M1 Clamshell Mode Not Always Working + Workaround! (Dell D6000, M1, Big Sur)
 

Hey everyone,

I've got a Dell D6000 and a Macbook Pro M1. I've been enjoying clamshell mode so far while it was working, however I've been having more and more issues in which I just can't get it to work. When I close my laptop screen, it will just disconnect from the monitors and from the keyboard and mouse connected. I've tried experimenting with various settings in the Mac settings panel, including the one that prevents it from sleeping, to no avail.

However, I've found one workaround that so far has been working for me. Hopefully this can get fixed so that clamshell works on every plug in, but of course that's for later.

1. Restart your MacBook and login. You should see the DisplayLink icon in the corner.
2. Quit DisplayLink.
3. Open DisplayLink up again.
4. Lock your MacBook.
5. Plug your MacBook into the dock, but keep the screen open.
6. Unlock your MacBook.
7. Close the screen!

This has been working consistently for me so far. Simply restarting the DisplayLink program hasn't been working, but perhaps there's some other cause out there? I'll try experimenting more with this workaround to see if it can work without restarting perhaps or with less steps. Hope it helped anyone who's been having clamshell mode issues.