Connecting multiple screens to the 2016 MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Solution 1:

We have a brand new Late 2016 Macbook Pro and 2 Apple/LG 21.5 USB-C 4K monitors. Daisy-chaining/MST does not work. We are using the monitors and nothing else with the original cables. Only way to get it to work is to connect each to individual USB-C ports on the MBP. Sad but true.

Solution 2:

I'm not sure if this answers the question but I'm testing this out right now with a new MacBook Pro Touchbar 13" with 4 USB-C ports.

In the testing I'm using the Minix Neo C Hub which has

• 2x USB3 - Type A ports
• Gigabit Ethernet
• SD Card Reader
• HDMI
• Another USB-C that you can use for your power adapter

I'm able to get two monitors working, one through HDMI on the Minix (Dell U2415) and one through DisplayPort (Dell U3014) using a USB-C to DisplayPort cable. I CAN daisy chain from the Dell U2415 to another Dell U2415 for 3 monitors but they will only mirror and not extend the display.

From what I've read, it's a MacOS limitation and not a hardware limitation. Evidently, if you bootcamp into Windows you can daisy chain on DP 1.2 with no problem.

I started typing this and then got sidetracked with a bunch of things so hopefully this is coherent.

Solution 3:

After doing a little research on Dell's daisy chaining monitors, I came across this bit of info on their support site:

Multi-Stream Transport (MST), also known as Daisy Chaining, is a new connection specification that allows multiple monitors to be connected in series with the video signal being passed from the computer to a monitor, and then from the first monitor on to the second monitor and so on. This differs from the traditional configuration of having a separate video cable run from the graphics adapter to each monitor in parallel. This simplifies the video wiring in most situations, but does have some specific configuration requirements to enable it.

Daisy chaining monitors is supported in the Display Port (DP) 1.2 specification....

I've been searching Apple's specs page on the new MacBook Pro's and I haven't found anything that specifically states they support the Display Port 1.2 spec. Though the Intel HD Graphics (15" MBP) supports it as does the Intel Iris Graphics 550 (13" MBP).

So, there's no reason why it can't be supported, but at present, I don't know of anyone who can test this. However, what you would need if DP daisy chaining is supported is:

• Qty 1 Thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort cable (Mac to 1st monitor)
• Qty 1 DisplayPort to DisplayPort (1st monitor to 2nd monitor)

If daisy chaining is not supported then you just need Qty 2 of the first item and then you just plug it into two separate ports

As noted in the comments, this has been tested and found that Apple doesn't support MST daisy chaining. Therefore, the only two options at this time is to use 2 direct TB to DP cables (first option above) or daisy chain the monitors with a third TB device (like storage) between the two monitors if you have that OS requirement.

Solution 4:

Okay, after some further research, I want to share my findings.

Is it possible to have a single-connected hub to which all monitors (DP or HDMI) and peripherals are connected?

Apparently not. I have not found any product which supports more then one DisplayPort or more then one HDMI port. In fact I was unable to find any hub or dock that supports more then one display device via HDMI or DisplayPort.

But there is such a device, if one display has a native USB-C port and the other display has a DisplayPort. Then one can go with the Thunderbolt 3 Express Dock which seems to be the only device supporting two display devices, but with the said constraints.

Which options do I have?

So that leaves me with the following options:

1. buying a DP-monitor and a USB-C monitor (while for the latter there is not so much to choose of, in fact I'm only quiet certain about the LG Ultrafine display promoted by apple) and the above mentioned hub.
2. buy any USB-C hub "with power delivery" and a HDMI-port; use this for the first screen and the peripherals, and connect the other screen with a fitting adapter (e.g. usb-c to hdmi, usb-c to displayport)
3. buy an arbitrary USB-C hub for the the peripherals, use fitting adapters for both display devices and (unless the chosen usb-c hub is "with power delivery") use the last port for power supplying the macbook.

USB-C hub with power delivery

There are several USB-C hubs out there with at least one HDMI-port and which are connected to the macbook via one USB-C port and are able to supply the macbook with power. Those hubs are labelled as "USB-C hub with power delivery". Unfortunately some of them are only said to support mirroring, so support of screen expansion is uncertain.

A hub that does support it does seem to be the best bet, since those hubs are reasonably priced, one can basically choose of every available display on the market and a maximum of two ports need to be plugged into the macbook to connect the devices in my question (five).

One such device is a HooToo deivce, which - together with a standard HDMI-cable and a USB 3.1 to displayport cable - should do the trick.

What about daisy chaining?

As said by a commenter, it's not really sure that ne Macbook supports daisychaining, but even if: Apparently there are not usb-c hubs with support for DisplayPort and even then it would be unclear if this combination would work with daisychaining.