Instead, those docks use a technology called DisplayLink which has nothing to do with DSC. DisplayLink means that external monitors are basically "software" displays that are tremendously slower and often very limited in resolutions and frame rates. Having any DisplayLink display connected also breaks HDCP and can cause other problems.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DisplayPort#Display_Stream_Com...
Sorry- I'm horrible at reading Apple Specs and inferring the capabilities
https://www.apple.com/macbook-pro-13/specs/
People have gotten round it by connecting additional screens using display link adapters.
Running external display at 4k@60Hz is possible but not straight forward, it requires patch core graphic framework, or using 3rd party boot loader. Newer models do not have this limitation afaik.
M1 != M1 Pro/Max/Ultra.
If you have an M1 Pro or M1 Max or M1 Ultra, that is not "[your] m1".
Each chip has significantly different capabilities in a number of aspects. As far as display support goes,
M1 = 1 external display[0]
M1 Pro = 2 external displays
M1 Max = 4 external displays (3 USB-C + 1 HDMI)[1]
[0]: the exception is the M1 Mac Mini, which doesn't have an internal display, so it can use two external displays.
[1]: once again, the desktop version without a built-in monitor can support one additional monitor, so the Mac Studio with M1 Max can support 5 displays.
M1’s GPU came equipped to only support the internal monitor and one external monitor… a very slim configuration, but that’s likely influenced by its smartphone processor ancestry. Smartphones don’t need to power a bunch of displays.
The larger M1 chips have bigger GPUs with more of those fixed function blocks.
It isn’t artificial market segmentation at a software level, but it is certainly market segmentation at a hardware level, and something they knew would happen when they designed these chips.
In the end, they were pretty spot on about the market segments. Most people want/need external display support… but one external display is plenty for most people. People who need more are likely to also want more in general, and the higher end options satisfy that.
It still would have been nice for them to upgrade things for M2.
The laptop itself has nothing to do with it. If they decided to put an M1 Pro chip into the MacBook Air, it would be able to have 2 external displays.
