Running Apple’s M1 Chip on up to Six Displays

Source: Ruslan Tulupov (via YouTube)

Apple’s newly released M1 chip devices can be connected to external displays but Apple has said that there are limits. For instance, Apple does not support more than two screens on the Mac Mini, nor more than one display on the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro.

However, tech enthusiast Ruslan Tulupov has published his video on YouTube which features a workaround. Tulupov went above and beyond to get six displays connected to the Mac Mini and five screens to the MacBook Air. In his video, Tulupov walked through how it was made possible and gave a highlight of the adapters he used to make it all possible.

To conduct the tests, Tulupov purchased a Mac Mini and Macbook Air. As for the displays used for the extensive Mac Mini test, Tulupov used a 4K 65-inch OLED Samsung TV, which he connects via HDMI as the main screen. The second display is a 1080p 40-inch Sony TV via HDMI.

A CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 dock was also used to simplify the switching process. Using a Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter, Tulupov is able to connect the Sony display to the dock and into the Mac Mini. A third 24-inch Acer display is then hooked into the dock using a DisplayLink Plugable USB 3.0 to HDMI adapter. At this moment, Tulupov has surpassed Apple’s two-screen maximum.

Continuing on, Tulupov used a 32-inch LG display with a StarTech USB 3.0 to HDMI adapter. This then routed the display with a 4K output. The fifth and sixth displays were a 4K Dell and an Asus monitor. These were connected via the StarTech USB 3.0 to DisplayPort adapter. After running a stress test, Tulupov confirms that the results are positive.

For the MacBook Air tests, Tulupov used the suite of displays with the exception of the Samsung as the MacBook Air does not have an HDMI port built-in. Using the CalDigit Thunderbolt cable, the swap was fairly straightforward. All that needed to be installed was DisplayLink. Once again, the results were impressive, outpacing Apple’s suggested one display for MacBook Air.

Tulupov’s discovery is a great option for users who are accustomed to using multiple displays.