By: Adrian (a.delete@this.acm.org), December 9, 2020 5:36 pm
Room: Moderated Discussions
Maynard Handley (name99.delete@this.name99.org) on December 9, 2020 3:05 pm wrote:
> Doug S (foo.delete@this.bar.bar) on December 9, 2020 2:06 pm wrote:
> > anonymou5 (no.delete@this.spam.com) on December 9, 2020 1:08 pm wrote:
> > > The flops are fascinating and all... but in practice I also care about
> > > how many displays I can connect simultaneously... and on that front the
> > > news models seem to be a step back from before. For example, MBA could
> > > drive dual 4K before (4096 x 2304), plus the laptop's screen, either at
> > > reduced (Intel AML) or at full (Intel ICL) resolution. By contrast, M1
> > > models seem limited to only one external display (if I am reading specs
> > > right, that is).
> >
> >
> > The Mac Mini can support one external 4K display via HDMI and one external 6K display
> > via Thunderbolt. The Air/MBP13 can only support the one 6K display since they don't
> > have the HDMI support. So it is a port limitation, not a limitation of the M1.
>
> And both can also support an iPad as display via SideCar. Which may not sound
> like much but has its uses as a storeplace for pallets and suchlike.
>
> This can be taken *quite a bit* further via DisplayPort adapters that present "virtual" display endpoints:
> https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/24/m1-macs-able-to-run-six-external-displays/
>
>
> Like most things in tech, one has to distinguish between the function of a complaint
> as "I am trying to actually solve a problem; please help me" vs the function of a
> complaint as "I am trying to signal my membership of the 'x sucks' tribe".
>
The ability of connecting many displays through adapters (i.e. MST = Multi-Stream Transport) is a property of any compliant DisplayPort connector, so it was expected for the new Macs.
Nevertheless, the total bandwidth is limited to a value dependent on the version number of the DisplayPort, so if you want high resolutions and at least 60 Hz, the number of displays that can be connected drops rapidly, so it is not a replacement for having multiple video outputs on the computer.
In an old laptop with Linux I have used this since many years, and without needing to install additional drivers, as shown for the Mac, because the NVIDIA settings program allows the complete configuration of the multiple monitors, as desired. I have not tried that with Intel or AMD GPUs, so I do not know if MST works with them on Linux.
> Doug S (foo.delete@this.bar.bar) on December 9, 2020 2:06 pm wrote:
> > anonymou5 (no.delete@this.spam.com) on December 9, 2020 1:08 pm wrote:
> > > The flops are fascinating and all... but in practice I also care about
> > > how many displays I can connect simultaneously... and on that front the
> > > news models seem to be a step back from before. For example, MBA could
> > > drive dual 4K before (4096 x 2304), plus the laptop's screen, either at
> > > reduced (Intel AML) or at full (Intel ICL) resolution. By contrast, M1
> > > models seem limited to only one external display (if I am reading specs
> > > right, that is).
> >
> >
> > The Mac Mini can support one external 4K display via HDMI and one external 6K display
> > via Thunderbolt. The Air/MBP13 can only support the one 6K display since they don't
> > have the HDMI support. So it is a port limitation, not a limitation of the M1.
>
> And both can also support an iPad as display via SideCar. Which may not sound
> like much but has its uses as a storeplace for pallets and suchlike.
>
> This can be taken *quite a bit* further via DisplayPort adapters that present "virtual" display endpoints:
> https://www.macrumors.com/2020/11/24/m1-macs-able-to-run-six-external-displays/
>
>
> Like most things in tech, one has to distinguish between the function of a complaint
> as "I am trying to actually solve a problem; please help me" vs the function of a
> complaint as "I am trying to signal my membership of the 'x sucks' tribe".
>
The ability of connecting many displays through adapters (i.e. MST = Multi-Stream Transport) is a property of any compliant DisplayPort connector, so it was expected for the new Macs.
Nevertheless, the total bandwidth is limited to a value dependent on the version number of the DisplayPort, so if you want high resolutions and at least 60 Hz, the number of displays that can be connected drops rapidly, so it is not a replacement for having multiple video outputs on the computer.
In an old laptop with Linux I have used this since many years, and without needing to install additional drivers, as shown for the Mac, because the NVIDIA settings program allows the complete configuration of the multiple monitors, as desired. I have not tried that with Intel or AMD GPUs, so I do not know if MST works with them on Linux.
