triple monitor setup with unibody macbook
You can hook up two external monitors to your unibody MacBook and I’ll show you how to do it:
triple monitor setup unibody macbook
NOTE: MBP owners please see note at the bottom!
I was really excited to replace my white MacBook with a unibody MacBook because I always wanted to hook up two external monitors. The pre-unibody macbooks had an embarrassingly awful graphics processor especially because even $500 windows notebooks had much better graphics. That crappy chipset was unable to drive the resolution for two external monitors. The unibody MacBook finally has a pretty cool graphics processor: the NVIDIA GeForce 9400M.
The new MacBook still only has one external monitor plug, the mini DisplayPort (oh yeah, you’ll need to get a new adapter, the mini dvi adapter won’t work- another $29.) So how is it possible to hook up two monitors to one port?
The Matrox DualHead2Go splitter can take one video input and split it to two monitors. In my setup the external video resolution is set to 2560×1024 pixels that the DualHead2Go box splits to two 1280×1024 monitors. You can read more about the technology on Matrox’s website.
matrox dualhead2go
DualHead2Go has two models: analog (to be used with vga signal) and digital (for DVI). The analog version doesn’t support wide screen monitors, but I already had two 4/3 aspect ratio (read: old) monitors so the analog version worked great. The analog version is of course cheaper at ~$150, the digital version is ~$210 as of January 2009. If you want to use wide screen monitors, you’ll need the digital version.
The monitors I use are the NEC MultiSync LCD 1765- fantastic color and sharp picture. The native resolution is 1280×1024 pixels. I love these monitors, but you can’t buy them anymore. Maybe you can find them on eBay.
Shopping list for analog VGA 4/3 setup:
Shopping list for DVI wide screen setup:
Optional:
- Apple bluetooth keyboard
- Bluetooth mouse (I suggest the Microsoft Bluetooth Notebook Mouse 5000. It’s an awesome mouse with two real buttons (and some extra buttons) and a real scroll wheel. It also looks great and shows that you really don’t give in to the whole Apple vs. Microsoft bullshit.)
Setup is pretty straight forward:
- shut down your MacBook
- hook up the DualHead2Go input to the MacBook through the mini DisplayPort adapter and
- connect the two monitors to the DualHead2Go outputs
- power on your MacBook
- set up the resolution for the external monitor in System Preferences / Display
The resolution should be 2*width x height of your monitor resolution. So for my 1280×1024 monitors that is 2560×1024.
display resolution for external monitors
Matrox has released a helper app called PowerDesk to aid window management. You can download it from here. It doesn’t have full support for the analog version, but most of the features (like moving the dock and moving windows between monitors) seem to work.
A couple small issues:
- the MacBook thinks that the external display is a single screen, so dialogs that open in the center of the screen will be cut in half by the two monitors
- the dock is also chopped in half in it’s default position, but this can be easily fixed by moving it to the side or with the Matrox Powerdesk software
- maximized windows will cover both monitors (Powerdesk gives you a shortcut to maximize a window on a single monitor)
Despite the small kinks however this setup works great. There is no visible degradation in the image quality and it’s perfect for coding and graphics work.
MacBook Pro note:
There seems to be a problem with the mini displayPort on the MacBook Pros. A couple guys already contacted me that the maximum resolution they can use on the MBP is 2048×728. Matrox says that Apple used a different chip on the MBP and any higher resolution is not possible to achieve. I don’t have a MBP so I couldn’t test this, but the guys I talked to could not get 2560×1024 to work. So if you just upgraded your MBP and you expect your dualhead2go on your unibody, you might be screwed.
If anyone has a new MBP in the Boston area and would be up for some testing, please contact me.
Thanks, very well documented. I’ll be buying a DualHead2Go shortly.
Thanks for the insights. I’ve used the TripleHead2Go Digital Edition successfully with my older MacBook Pro’s DVI port up to the desired 2560×1024 resolution, but on my newer UniBody MacBookPro I am only able to reach 2048×768. Matrox told me this is a limitation with the new mini DisplayPort, but it looks like you were able to make it work. Do I need to change over to a mini DisplayPort VGA adapter rather than the current DVI adapter I now use? Thanks in advance! - Vince
I just swapped-in the mini DisplayPort VGA adapter and am still limited to 2048 x 768. Please let me know if you are aware of a solution to attain 2560 x 1024. Much appreciated, - Vince
@vince: Someone else was having the same problem and matrox told them that the chip in the mini displayport to vga could not handle the resolution. I bought another adapter and my setup still works at 2560×1024. I’d love to try another macbook or dualhead2go, if anyone is close to new hampshire…
I’ll send you an email, maybe you can test my windowprefs, see if that works.
Hi…i have an iBook G4. Do you know if the DualHead2Go will work? My monitors are HP L1950 with both VGA and DVD-D inputs.
Thanks!
You need to use the Digital version and use the Dual-link DVI adapter on the mini Display port. (~$99 at the apple store).
