4K but say 16". On Mac it's perfect, on Windows it's terrible.

[stevenlee]

Is there any way to connect three monitors? They said it's possible to connect up to three 4k monitors but I can't find how.. any help would be appreciated bro thanks!!!

[joelbastian]

I have two dell monitors
Connected to my M1 Max in clamshell mode.

It’s taking up two Thunderbolt 4 slots which I feel like is a waste haha

Is it possible to daisy chain both monitors and plug it into one Thunderbolt 4 port?

Is Daisy chaining essentially creating one large single display if I just connect both monitors to a single Thunderbolt 4 port?

I’m just trying to take up as less ports as possible.

[guidrissen]

New macbook m1pro/max needs display dock to connect to two or more external displays? If the external monitors supports 120hz, the new macbooks can deliver it like to its own display?

[PicturePerfectJK]

can we get 144hz with usb-c to usb-c cable? reason, you can charge laptop with usb-c to usb-c k but with DisplayPort, you can't charge laptop

[Mega]

interesting....
could be a bug. Or maybe apple limits it on purpose?
im not sure. Dig around on forums, to see if anyone else has this issue

[RogerZoul]

you gotta make noise to get the bugs fixed.

[lore]

So what would be the best solution to hook up 3 displays (2x1080p, 1x4K, all at 60Hz), and possibly a fourth one later on, to an 16” M1 MAX?

[PicturePerfectJK]

so with M1 Max, you can't get 144hz refresh rate with 1440p resolution? can you please confirm?

[StefanUrkel]

so, if I have a 144hz monitor and 2 60hz, it will not support that 3rd one at its 144hz but it will only support 60 across all 3? yikes

[robbie_cu]

144hz isn’t needed for anything that’s being done on a professional laptop. It’s not a gaming laptop.