macOS 14.6: How to use improved monitor support on the MBP M3

The update to macOS 14.6, which Apple published on Tuesday night, appears at first glance to only include bug fixes and security-related improvements. However, the update does something else: for owners of a certain portable Mac series, a hardware function has been unlocked that was not possible before. How to use the new multi-display support for MacBook Pro M3 computers.

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I’ve been waiting since last year

Users of the 14-inch entry-level model with the M3 SoC (i.e. without the M3 Pro and M3 Max) were previously only able to use an external screen. Apple already announced last year – shortly after the machine became available – that this would change “soon” via a software update. But then it took a while. It is now only possible with macOS 14.6.

The new function has a central drawback: the two displays only work when you operate the MacBook Pro M3 in clamshell mode, that is, when closed. If the computer remains open, only one display is supported. Both screens cannot be handled with the same high quality. The primary display can use up to 6K at 60 Hz or 4K at 144 Hz, while the second display can only use a maximum of 5K at 60 Hz or 4K at 100 Hz.

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First connect, then disconnect

When connecting, proceed as follows: connect an external keyboard and mouse/trackpad, supply power to the Mac (if the first display can do this, this is not necessary) and then connect the first display. The Mac is then turned off and the second display is plugged in. Voila, two screens. Arranging the screens is done as usual via the Screens area in System Settings. If you open the Mac in the meantime, the second external display becomes inactive. If you disconnect the first display and open the Mac, the second display becomes the primary screen. To change the screen order, you must unplug and plug in both screens.

Apple provides further details – including the use of the hub – in a document that is currently only available in English Support Documents. By the way, two screens when the Mac is closed has been supported on the MacBook Air M3 since macOS 14.3. It is not clear why Apple took longer with the MacBook Pro M3.

(B.Sc.)