Dual-link DVI adapter will allow you to get max resolution and even use 3 displays (with the triplehead2go). Make sure you have a way to cool off the macbook since it gets really hot while driving 3 monitors.
hey i have a the basic 2.0 Ghz unibody macbook.do u think that will work .
yes, I also have the 2.0 unibody macbook and it works perfectly.
Hi, I have a unibody 13″, the analog version of dualhead2go and two 1280×1024 screens. I can’t choose a higher resolution than 2304×864. It works perfect on my ibook though. If it does matter the unibody is the 2.4GHz version.
Any ideas?
I have the same setup as you do (my unibody is 2.0ghz, but I don’t think that should matter.) Try replacing the vga cable between the dualhead2go and the macbook. If that doesn’t help, maybe the minidisplay to vga converter is defunct- can you see if another one works?
@all Macbook pro (Unibody) users
After much struggle and gotta zapped by the wisdom of God, I manage to get my TripleHead2Go Digital to work up to 2 x 1920×1080. This is how I did it.
1) Set the display mode for the TripleHead2Go either on the mac with Matrox PowerDesk. The software didn’t work for me on the mac thus I plugged it into bootcamp and set it in Windows instead. This will set 4 set of EDID which tells the connecting mac what resolution it will support. I set one of them to be 3840×1080.
2) Plug in Dual-Link DVI adapter. (Both USB and Mini Displayport).
3) Plug in USB power cable of the Matrox box.
4) Connect the DVI cables of the monitors to Matrox box output (1 & 3 if your doing dual-monitor)
5) Connect DVI cable of Matrox box input to the Dual-link DVI adapter.
6) Mac OSX will detect the box and start sending display information out. However more likely your monitors will be either black or corrupted. Don’t worry we’ll fix this in a sec. Set the resolution for the Matrox box that you require in Display settings. In my case I choose 3840×1080.
7) Unplug the USB power cable to the Matrox box. Wait a sec then replug in the USB power cable. The monitors should now have the correct resolution displays shown on them.
The important part is to powercycle the Matrox box after the OS has detected it. Hopefully others can their Macbook Pro higher than 2048×768. Last bit of info, I’m using a Macbook Pro 17″ (Unibody), Triplehead2Go Digital and 24″ Dell monitors. Cheers!
Hello Everybody;
At first, sorry for my bad english, i’m Austrian.
If got a question to “Mark SLS” !
Are you using a NVidia GeForce 8600M GT….or do you use a NVidia GeForce 9600M/9400M?
I’ve tried your “HowToGuide”, but it didn’t work with my Configuration;
I’m using a Macbook Pro 15″ Unibody(NVidia GeForce 9600M/9400M), Apple Dual DVI Adapter and a Triplehead2Go Digital!
Cheers!
Hello everyone, just a few days ago (I’m posting this on 26 June 2009), Matrox announced the new DisplayPort DualHead2Go and TripleHead2Go … this should solve some of the problems people were having with Unibody Macs. I’m planning on getting a new MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody and since I already have two external 22″ Lenovo monitors (using on a Mac Pro tower that I will be selling to a friend), this could be the ultimate nirvana (MB Pro 17″ Unibody has 1920×1200 + two displays at 1920×1200)! My only question is HEAT! Will the MacBook Pro 17″ Unibody experience heat due to its graphics card (NVIDIA) driving two external displays plus the internal display? Are we pushing our laptops to the limits? Here’s the Matrox Press Release on the DisplayPort updates:
http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/press/releases/2009/gxm/gxm_dp/
The EVGA UV+ ($45) is pretty good, they released a driver for OSX half a year ago. The graphics are fine, no good for video or gaming but it’s just USB.
I’m running the unibody Macbook Pro with 2 monitors and my temps are fine, it’s good enough for Itunes or whatever you want to keep an eye on in the background,
Worth it for the price, I caught it on sale half price a couple months ago.
what about if you are running windows XP on a mac can it still be done?
Hi!
Very helpful, have one question: How do you get the menu bar at the top extended to two monitors?
/Thanks
@Gustav: The menu bar extends to two monitors because the mac thinks that it’s just one really wide monitor. The signal is split to two monitors with the Matrox DualHead2Go card.
@charles: The DualHead2Go also works with Windows XP, Vista and Linux.
I have a unibody 13″ macbook pro 2.53ghz (the newest one out) I have two monitors. I would like to have digital output and the best possible screen resolution. should i buy the digital version or the DP version? what adapters would i need? thank you so much in advance!!!
@jacksonkev90: I don’t know if the digital version of dualhead2go works with macbooks. What worked for me was the dualhead2go analog edition with two 4:3 monitors @ 1280×10204 native resolution.
Hi all,
If anyone has tried this, can you please *confirm* if the Displayport version (NOT Digital or Analog) of the dualhead2go work at their max resolution on a Macbook Pro (any early 2009 model unibody, NVIDIA 9400M/9600M)?
