What dock to buy for M1 Mac?

[zep]

I have an M1 MacBook Pro and need to know what dock to buy. Will any USB-C DisplayLink dock work to connect 2 external monitors?

I also have an Intel Mac and I know that in order for the two displays to be connected the dock needs to be Thunderbolt 3 instead of USB-C. Is this the case when using an M1 Mac with a DisplayLink dock as well?

I spent a few minutes looking at the docks on this website and I didn't find any that were Thunderbolt enabled, they were all USB-C.

I just need to know what I need to buy. It is a 2021 M1 MacBook Pro and I have 2 monitors. Each monitor can be connected with DP or HDMI. I need passthrough charging and at least 2 USB-A ports.

Thanks in advance for any pointers or assistance!

[Kris H]

There are several websites that provide lists of compatible Docks for driving 2 or more displays, of course as you have found they require either that the Dock support DisplayLink, or that you connect a USB adapter. A USB DisplayLink adapter should allow you to continue with your current Thunderbolt docks. The USB C docks will work, I have not found a TB dock that actually has DisplayLink.

Display link also has a list of certified devices on their website. Any of these should work.

I have used the Kensington on my M1 MBP and it took a few short minutes of work, which was complicated since one of the DisplayPort connections was not fully seated despite looking and feeling as though it was. Once I seated that it all worked like a dream.

Some articles that review this include: https://www.macworld.co.uk/how-to/how-connect-two-or-more-external-displays-apple-silicon-m1-mac-3799794/.

and

https://www.kensington.com/news/docking-connectivity-blog/how-to-connect-more-than-one-display-to-an-apple-m1-macbook/

There is also this site that has articles and recommended devices to buy that are all DisplayLink M1 supported: . This has some general comments about the various devices' pluses and minuses.

On another note, I have found that prices can vary significantly within a short time frame AND MANY ARE currently in short supply (July 2021.)

One thing to be aware of is that many of the docks will say they are Thunderbolt #...compatible, but in fact, they only support the 5 or 10 Gb/S USB protocol. Accurate but also misleading.

So far I have not been able to find a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock that has native support for DisplayLink. I contacted Kensington, the maker of my dock, and they said I could connect a USB DisplayLink adapter to a Thunderbolt Dock's USB port with a DisplayLink USB to HDMI or DP adapter, so long as the connection from the adapter to the monitor are the same (e.g. no DP to HDMI adapters.)

I am about to check that out since I have found some issues, as noted in earlier reviews, of slow USB external drive performance that Thunderbolt hopefully resolves.

So far the biggest issues that I have run into have been:

1: Sometimes on reboot have to power cycle the dock to get 2nd external monitor recognized.
2: Unable to cold start from a clamshell mode with BlueTooth keyboard. (Does not recognize keystrokes. This happened before the M1 though as well.)

Other known items, not an issue:

3: The drivers work by "copying" the screen to memory, this causes the Apple Watch to "sometimes" not unlock the computer

4: Since the Driver works by "copying" the HDCP is not present, so protected content will not display. You can always switch to the natively driven screen(s).

Pleasant surprises:

Since I have a 1440 monitor they both drive at 75hz, my monitors' limit.
No noticeable lag between screens and mouse/trackpad input.

That is what I have found so far in the 10-days of testing I have done.

[zep]

Thank you for the reply!