According to MacRumors, Anker has launched a new $249.99 10-in-1 USB-C hub that allows an M1-equipped MacBook to output to three external displays, among other things. It’s intended to get around a significant constraint of Apple’s M1-powered MacBooks, which can only output to one external display by default.
There are ten ports on the Anker 563 dock, including USB-C, USB-A, 3.5mm audio, and Ethernet. But it’s the display connectors that we’re most interested in: an HDMI port capable of 4K at 30Hz (it’s unclear what the highest refresh rate is at lesser resolutions), a second HDMI port capable of 2K (aka 1440p) at up to 60Hz, and a DisplayPort capable of 2K at 60Hz.
You’ve obviously noticed a crucial constraint here: the first HDMI port can only support 30Hz at 4K, which means a connected monitor won’t feel very fluid. But that might not matter if you’re watching video content (which rarely exceeds 30 frames per second) or utilizing productivity apps.
A second major drawback is that you’ll need DisplayLink software to get your M1 MacBook to output to this many displays, and previous hub experience suggests that the results can be fickle.
Last year, rival accessory maker Hyper launched a pair of USB-C docks designed to power two monitors from an M1 MacBook. (The hub is advertised as plug-and-play without the need for drivers, but you must still install software.)
Alternatively, Macworld provides a nice breakdown of your other multi-monitor alternatives, including docks and hubs, though be aware that some of them aren’t officially supported by their manufacturers.
Aside from the display connectors, the Anker 563 dock has a USB-C port that can supply up to 100W of power to a host machine, a 1Gbps Ethernet port, a USB-C port with 5Gbps data transfer speeds and 30W of power delivery, a USB-A port with 5Gbps and 7.5W, and two USB-A ports that are data-only at 480 Mbps. A DC input is also available for powering the dock.
The initial generation of Apple Silicon MacBooks had an unpleasant external monitor limitation, but the newer M1 Pro and M1 Max-powered laptops, happily, have native support for multiple external screens.
There’s no news on whether Apple’s expected M2-equipped MacBooks will have similar restrictions when they launch, but we can only hope you won’t require an expensive hub to connect several monitors.
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