Apple confirms update for cheapest MacBook Pro 14 with external display support improvements
Yesterday, Apple released new MacBook Air 13 and MacBook Air 15 models running Apple M3 chipsets. As we discussed at the time, the introduction of Apple M3 chipsets brought not only an AV1 decoding engine to the MacBook Air series but also Wi-Fi 6E connectivity. Additionally, the Apple M3 refresh marked the first time that any MacBook Air machine can power two external displays natively.
As a result, this left Apple's product stack in a somewhat confusing state when it comes to external display support. Currently, the more expensive MacBook Pro 14 with an Apple M3 chipset only supports one external display at up to 6K and 60 Hz. By contrast, both new MacBook Air machines have the choice of outputting to a single display at 6K and 60 Hz or two displays at 5K and 60 Hz.
According to 9to5Mac, Apple has officially confirmed it will bring these MacBook Pro 14 machines onto parity with their MacBook Air counterparts through a software update. Evidently, this was only ever a software restriction rather than a hardware one, particularly as the current Mac mini has been supported outputting to two external displays since launch day. Unfortunately, it remains to be seen when Apple will deliver this update, although macOS Sonoma 14.4 seems like a probable candidate.
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