The news of the new M3 MacBook Air came with a little bit of a surprise: It can run two external displays with the laptop closed. That’s a change from the single-display support for all other M1, M2, and M3 MacBooks, including the current entry-level MacBook Pro, which uses the same chip as the new Air.
However, that’s going to change. 9to5Mac confirmed with Apple that the M3 MacBook Pro will be getting a software update that will allow the laptop to have the same external display support as the M3 MacBook Air. Details were not available as to when the software update will be issued; Apple is nearing the release of the macOS Sonoma 14.4 update, but it’s not known if the new display support is part of it.
Apple’s previous Macs with base M-series chips (M1, M2, and M3) have always supported two displays in total. However, while you can connect two displays to the Mac mini, when it came to the iMac and MacBooks, the built-in display was part of that scenario. This upcoming update will finally let users close their MacBook and still have two displays running at the same time. However, when you open the lid, one of the two displays will shut off.
If you want to be able to connect two external displays and have the laptop display active (three displays in total), you need to get at least an M3 Pro MacBook Pro. If you want to run four external displays, you need to get an M3 Max MacBook Pro. Read our guide on how to connect two or more external displays to an M1, M2 or M3 MacBook.
Author: Roman Loyola, Senior Editor
Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.