Macs With M3 Chip Still Officially Support Only a Single External Display

Macs equipped with the standard M3 chip still support only one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz, according to Apple's tech specs. So far, the chip is available in the entry-level 14-inch MacBook Pro and the 24-inch iMac.

Pro Display XDR Red
This limitation has existed since the first Apple silicon Macs with the M1 chip were released in 2020, but users can connect multiple external displays to M1, M2, and M3 Macs with DisplayLink adapters as an unofficial workaround. One exception is the Mac mini, which will likely be updated with the M3 chip next year and should retain support for up to two external displays, given that it lacks a built-in display.

The higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models support up to two external displays with the M3 Pro chip, and up to four with the M3 Max chip.

M3 chip display support:

One external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz

M3 Pro chip display support:

Up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, or one external display with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI

One external display supported at 8K resolution at 60Hz or one external display at 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

M3 Max chip display support:

Up to four external displays: Up to three external displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 4K resolution at 144Hz over HDMI

Up to three external displays: Up to two external displays with 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one external display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or one external display with 4K resolution at 240Hz over HDMI

The new MacBook Pro models are now available to order, and most configurations will begin arriving to customers and launch in stores on Tuesday, November 7. M3 Max configurations will be available later in November.

Tag: M3

Top Rated Comments

vertsix Avatar
1 day ago at 07:45 am
My ThinkPad T440s from 2013 supports up to 3 external displays.

This is embarassing.
Score: 91 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Chiromac81 Avatar
1 day ago at 07:47 am
That's brutal!

Talk about the lazy apple tax making people buy even more than an already high end product just for the luxury of using 2 screens which should have been standard 2 years ago with the M chips!
Score: 42 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Naraxus Avatar
1 day ago at 07:47 am
Little Timmy never met a chance to upsell he didn't like....
Score: 36 Votes (Like | Disagree)
toto75 Avatar
1 day ago at 07:47 am
I wonder if this is a technical or an artificial limitation.
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
StellarVixen Avatar
1 day ago at 07:49 am

I wonder if this is a technical or an artificial limitation.
Technical that can be removed/fixed, but it won’t be because it’s artificial
Score: 30 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TrenttonY Avatar
1 day ago at 07:52 am
They must not know (or care) that blatantly crippling their "most powerful chip" with software just to sell the next, more expensive configuration, irritates everyone and cheapens the brand.
Score: 29 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

m3 pro chip

Apple M3 Pro Chip Has 25% Less Memory Bandwidth Than M1/M2 Pro

Tuesday October 31, 2023 3:11 am PDT by
Apple's latest M3 Pro chip in the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro has 25% less memory bandwidth than the M1 Pro and M2 Pro chips used in equivalent models from the two previous generations. Based on the latest 3-nanometer technology and featuring all-new GPU architecture, the M3 series of chips is said to represent the fastest and most power-efficient evolution of Apple silicon thus far. ...
M3 Chip Apple Event Slide

First Benchmark Results Surface for M3 Chip in New Macs

Wednesday November 1, 2023 7:53 am PDT by
The first benchmark results for the standard M3 chip surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today, providing a closer look at the chip's CPU performance improvements. Based on the results so far, the M3 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 3,000 and 11,700, respectively. The standard M2 chip has single-core and multi-core scores of around 2,600 and 9,700, respectively, so the...
AitTag New Firmware

Apple Releases New Firmware for AirTags

Tuesday October 31, 2023 11:26 am PDT by
Apple today released a new firmware update designed for the AirTag item trackers. The firmware features a build number of 2A61, up from the 2A36 firmware that came out last December. It has been nearly a year since Apple updated the firmware on the AirTags, and there is no word yet on what might be included in the update. Today's firmware release will be rolling out on a staggered basis....
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced During Monday's 'Scary Fast' Event

Monday October 30, 2023 6:47 pm PDT by
Apple's "Scary Fast" 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time event was over in the blink of an eye, but if you missed it because of the unusual time, we have a quick overview of everything that Apple announced. If you want to watch the video in full, it only lasted a half an hour, because all Apple introduced was the new M3-series chips in MacBook Pro machines and iMacs. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube ...
iOS 17

Apple Preparing to Release iOS 17.1.1 Update for iPhone

Thursday November 2, 2023 1:22 pm PDT by
Apple appears to be internally testing an iOS 17.1.1 update for the iPhone, based on evidence of the software in our website's analytics logs this week. iOS 17.1.1 will almost certainly be focused on bug fixes, but it's unclear exactly which issues the update will address. The update could include the same fix for Wi-Fi connectivity issues that Apple rolled out in the first iOS 17.2 beta,...
iOS 17

Apple Says iOS 17.2 Will Fix Wi-Fi Connectivity Issues

Monday October 30, 2023 3:30 pm PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.2 update should fix various Wi-Fi issues that some iPhone users have experienced since iOS 17 was released, according to iClarified. In response to a bug report filed by the website, Apple said the first iOS 17.2 beta released last week addresses Wi-Fi connectivity issues, although the company did not provide any specific details. Some users have complained about slow...
M3 Max Chip

M3 Max Chip Around as Fast as M2 Ultra in Early Benchmark Results

Wednesday November 1, 2023 7:27 pm PDT by
The first benchmark results for Apple's M3 Max chip surfaced in the Geekbench 6 database today, providing a look at CPU performance. Based on the "Mac15,9" model identifier shown, the results appear to be for the new 16-inch MacBook Pro. The highest multi-core score for the M3 Max with a 16-core CPU is currently 21,084 as of writing. If this early result is accurate, this means the M3 Max is ...
Apple Event October 2023

Apple's Event Was Missing These 4 Announcements

Tuesday October 31, 2023 8:15 am PDT by
At its "Scary Fast" event, Apple announced new 14-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, and 24-inch iMac models with M3 series chips. It was a very quick and tidy 30-minute event, with no other products or surprises revealed. Below, we have listed some rumored products that were not announced at the event. Magic Accessories With USB-C Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported that Apple's...
new macbook pro image

Apple Announces New 14-Inch and 16-Inch MacBook Pro Models With M3 Series Chips

Monday October 30, 2023 5:21 pm PDT by
Apple today announced next-generation 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro personal computers during its "Scary Fast" event. These new computers include the new M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max chips, which were also announced during the event. Every model of the new lineup features a Liquid Retina XDR display with 20 percent brighter SDR content, a built-in 1080p camera, and a six speaker sound system....
m3 imac

Apple Announces New iMac With M3 Chip

Monday October 30, 2023 5:28 pm PDT by
Apple today announced an updated version of the 24-inch iMac featuring the all-new M3 chip. The iMac with M3 is up to 2x faster than the previous iMac, which featured the M1 chip. For those upgrading from an Intel based iMac, Apple says that the new iMac is up to 2.5x faster than previous 27-inch models and 4.5x faster than previous 21.5-inch models. The iMac now supports up to 24GB of...