Apple Has Finally Solved One of the MacBook Air's Biggest Limitations

The new MacBook Air has a useful upgrade: it natively supports up to two external displays, in addition to the laptop's built-in display.

Apple MacBook Air hero
In other words, the latest MacBook Air can be used with a pair of external displays without needing to keep the laptop's lid closed.

Apple's tech specs for the new 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Air:

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display at 1 billion colors and: Up to two external displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz

This is a significant quality-of-life improvement for the MacBook Air in the Apple silicon era. MacBook Air models with the M1 chip and M2 chip officially support only one external display, while MacBook Air models with the M3 chip gained support for two external displays, but only with the lid closed. With the new model, users can have a total of three screens, with the MacBook Air open next to two external displays.

MacBook Air M4 External Displays
Apple silicon MacBook Air models already worked with multiple external displays with the use of DisplayLink adapters, but many casual customers in the MacBook Air's target market might not have known about that option, so official plug-and-play support for two external displays with the lid open is a welcomed improvement.

The latest 14-inch MacBook Pro with the M4 chip, released last year, also natively supports two external displays while the lid is open.

The new MacBook Air can be pre-ordered now, and it launches Wednesday, March 12.

Related Roundup: MacBook Air
Related Forum: MacBook Air

Popular Stories

iPadOS 26 App Windowing

Apple Explains Why iPads Don't Just Run macOS

Friday June 13, 2025 7:46 am PDT by
iPadOS 26 allows iPads to function much more like Macs, with a new app windowing system, a swipe-down menu bar at the top of the screen, and more. However, Apple has stopped short of allowing iPads to run macOS, and it has now explained why. In an interview this week with Swiss tech journalist Rafael Zeier, Apple's software engineering chief Craig Federighi said that iPadOS 26's new Mac-like ...
iphone 16 pro models 1

17 Reasons to Wait for the iPhone 17

Thursday June 12, 2025 8:58 am PDT by
Apple's iPhone development roadmap runs several years into the future and the company is continually working with suppliers on several successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features months ahead of launch. The iPhone 17 series is no different, and we already have a good idea of what to expect from Apple's 2025 smartphone lineup. If you skipped the iPhone...
Logitech Logo Feature

Logitech Announces Two New Accessories for WWDC

Friday June 13, 2025 7:22 am PDT by
Alongside WWDC this week, Logitech announced notable new accessories for the iPad and Apple Vision Pro. The Logitech Muse is a spatially-tracked stylus developed for use with the Apple Vision Pro. Introduced during the WWDC 2025 keynote address, Muse is intended to support the next generation of spatial computing workflows enabled by visionOS 26. The device incorporates six degrees of...
iOS 26 Screens

Here Are All the iOS 26 Features That Require iPhone 15 Pro or Newer

Thursday June 12, 2025 4:53 am PDT by
With iOS 26, Apple has introduced some major changes to the iPhone experience, headlined by the new Liquid Glass redesign that's available across all compatible devices. However, several of the update's features are exclusive to iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 16 models, since they rely on Apple Intelligence. The following features are powered by on-device large language models and machine...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple 'Sherlocked' These Apps at WWDC 2025

Wednesday June 11, 2025 7:14 am PDT by
Apple at WWDC previewed a bunch of new features coming in its updated operating systems, but certain changes will have been met with dismay by third-party developers who already offer apps with equivalent or similar features. In other words, their product has been "sherlocked" by Apple. When Apple creates an app or a feature that has functionality found in a third-party app, it is referred...
iOS 26 on Three iPhones

Hate iOS 26's Liquid Glass Design? Here's How to Tone It Down

Wednesday June 11, 2025 4:22 pm PDT by
iOS 26 features a whole new design material that Apple calls Liquid Glass, with a focus on transparency that lets the content on your display shine through the controls. If you're not a fan of the look, or are having trouble with readability, there is a step that you can take to make things more opaque without entirely losing out on the new look. Apple has multiple Accessibility options that ...
maxresdefault

Everything Apple Announced at WWDC 2025 in 10 Minutes

Monday June 9, 2025 5:21 pm PDT by
At today's WWDC 2025 keynote event, Apple unveiled a new design that will inform the next decade of iOS, iPadOS, and macOS development, so needless to say, it was a busy day. Apple also unveiled a ton of new features for the iPhone, an overhauled Spotlight interface for the Mac, and a ton of updates that make the iPad more like a Mac than ever before. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel ...
CarPlay Liquid Glass Dark

Apple to Let iPhone Users Watch Videos on CarPlay Screen While Parked

Thursday June 12, 2025 6:16 am PDT by
Apple this week announced that iPhone users will soon be able to watch videos right on the CarPlay screen in supported vehicles. iPhone users will be able to wirelessly stream videos to the CarPlay screen using AirPlay, according to Apple. For safety reasons, video playback will only be available when the vehicle is parked, to prevent distracted driving. The connected iPhone will be able to...

Top Rated Comments

Mac Fly (film) Avatar
14 weeks ago
meanwhile, the biggest issue with MBA is the port situation. give it a better port selection. needs one USB-C on each side and HDMI and SD Card
Score: 16 Votes (Like | Disagree)
F23 Avatar
14 weeks ago
thanks Tim you finally did something right.

Apple never disappoints with the Mac updates.
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
TechTexan Avatar
14 weeks ago
Finally, most requested feature from my workplace
Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)
JPack Avatar
14 weeks ago

I would argue that the target market for the Macbook Air does not likely need to be using three displays at a time. If they need that kind of screen real estate, they likely would be using a Macbook Pro anyways.
Target market for MacBook Air is everyone from students to corporate users. MBA competes with everything from ThinkPad X1 to XPS 14.

Tim Cook boasted a few years ago that $100B pharma companies are deploying MacBook Air across their organization.

Not sure why there’s this myth on this forum that only guys wearing a suit use dual monitors. And they demand using a chunky MacBook Pro because they are “pros.” Meanwhile, dual packs of 24” and 27” monitors are sold at Costco and Amazon globally. It’s almost like the pandemic taught us nothing about remote work and having a decent setup.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Blackstick Avatar
14 weeks ago
This is everything for enterprise. We just placed an order for 700 of these. Although not in Sky Blue, just standard silver. Can't have too much fun I guess.
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)
brofkand Avatar
14 weeks ago
In the M2 era, I purchased M2 Pro MacBook Pro's for users who had zero need for the Pro's multicore power, just for the ability to drive multiple displays. I am so glad that is no longer an issue and Apple Silicon is finally equal to Intel integrated graphics (lol).
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)