The new M3 MacBook Air laptops Apple rolled out Monday support up to two 5K (or lower rsolution) external displays in clamshell mode. And now the base 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro will add multi-display support, according to a report.
In the case of the entry-level MacBook Pro, which uses the same chip but lacks multi-display functionality, support will come in the form of a software update. M3 Pro and M3 Max MacBook Pro models already support the feature.
Apple software update will add multi-display support to 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro
So Apple plans to bridge a gap between the 13- and 15-inch M3 MacBook Air laptops released Monday and the base level 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro that came out in October, 9to5Mac and other outlets reported.
An upcoming software update will give the base-level Pro model the ability to drive two external displays when closed (like the new Air models and the higher-end M3 Pro and Max MacBook Pro models).
You can already hook up one external display with up to 6K resolution at a 60Hz refresh rate with either the new M3 MacBook Air or the existing M3 MacBook Pro when they sit open, rather than closed in clamshell mode.
But now an update enables all of the M3 MacBooks to drive two 5K external displays at 60Hz. M3 MacBook Air models released Monday can already do it and 14-inch M3 MacBook Pro will gain the ability with a software update.
Notably, Studio Display is a 5K monitor. That’s above 4K resolution common to many displays but below the Pro Display XDR’s impressive 6K resolution. So the updates mean all the M3 MacBooks can drive a pair of Studio Displays while in clamshell mode.
