As Macs make their way into the enterprise, more and more people are needing a good solution for dual monitors while using the newer Macbooks and USB-C (Thunderbolt 3). Unfortunately, the older DisplayPort solutions don’t work well and bring a lot of lag and display distortion. There are more USB-C monitors coming on the market, but they’re still not as common as HDMI or Display Port monitors, especially in the enterprise. There are a few Thunderbolt 3 docks coming to market as well, but none are very clear about daisy chaining dual monitors. Luckily for you, I’ve found a solution that has been working quite well for the Macs I’ve deployed in the enterprise.
Equipment You Need
- CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Dock
- DisplayPort to USB-C Cable or HDMI to USB-C Cable
- DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable
The Setup
The CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Dock supports a USB-C output and a full DisplayPort output to the monitors, which is why you’ll need the two different cables. From one monitor, I have the DisplayPort to USB-C Cable and the other monitor has the DisplayPort to DisplayPort cable, both plugging into the CalDigit Thunderbolt 3 Dock.
The dock includes a USB-C to USB-C cable that you’ll use to plug into the Macbook. There are no additional drivers that are needed in this setup, and once you plug the dock in, you can arrange your monitors through the Mac Display settings and you can have the extended dual monitor display without any lag or distortion.
