How to set up a dual monitor desk in Australia
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A dual monitor setup is one of the biggest productivity upgrades you can make — but it's also one of the easiest ways to spend $600 and end up frustrated. The wrong dock, the wrong cable, or the wrong MacBook model, and you're stuck with one screen anyway. This guide tells you exactly what to check before you buy anything.
01 — Step one: check your laptop first
Before you spend a cent, open your laptop's system info and find out two things: what port type you have (USB-C, Thunderbolt 3, or Thunderbolt 4), and whether your laptop supports MST (multi-stream transport). These two facts determine everything.
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Mac users
MacBook Air M1/M2/M3 → max 1 external display
MacBook Pro 14" M3 → up to 2 external displays
MacBook Pro 16" M3 → up to 3 external displays
MacBook Pro M3 Max → up to 4 external displays
You need a Thunderbolt 4 dock
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Windows users
Check for Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port (lightning bolt icon)
USB-C only? → need DisplayLink adapter
Thunderbolt 3/4 → any quality dock works
Most Windows laptops support MST natively
More flexibility than Mac users
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02 — The Mac problem
This is the issue we see most often. A customer buys a dual monitor dock, plugs it into their MacBook Air, and only one screen turns on. They assume the dock is faulty. It's not — Apple Silicon MacBook Air models simply do not support more than one external display, regardless of which dock you use.
The one exception: DisplayLink USB adapters use software rendering to drive an additional display on MacBook Air. It works, but it introduces a small amount of latency and requires a driver install. For office work it's perfectly usable; for video editing or colour-critical work, it's not recommended.
03 — Choosing the right dock
For a genuine dual 4K/60Hz setup, you need a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 dock — not a standard USB-C hub. The bandwidth difference is significant: USB-C tops out at around 10Gbps; Thunderbolt 4 delivers 40Gbps, which is what dual 4K/60Hz requires.
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Single 4K/60Hz
MacBook Pro any model
Any Windows Thunderbolt laptop
Budget: $200–$350
→ Anker PowerExpand 13-in-1 · $319
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Dual 4K/60Hz
MacBook Pro 14" or 16" only
Windows Thunderbolt 3/4 laptops
Budget: $450–$600
→ CalDigit TS3 Plus · $499
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04 — The full dual monitor gear list
05 — The five most common mistakes
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Mistake 1
Buying a USB-C hub instead of a Thunderbolt dock and wondering why the second monitor won't work at 60Hz.
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Mistake 2
Buying a dual monitor dock for a MacBook Air. One screen will always stay dark — it's a hardware limit, not a faulty product.
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Mistake 3
Using HDMI 1.4 cables — they cap at 4K/30Hz. You need HDMI 2.0 or DisplayPort for 4K/60Hz.
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Mistake 4
Forgetting that dual monitors need twice the desk depth. Most setups need monitor arms to make the layout comfortable.
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Mistake 5
Buying two mismatched monitors. Different brightness and colour temperature side-by-side is genuinely uncomfortable all day.
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Not sure if your laptop supports this?
Email us your laptop model, and we'll tell you exactly what you need — and what to avoid.
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