How many external displays can a MacBook Pro run?

The 14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 runs up to two external displays. With M5 Pro, the 14 and 16-inch models run up to three. With M5 Max they run up to four. All of those are in addition to the built-in screen, which keeps running at its full native resolution. The chip sets the number, not the port, and you can mix Thunderbolt and HDMI.

The rest is the part people get caught on: resolution and refresh rate. The limit is a list of combinations, and a count of three or four assumes a particular resolution on each screen. This post sets out every combination Apple lists for the current mini-LED models, then the older ones. The OLED model shares the M5 Pro and M5 Max and their counts (three and four), and its ports and displays post covers that Mac's desk setup.

The current MacBook Pro line-up

All numbers are from Apple's tech specs pages and Apple's page on how many displays a MacBook Pro can connect. "6K" and "4K" are native resolutions. Where a row lists a pair of figures, the display can run either one.

14-inch MacBook Pro with M6 (up to two)

Apple's M6 specs list 165Hz for a pair of 4K displays, where the M5 model before it listed 144Hz. Both displays can run from a single Thunderbolt port, and the three Thunderbolt 4 ports and the HDMI port all count toward the limit of two.

MacBook Pro with M5 Pro (up to three)

Apple's tech specs for the 14-inch and 16-inch models list the same three displays, over any mix of Thunderbolt and HDMI ports, and all three can run through a single Thunderbolt port. If you remember a figure of two from the March launch coverage, Apple's press release did say two high-resolution displays for M5 Pro; its tech specs pages say three.

MacBook Pro with M5 Max (up to four)

Four displays can run through a single Thunderbolt port. The Thunderbolt 5 ports support native DisplayPort 2.1 output, while the M6's Thunderbolt 4 ports run DisplayPort 1.4. Thunderbolt 5 versus Thunderbolt 4 covers what that means.

Older MacBook Pros

Apple's display-count page covers these from M2 Pro on, and the tech specs pages cover earlier ones. The key point: each new generation did not simply add displays, and the resolution you can run on each changed with them.

Apple's display-count page doesn't cover the 13-inch MacBook Pro models or Intel MacBook Pros, so if you have one of those, look up the tech specs for your exact model on support.apple.com. The number of displays Apple says can share a single Thunderbolt port through a hub or daisy chain also varies by chip (two on the M4 Max, four on the M5 Max), so check your model before you plan a chain.

Thunderbolt or HDMI

On the M6, M5, M5 Pro, M5 Max and M4 families, Apple lists the combinations over "Thunderbolt or HDMI", so you can use either. On earlier chips, the HDMI port sometimes allows a different resolution or refresh rate from the Thunderbolt ports. The M2 Pro, M3 Pro, M2 Max and M3 Max, for example, list a single display at 8K at 60Hz or 4K at 240Hz over HDMI, against 6K at 60Hz over Thunderbolt, while the plain M3 lists 4K at 144Hz over HDMI. So if you have an older model, check which port a particular display should use.

A practical plan:

1. Put the highest-resolution display on first, since Apple's page tells you to connect it first.
2. Use Thunderbolt for monitors that take DisplayPort over USB-C, and HDMI for a TV or a monitor with only an HDMI input.
3. Use a dock if you want one cable to the Mac. Apple says a hub or a daisy chain lets several displays share one Thunderbolt port but does not raise the chip's maximum.

Does closing the lid add a display?

Not on current models. For the M4, M4 Pro, M4 Max, M5, M5 Pro and M5 Max, Apple's page says closing the lid does not increase the number of external displays, because the built-in screen is counted separately from the external limit. The M6 specs likewise list its two external displays alongside the built-in screen at full resolution. The exception is older: Apple lists the M3 MacBook Pro's two-display setup only with the lid closed.

Choosing by what you do

• One or two monitors, mixed work: M6 is enough. Two 4K displays at 60Hz, or two 6K, are within its list.
• Three monitors for coding, trading or spreadsheets: M5 Pro. Three displays at 4K at 144Hz or 6K at 60Hz fits Apple's table.
• Four displays, or two very high-resolution ones: M5 Max. Two at 8K at 60Hz, or four at 6K, are on its list.

If you are weighing chips on this point alone, M6 or M5 Pro lays out the other differences.

Where Notchpals fits

A desk with several displays raises an obvious question for an app that lives in the notch: which screen? Notchpals keeps it simple. While the MacBook Pro's own screen is open, its reminder characters use the notch there, even if a big monitor is set as the main display. With the lid closed, they appear from a small black island that Notchpals draws, centered at the top of the main display. Either way there is one place to look.

OttoOver a week without a restart! Too many things open. I know the feeling.

Docked desks also tend to stay awake for days on end, which is when the Restart moment comes in: after a week without a restart, a Tech care character such as Otto suggests one, between 9 AM and 6 PM and at most once a week. Notchpals doesn't see what is on any of your screens.

The short answer

M6: two. M5 Pro: three. M5 Max: four. Then check the resolution and refresh rate you want against the table for your chip, because that is where the real limit sits.