How many monitors can you connect to a MacBook Pro?

The MacBook Pro offers one of the best displays in the laptop market. It’s crisp, clean, bright and color true. However, this does not mean that the 14 or 16 inch options available on current models are enough to satisfy all customers. This is why Apple, like many other computer manufacturers, offers support for multiple external displays. While you can check how many displays an Intel Mac can support on Apple’s website, we’re considering Apple Silicon models, ranging from the MacBook Pro M1 released in late 2020 to the MacBook Pro M5 Max released in early 2026. That said, the answer may vary from a 6K display to supporting up to four monitors at that resolution simultaneously, depending on your Mac.

However, depending on the resolution, the number of displays you can connect may be limited. For example, the MacBook Pro M5 Max can connect to a display up to a native resolution of 8K at 60 Hz, 5K at 120 Hz, or 4K at 240 Hz via Thunderbolt or HDMI. However, if you want to connect four external displays, Apple limits them to 6K at 60 Hz or 4K at 144 Hz via Thunderbolt or HDMI. For the M5 Pro, Apple limits it to three external displays at 6K at 60Hz. You can check exactly which model you have and how many external monitors you can connect here.

There is a fairly large market for external MacBook Pro displays. Although third-party display makers can make displays as good as Apple’s, few of them rival the Studio Display or Studio Display XDR when it comes to overall picture quality, speakers, webcam, and connectivity. As Apple refreshed its Studio Display line in early 2026, the company launched two 27-inch options. The standard Studio Display includes a 12MP Center Stage camera, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, 30% deeper bass, and support for up to four Studio Displays connected together (each with an integrated A19 processor).

For the Studio Display XDR, Apple improved some aspects of the discontinued Pro Display XDR while removing some of its advantages. With a 27-inch mini-LED panel, Apple finally adds a 120Hz refresh rate and 2,000 nits peak HDR brightness. With Adaptive Sync, this monitor’s refresh rate ranges from 47Hz to 120Hz. It also supports a 12MP Center Stage camera with Desk View, Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, up to 140W of charging power, and an A19 Pro chip to handle all screen processing.

That said, if you don’t want to pay full price for these options, there are other third-party monitors that pair well with your MacBook Pro, such as the BenQ MA270UP, Innocn 40C1U ultrawide monitor, and Dell S2722QC. All of these meet Apple’s criteria for choosing a larger screen for your MacBook.

While you don’t need to choose the options listed above, be aware that the MacBook Pro is very demanding when it comes to external monitors. If you opt for a Full HD model, the desktop image may appear blurry, colors may not be as accurate, or you’ll need to scale down the interface enough to make it look like you’re using your smaller MacBook Pro screen.

That said, when shopping for a display, you should aim for at least 218 pixels per inch, which is exactly what the 5K Studio Display offers. If you go for a 4K display, it offers around 163 PPI. Due to macOS’s 2:1 mapping, it can feel like the interface is a giant 1080p screen, which isn’t ideal. If you scale it down, it also looks wrong. You also need true Thunderbolt 3, Thunderbolt 4, or even Thunderbolt 5 connectivity, as well as a cable that supports these standards. You also need a monitor that explicitly provides at least 85W to 96W of power, as the Mac will drain its battery if plugged in otherwise.

Last but not least, you need to have a refresh rate of at least 60Hz and support the DCI-P3 color gamut instead of an sRGB-only monitor if you want display quality as close as possible to your MacBook Pro’s built-in display.