I got a new job, and got to pick a new laptop - eight core 16" MBP. I hadn't been following along, so I was pleasantly surprised when I saw they gave it a physical escape key. It's like Apple has learned how to take customer feedback and Jony Ive is just a contractor now.

Anyway, they sent me some Dell monitors and a Dell USB-C dock. It uses DisplayLink, which doesn't work very well. So I'm trying to figure out a new setup. At my last job, I had a USB-C monitor and that works mostly okay.

What would be a good setup for this? It's a little complicated because, since I'm WFH, I'm also trying to integrate it with my KVM.

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I have this exact model and two external monitors. I have one as a USB-C dock to connect USB keyboard, ethernet and with pass-thru power (need 100W for this beast) and a second as a simple USB-C to HDMI adapter.

DisplayLink DOES work via daisy-chaining, but not as nice as just plugging two cables to the RHS. I actually tied those plugs together to make it easy to find when docking.

EDIT: I used two different Anker USBC hubs, one marked for 100W and another un-marked. They both did a nice job and gave 85W+ PD.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2020 03:15PM by sekker.

New Job-MBP Leader!

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=wr=

Quote
sekker
I have this exact model and two external monitors. I have one as a USB-C dock to connect USB keyboard, ethernet and with pass-thru power (need 100W for this beast) and a second as a simple USB-C to HDMI adapter.

DisplayLink DOES work via daisy-chaining, but not as nice as just plugging two cables to the RHS. I actually tied those plugs together to make it easy to find when docking.

EDIT: I used two different Anker USBC hubs, one marked for 100W and another un-marked. They both did a nice job and gave 85W+ PD.

Do you have any issues when you open and close the lid of the MBP?

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We use the OWC TB3 dock in a similar setup with 2x 27" 1440p Dell monitors, each with it's own cable, one USB-C and one DP.

Quote
M A V I C

Quote
sekker
I have this exact model and two external monitors. I have one as a USB-C dock to connect USB keyboard, ethernet and with pass-thru power (need 100W for this beast) and a second as a simple USB-C to HDMI adapter.

DisplayLink DOES work via daisy-chaining, but not as nice as just plugging two cables to the RHS. I actually tied those plugs together to make it easy to find when docking.

EDIT: I used two different Anker USBC hubs, one marked for 100W and another un-marked. They both did a nice job and gave 85W+ PD.

Do you have any issues when you open and close the lid of the MBP?

Interesting question. I usually leave the lid open for a 3 monitor setup. The 16" retina screen is pretty spectacular is a nice additional real estate.

What kind of tests do you need me to do?

Quote
sekker

Quote
M A V I C

Quote
sekker
I have this exact model and two external monitors. I have one as a USB-C dock to connect USB keyboard, ethernet and with pass-thru power (need 100W for this beast) and a second as a simple USB-C to HDMI adapter.

DisplayLink DOES work via daisy-chaining, but not as nice as just plugging two cables to the RHS. I actually tied those plugs together to make it easy to find when docking.

EDIT: I used two different Anker USBC hubs, one marked for 100W and another un-marked. They both did a nice job and gave 85W+ PD.

Do you have any issues when you open and close the lid of the MBP?

Interesting question. I usually leave the lid open for a 3 monitor setup. The 16" retina screen is pretty spectacular is a nice additional real estate.

What kind of tests do you need me to do?

With it open, just close it. Then see if you can use the two remaining screens. Check system prefs to make sure the closed screen actually went away.

Then open it and see if it returns to three screens.

Keep in mind it may fully crash your Mac doing this.

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