Help with External Monitor Setup for MacBook Air M4 (3 Monitors, Including LG Ultrafine)

Tech Support
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Hi all,

I’m a new Mac user and recently picked up a MacBook Air M4, which I love so far. However, I’m running into some challenges trying to set up three external monitors.

Here’s what I’m aiming for:

  1. Dell C1422H (portable USB-C monitor): Ideally connected via USB-C directly to the laptop. I’ve tried running it through my DisplayLink dock, but the dock’s USB-C ports don’t seem to support video out. Are there docks that support USB-C video out for this kind of monitor?

  2. LG Ultrafine (2560x1440): Looks great when plugged directly into the Mac via USB-C. But when I try connecting it via DisplayPort through my DisplayLink dock, it won’t run at the correct resolution — 2560x1440 isn’t even listed. Is there a way to get this resolution working via DisplayPort through a dock?

  3. Third monitor (1080p or 1440p): Planning to connect this via DisplayPort through the dock. Quality is less important here. (non 4k monitors seem to look pretty bad anyway)

So far, I’ve only gotten the LG to look good via direct USB-C, and I’m struggling to get the dock setup working properly for all three.

Does anyone have a dock recommendation or advice on how best to wire this up so all three monitors work at their proper resolutions?

Thanks!

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I’ve found BetterDisplay v useful, especially for:

  1. Getting external monitors to run at desired resolutions which don’t otherwise appear in settings

  2. Getting external monitors to run in HiDPI mode – which improved text rendering, especially at non-native resolutions.

I’ve used it with a lot of different external monitors, docks and connectors - and it was great with all of them. However, I’ve not used it with DisplayLink, so I can’t vouch for that.

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Update: this thread says it works well with DisplayLink, specifically to get external monitors running at 2560x1440 & HiDPI