How To Add Dual Monitors On A Mac?

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Want to be more productive on a mac? Planning to add dual monitors on a mac to be more productive at work? You are not alone if you wish to upgrade your working space with a dual monitor on a mac. In light of the recent outbreak of the coronavirus, a lot of people had to start work from home. Unfortunately, due to this, a lot of people are not able to provide productive and effective results. Moreover, if you have been using two or more screens in your office, then you know how productive you can work. In case you are not accustomed to it, it is worth a try to help you boost your productivity and efficiency.

If you are a web designer or developer or work in any service in the IT sector then how a dual monitor set up is a necessity. For instance, if you are a web designer and you use a mac, then you will be having designer software open in one tab and the live view of the design in another tab. Every time you make a minor or major change it is difficult to keep shifting from one tab to another. Moreover, by doing so, there is more chance of you missing out on tiny details from your design. But, having dual monitors on a mac can make your work easy and you will be able to see the small details more clearly. When working remotely, it is very easy to get distracted or lack motivation in yourself to work, which makes having a conscious focus on productivity even more important. In this guide, we will explain to you how to set up dual monitors on a mac and the basic requirement your monitor will require to function properly on a mac.

How To Choose The Right Monitor For A Mac?

Your budget will play a large role in deciding what you want to spend and which features are the most important to you. The resolution, size, pixel density, display and panel type, refresh rate, the color accuracy of the monitor are a few of the most important factors that you must keep in mind before getting one. Even if you have to spend a few shillings extra to get the best feature would be worth every penny. You can even consider other characteristics like a curved monitor for a more immense viewing experience. Or choose a portrait mode for coding or mobile development that tilts 90 degrees to enhance your working experience. If you want to set up dual monitors on a Mac, then you may want to look up to a bigger 4k monitor to maximize your screen real estate. Even a compact flat panel display monitor is compatible with a Mac.

If you already have an ideal monitor with high resolution, pixel density, size, display, and panel type. Then it is important to consider the type of inputs a monitor accepts. In case your ideal monitor only has HDMI inputs in it, and you are using a Mac that has only USB-C ports in it. Then all you need to do is pick a good USB-C to HDMI adapter. You can even opt for a USB-C hub that includes an HDMI port or find adapters to go from HDMI to other outputs like Mini DisplayPort.

Which Monitor Does Mac Support?

Before you make up your heart into an excellent additional monitor or dual monitors on a Mac, you will have to make sure that your Mac supports the monitor that you have selected. Most MacBook can run and exceed 1080p on multiple monitors, but your Mac may not be able to take an additional 4k display monitor. Hence, it is important to find out exactly which monitor your Mac can handle. For this, you will need to check out the technical specifications on Apple’s Website. Below we have mentioned how to make use of technical specifications on Apple’s Website.

Navigate to Apple’s official site.
Now, type the model and year of your Mac into the search bar of the site and press the enter key.
Next, click on the “Support”.
Search and find your Mac’s listing in the search result and then click on it.
Scroll down and search for the dual display and video mirroring option.

Procedure On How To Set Up Dual Monitors On A Mac?

Once you have obtained a monitor for your MacBook or dual monitors for a desktop Mac like a Mac Mini and verified that your Mac can handle the monitors. All you have to do is grab the necessary cables and adapters. Once you have all the requirements, then you are ready to set up Dual Monitors on a Mac. Below, we have given the detailed procedure on how to set up dual monitors on a Mac:

Connect the dual monitors on a desktop Mac or a single monitor to the Mac using the appropriate cable and adapters.
Now, position your monitors and Mac where you want them on your desk and then turn on your mac.

It should automatically detect and activate the second monitor. If the monitors don’t turn on automatically along with the Mac, then turn it on manually.

Click on the “Apple menu” and then to System Preferences> Displays> Arrangements.
If the mirror display box is checked, then both monitors will show the same image.
On your main display, make sure the mirror display is unchecked. You will see a diagram showing the positioning of your displays. If they are not positioned properly, locate the secondary monitor icon.
Now, click and drag the secondary monitor into the correct position. Once you are satisfied with the monitor positioning then they are ready to use.
You may have to configure your monitor by making sure the image doesn’t look stretched, squashed, or anything. In case it doesn’t look right then click on the “Scaled” button.
Now click the correct resolution for your display.
For best results, it needs to be equal or lower than the resolution that your Mac is capable of handling.

Once your second display looks fine, you can close the display setting and start using your mac. There you go! Now you have set dual monitors on a Mac.