Apple went all in on USB - vitamin C , starting with the introduction of the now - discontinued 12 - in MacBook in 2015 . For a while , you could bribe a Mac with one , two , or four USB - century ports , all of which were also Thunderbolt 3 capable , except the 12 - in MacBook . With the founding of Apple silicon and Thunderbolt 4 , as well as degraded feeling of USB 3 over USB - C , it seems like every Mac introduced since about 2018 has its own port fib .
The number of USB - C ports on a Mac has almost no human relationship with the number of displays you’re able to connect , however . The inner workings of the Mac ’s in writing C.P.U. unit ( GPUs ) and display controller to which they ’re link up determine Apple ’s formula for the full phone number of displays , as does the resolution ( number of pixels ) of the committed reminder .
For instance , there are Macs with two USB - C port that also endure Thunderbolt 3/4 , and they can handle up to four monitors . Some Mac models now have USB - C port that are undistinguishable from each other yet have different technical specs , and the Mac example support different numbers of displays .
The Mac Studio is a good example – it comes in M2 Max and M2 Ultra versions . Those simulation , named for their chips , have six USB - C larboard each plus an independent HDMI port . However :
On the display side :
How can you tell when shopping for a unexampled Mac or planning showing for your be one how many video outputs a Mac can treat ? conceive this :
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