Bypassing DisplayLink with 14" MBP w/ M1 Pro Chip

[anthemthecat]

Hi everyone, new to DisplayLink but would love your help.

Our family owns two MacBooks. One is a 2020 13" MacBook Air w/ M1 chip. Second computer is the 2021 14" MacBook Pro w/ M1 Pro chip.

I am aware that the MBA w/ M1 chip has the output limitation which requires DisplayLink as a workaround. I recently purchased the "Belkin Connect Universal USB-C Triple Display Dock" - Model # INC007. With the DisplayLink driver, I was able to do a three-display setup (two monitors, and laptop screen itself).

My question revolves around the 14" MBP. That MacBook can natively support up to two external displays without DisplayLink, but I cannot get the Belkin dock to recognize the 14" MBP without installing the DisplayLink drivers and enable screen-recording in the settings. From what I've read, enabling the screen-recording taxes the system a bit more and can create lag. Is there a way to configure my MBP with the Belkin dock to support the two external displays without using DisplayLink software. I have a Windows laptop for work and the Belkin dock works perfectly without installing the DisplayLink drivers.

Thank you for your help.

[dbienkowski]

Hi anthemthecat,
I'm glad you chose DisplayLink technology and it meets your expectations on MacBook Air with M1 chip.

To answer your question, unfortunately it doesn't work so we can configure the station to work with DisplayLink technology or not. From what I was able to find in the specs of the docking station you indicated, it looks like only the HDMI port described as 'Monitor 3' will work as Alt-Mode. The 'Monitor 1' and 'Monitor 2' ports are driven by DisplayLink technology.

On Windows, your docking station also requires DisplayLink drivers however they are downloaded automatically from Windows Update. I think you don't have to worry about too much resource consumption, as the M1 Pro is a powerful enough chip that DisplayLink won't affect the performance of the whole system