DisplayLink Manager Now Supports External Display Rotation on M1 Macs

Synaptics today released a new beta version of DisplayLink Manager for macOS with long-awaited support for external display rotation on M1 Macs. A company representative said a final release is planned by late December provided that beta testing is successful.

macos external displays displaylink
DisplayLink adapters have proven popular with M1 models of the MacBook Air and 13-inch MacBook Pro, as they allow for multiple external displays to be connected, despite Apple's tech specs indicating that the notebooks only support one external display. DisplayLink Manager helps with setting up external displays via DisplayLink.

As seen in the above screenshot shared on Reddit, the new version of DisplayLink Manager allows for external displays connected to an M1 Mac with DisplayLink adapters or docks to be used in both landscape and portrait orientations.

DisplayLink Manager 1.6 beta is compatible with all macOS Monterey and macOS Big Sur versions and is free to download on the Synaptics website.

The new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models officially support up to two external displays with the M1 Pro chip, or up to four external displays with the M1 Max chip, without the use of DisplayLink adapters or other workarounds.

Related Forums: macOS Monterey, macOS Big Sur

Top Rated Comments

Mick-Mac Avatar
32 months ago
I remember trying my best to work with displaylink a few year back - it was never quite right and there was always something broken. I just gave up on it. Frankly, I'm kind of amazed it's still a thing.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
audioadrenaline Avatar
32 months ago
We wouldn't have to screw with this if Apple would just support Multi-Stream Transport.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
colinsky Avatar
32 months ago
I'm running an LG 5K Ultrafine and two Dell U2715 2560x1440s on my m1 Mini with DisplayLink. Eager to see if the DisplayLink Manager update resolves my wake-from-sleep problem--all the windows in all the monitors re-collect in the center monitor upon waking from sleep.

Sigh, nope, still all collected in the center monitor. If I restart, the windows stay in their proper places.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
chrizel Avatar
32 months ago
Bought a DisplayLink dock in August with one of the newer DisplayLink chips which support 4K/60. Using it at home with my 13” M1 work MBP and my personal M1 MBA to drive an LG 5k and a Dell monitor. Besides some rare situations when connecting the device where the screen won’t turn on (which can be fixed by reconnecting the cable) - I’m satisfied with DisplayLink. Can recommend. But do your research and buy one of the newer devices with the 4K/60 chip.

What I really like: the DisplayLink dock is connected to the LG 5k, so to the MacBooks I still have one single cable that provides power, all screens, networking, usb devices etc.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AppleTO Avatar
32 months ago
I hope these new drivers work better than DisplayLink used to years ago.
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)
saudor Avatar
32 months ago

I hope these new drivers work better than DisplayLink used to years ago.
yeah it's substantially smoother these days. The update during the mojave era was a big improvement where for basic tasks, it became super smooth

EDIT: should also add that these things are useful even for intel. Radeon dGPUs are dumb in the sense that as soon as you connect a different display to it, it never properly enters an idle state even without load. The memory clock and sometimes the core clock (depending on the differing resolutions, refresh rates, and scaling factor) gets stuck at higher/max and pumps a ton of heat.

Things like displaylink and sidecar (depending on the Mac) partially uses the iGPU/T2 for hardware acceleration so the dGPU doesn’t freak out and the system remains much cooler
Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

maxresdefault

Apple Announces 'Let Loose' Event on May 7 Amid Rumors of New iPads

Tuesday April 23, 2024 7:11 am PDT by
Apple has announced it will be holding a special event on Tuesday, May 7 at 7 a.m. Pacific Time (10 a.m. Eastern Time), with a live stream to be available on Apple.com and on YouTube as usual. The event invitation has a tagline of "Let Loose" and shows an artistic render of an Apple Pencil, suggesting that iPads will be a focus of the event. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more ...
Apple Vision Pro Dual Loop Band Orange Feature 2

Apple Cuts Vision Pro Shipments as Demand Falls 'Sharply Beyond Expectations'

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:44 am PDT by
Apple has dropped the number of Vision Pro units that it plans to ship in 2024, going from an expected 700 to 800k units to just 400k to 450k units, according to Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo. Orders have been scaled back before the Vision Pro has launched in markets outside of the United States, which Kuo says is a sign that demand in the U.S. has "fallen sharply beyond expectations." As a...
iOS 17 All New Features Thumb

iOS 17.5 Will Add These New Features to Your iPhone

Sunday April 21, 2024 3:00 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 17.5 update for the iPhone includes only a few new user-facing features, but hidden code changes reveal some additional possibilities. Below, we have recapped everything new in the iOS 17.5 and iPadOS 17.5 beta so far. Web Distribution Starting with the second beta of iOS 17.5, eligible developers are able to distribute their iOS apps to iPhone users located in the EU...
iPad And Calculator App Feature

Apple Finally Plans to Release a Calculator App for iPad Later This Year

Tuesday April 23, 2024 9:08 am PDT by
Apple is finally planning a Calculator app for the iPad, over 14 years after launching the device, according to a source familiar with the matter. iPadOS 18 will include a built-in Calculator app for all iPad models that are compatible with the software update, which is expected to be unveiled during the opening keynote of Apple's annual developers conference WWDC on June 10. AppleInsider...
iPhone 15 Pro FineWoven

Apple Reportedly Stops Production of FineWoven Accessories

Sunday April 21, 2024 6:03 am PDT by
Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories, according to the Apple leaker and prototype collector known as "Kosutami." In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Kosutami explained that Apple has stopped production of FineWoven accessories due to its poor durability. The company may move to another non-leather material for its premium accessories in the future. Kosutami has revealed...
apple vision pro orange

Apple Vision Pro Customer Interest Dying Down at Some Retail Stores

Monday April 22, 2024 2:12 am PDT by
Apple Vision Pro, Apple's $3,500 spatial computing device, appears to be following a pattern familiar to the AR/VR headset industry – initial enthusiasm giving way to a significant dip in sustained interest and usage. Since its debut in the U.S. in February 2024, excitement for the Apple Vision Pro has noticeably cooled, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. Writing in his latest Power On...