The unit has now replaced a cheaper USB hub we were using for the M1 mini, but don't expect this to work with the MacBook M1. Docking Station for MacBook Pro Air, USB C Docking Station Dual Monitor,Dual HDMI Adapter Hub for Mac MacBook Pro with 2 HDMI(4K 60Hz), 3USB3.0,SD TF Card Reader and 100W PD USB C Port PORTABLE 8-IN-2 USB-C HUBDesigned for MacBook Pro 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 and MacBook Air 2020 2019 2018. While iVANKY doesn’t officially support M1 MacBooks, the USB-C Docking Station Pro worked perfectly for the mini. One surprising superpower of this unit is that it offered dual-display support for a Mac mini M1 we had on hand. For example, a 1.09 GB file took less than a minute to download to an inserted card-excellent news for people who constantly swap files from computer to laptop using external SD or USB storage. Transferring data both to and from an SD card offered much faster speeds. For those using the Docking Station Pro as part of a work-from-home or mobile setup, that means no stopping important work to hunt down a laptop charger.ĭata transfer was also reasonably fast, and a 1.14 GB file copied from the laptop to a USB-C stick took less than five minutes. Connecting a second monitor also worked well, and even mixed display resolutions looked great.Ī unique feature here is the 96W charging capability of the iVANKY dock. The maximum resolution offered was 3840 x 2160, and even on our 27-inch screen, the text was nice and sharp with no artifacts. Using a single HDMI 2.0 port resulted in a clear 4K picture running at 60Hz per the monitor inputs. Once an adapter is introduced, the game is over.To test this unit, we used a 2018 MacBook Air running macOS Big Sur 11.4. You can daisy chain multiple native Thunderbolt monitors on a single port. I don't know for sure, but I suspect this refers to monitors using the DisplayPort Alternate Mode on the Thunderbolt 3 chain. You can read more about DisplayPort MST technology atĬurrently (April 2021), each Mac Thunderbolt 3 port supports only one display per Thunderbolt 3 port, and it needs to be the last one in the Thunderbolt 3 chain.
If you run Windows 10 on the exact same Mac hardware, multiple monitors within the DisplayPort bandwidth work flawlessly as an extended desktop. Presumably, Apple regards MST Hub as a legacy, dead-end technology.
Only Thunderbolt chained monitors are supported. Unfortunately, macOS does not support DisplayPort MST Hub. Without MST Hub support, multiple external monitors on the dock can only act as mirrors of each other.
This technique allows multiple external monitors to act as extended screen area as long as the hardware and driver support MST Hub. The ThinkPad Docks use the DisplayPort Multi Stream Transport (MST) Hub standard on the two exposed DisplayPort ports. Use of the dock still doesn't increase the available video bandwidth of the Thunderbolt/DisplayPort port even if the machine itself has the capability. All MacBook Pro 15 Thunderbolt 3 models have what is known as switchable internal graphics adapters. Unfortunately, you can't daisy chain monitors from a single port you must use separate ones. All MacBook Pro 13 Thunderbolt 3 models have an internal Intel graphics adapter that is limited to a maximum of two external displays, so using a docking station with two displays as described above would be the maximum. However, as you've already discovered, if you connect them separately, it works. Yes in that the MacBook Pro (as opposed to the MacBook) can support more than 1 external monitor. I should specify that my MacBook is actually MacBook Pro (15-inch, So, the mirroring you are seeing is expected behavior. The Lenovo C-Dock doesn't enable your MacBook to supply more display bandwidth than Apple provides.
Resolution on the built-in display and up to 4096-by-2304 resolutionĪt 60Hz on an external display, both at millions of colors
Per the tech specs:ĭual display and video mirroring: simultaneously supports full native In other words, it will only support one external monitor. The MacBook only supports dual displays including the built in display.