Choosing a Docking Station to Connect Multiple Monitors to an M2 Mac

Finally [Apple fans would say]. You can walk into a physical retail store and walk back out with an M2 MacBook Air. Although, we should flag the caveat. If history tells, expect these new M2s to initially live the shelf life of a pandemic tissue box.  

The new MacBook Air’s 13.6” Liquid Retina display trumps its predecessor’s 13.3” Retina display. Likewise, its 10-core GPU is a faster alternative for video editing than the M1 MacBook Air’s 7-core GPU. You can buy an M2 Mac in traditional space grey or silver versions. Or you can opt for the new midnight or starlight options [you didn’t know midnight or starlight are colours?]. M1 MacBook Air owners will recognise many of the features in their existing machines, along with some exciting improvements. Others will see the new MacBook Air as an entirely new way to experience life at work, school, or home.

As to be expected, there’s been a lot of fanfare for the new MacBook Airs in this launch period. But none of it should unduly distract from the bigger picture. The new MacBook Airs are neither island nor panacea. A new M2 MacBook Air will potentially help you improve your productivity and creativity. But your laptop still needs to synergise with your workstation’s wider ecosystem.

And the new MacBook Air’s limits are important to know.

As we discussed in our previous blog, both the M2 MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro are only equipped to natively support one external display.

You might therefore be wondering: Can I connect multiple computer monitors to an M2 Mac?

The short answer: Yes.

One simple solution is to connect your M2 Mac to a docking station.

Read on for a brief guide to help you choose the right docking station to combine with an M2 MacBook Air or M2 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Does a DisplayLink Docking Station Work with an M2 Mac?

DisplayLink is a graphics transport technology. It is built into USB docking stations and other products such as USB monitors.

Because DisplayLink docks use software drivers to operate – and require no hardware support from your connected computer – they are currently the only docking station technology capable of driving two or more monitors from an M2 MacBook Air or an M2 13-inch MacBook Pro.

DisplayLink docking stations often feature comprehensive suites of ports that complement the existing ones built into your M2 MacBook Air or 13-inch MacBook Pro too.

You might have heard of a DisplayLink dock described as a “universal” docking station. This is because the docks work with a wide variety of laptops and mobile devices.

In fact, you can connect your DisplayLink docking station to computers with Windows, Android, Chrome, and Ubuntu/Linux OSs.

DisplayLink docks’ universal compatibility is especially valuable if you share desks at home, in business settings, or in education settings. This is because various laptop users can share the dock. When you share the dock with others, everybody can unplug or plug in to the workstation over a single cable.

Sharing the dock is also considerably more affordable than purchasing an individual dock for every computer.

If you decide you’re interested in combining a dock with an M2 Mac, installing DisplayLink software for your computer is easy: just download the latest DisplayLink driver for your operating system; run your installer once downloaded; follow the prompts, and restart your machine.