I believe I am not alone here: anyone willing to upgrade to a dual-monitor setup will want to know if it will work preferably before they shell out $600 for all the equipment needed.
To add my two cents to this discussion:
Macbooks, including the Pros, run hot: that’s a fact of life. Even with nothing plugged in, they still run hot. You can boil water on your CPU and GPU, and according to Apple that’s okay: it didn’t even gave the technician a pause when I mentioned it. HOWEVER if you do mind your laptop giving you second-degree burns, read on.
Running multiple monitors will cause your GPU to run a little hotter, but the real heat comes from the USB port: Don’t ever power anything from your USB port for a long time. If you need it constantly (like the Dualhead2go box), get an external power supply for it. Laptops don’t like being used for power, and even a moderate load on the USB port will cause all your fans to run flat out. Your computer will sound like a jet engine at takeoff. Trust me, I know: I have 2 Macbook Pros in my bedroom.
One more thing:
Do you, by any chance, know if the DisplayPort version with two HDCP-enabled monitors attached, is HDCP-enabled?
@yeti: I don’t think that HDCP goes thru the dualhead2go. The max resolution that my analog dualhead2go supports is 2560×1024. I did not have any issues with the GPU overheating.
@lajos,
I was only talking about the DisplayPort version, actually: that one is all digital end to end and can do 2×1920x1200 apparently. Pretty impressive, at least on paper. And if that one would support HDCP, I don’t have to rewire things to bypass the box every time I want to watch a movie.
The Analog and even the Digital versions appear to have an analog step between the computer and the box, so HDCP doesn’t apply to them. They also appear to be having problems with some Macbook Pros with the newer NVIDIA graphics: something about “videocard incompatibility”. I don’t know details, but I would rather not risk it if I can.
Got this tip from Arthur:
A cheaper solution for triple monitor on MacBook
Very informative article and good comments. Thanks. I found a cheaper alternative for my late-2009 white MacBook and two 1600×1200 LCDs.
* 1 x generic Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA (from Amazon, about $12)
* 1 x Diamond BVUMD3 (search “Diamond BVUMD3″ on buy.com, about $70 with free shipping)
This setup allow the OS to think there are two external monitors connect to the machine, so background, arrangements, etc. can be adjusted independently. The mini displayport-to-vga connector goes to the mini displayport, display is very smooth and watching movie is fine.
The BVUMD3 plugs into the USB port, so if I am not going to do some heavy stuff with this one. Web browsing, coding on this one is fine. Also this comes with an external power source. The key for a smooth install is to get the Mac driver from another website (http://www.displaylink.com/support/mac_downloads.html), this is according to Diamond rep’s response on Newegg.
My monitors only support up to 1600×1200, so I’m not sure if it plays well with higher resolution monitors. Apparently some user at Newegg complained about this.
I can confirm that the DualHead2Go DisplayPort Edition works on a MacBook Pro 5,5 (13″ late 2009 model). Using a NVIDIA GeForce 9400M.
This works perfect with OS X 10.5.x and 10.6.0/10.6.1 and two Samsung 1920×1200 DVI screens. Combined into a total resolution of 3840×1200 pixels.
For this to work you will need 3 extra cables:
1 x Matrox Mini DP-to-DP cable (CAB-MDP-DPF)
2 x Matrox DP-to-DVI cable (CAB-DP-DVIF)
Note: Apple decided to lower the output power on the DisplayPort with 10.6.2, which causes the screens to now longer function in it’s native resolution (1920×1200). Hopefully Apple will fix this with the next release (10.6.3) of OS X. Both Apple and Matrox are aware of the problem.
Until this is fixed Matrox advises you to stay with 10.6.1.
Hi guys,
It has been a while since a post here, but I want to give a once and for all solution that costs a 3rd of the Matrox setup, is simpler and works a lot better. I wish I had known this before going through hell and back with Matrox who didn’t want to accept a return of their junk box because it wasn’t defective and because they have some fine print on their website stating that there are problems with the newest MacBooks and their display port using the dualhead2go digital. I still can’t believe they didn’t accept a return but that attitude towards customers always gets back to you.
Here the solution for an awesome triple or more monitor setup with your pretty little MacBook (Pro):
3 great advantages:
1 it allows for totally independent screens at full resolution, it is not just a stretch.
2 it is much less expensive than the Matrox, only around $80
3 Very easy install, mac users must download the displaylink driver from displaylink dot com, then plug and play.
This is the device:
DIMOND USB HD Video Adaptor Plus 3 Port Hi-Speed USB Hub.
Model: BVUMD3
Bought it from Amazon and they get it through Buy dot com
Cheers,
Dustin
Hello !
Sorry I haven’t read all the postings yet, but please could you tell us if there is such same hope for an iMac ?
Very best
Caroline
@Caroline: I’m not familiar with iMacs, but you probably have a MiniDVI port. You should be able to hook up an external monitor to that, and probably it will work with the Matrox DualHead2go to add two extra monitors.