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I understand that you can output to one 1920x1200 monitor while still using the laptop's screen, and one 2560x1600 monitor using the dual-DVI adapter.

But can you output to two external 1920x1200 monitors?

I don't care if you can still use the laptop's screen in that case.

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4 Answers 4

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Yes you can, you can run one monitor from the normal monitor port and another from a USB port but you need a special connector which makes the Air think it has a 2nd monitor attached. Here's an example on YouTube

You need something like the Matrox Dual Head 2 Go which allows you to have multiple monitors with your MacBook. The performance of USB-attached monitors tends to be worse than those connected with display cables so they would be fine for regular computer use but probably not for gaming for example.

EDIT

With the release of Thunderbolt-capable Macs, you can now drive dual external Thunderbolt displays from MacBooks which have a separate graphics card.

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    So you still can't use the Thunderbolt connector to attach two displays with the Macbook Air, since it has integrated graphics, right?
    – Neil
    Dec 3, 2011 at 20:43
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I've rencently bought a Matrox Dual Head 2 Go that supports up to two 1920x1200 displays. ! You can still use the MacBook Pro main screen while the 2 externals displays are connected ! Plus the control software by Matrox is nice and simple to use .

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  • Yeah the Dual Head 2 Go is the one I linked to on my answer, they are great bits of kit
    – conorgriffin
    Feb 5, 2011 at 10:23
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    I use it daily. Remember it only works in the high power USB slot. The one closest to the front. Took us a while to realize that's why ours weren't working
    – dstarh
    Feb 11, 2011 at 4:17
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I highly recommend Plugable's USB 2.0 to VGA/DVI/HDMI Adapter. It will do up to 2048×1152 or 1920×1200. I use it at work every day, along with a second monitor plugged right into the display port. It uses DisplayLink's chip and drivers, and works well on Snow Leopard and Lion.

It's a bit slower to update than the MacBook's internal monitor or the monitor plugged directly into the display port, but as long as I'm not trying to watch video on it it's great.

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In this post, it is shown how to do it by using an external USB accessory, apparently enabling up to six monitors. Sorry the blog is in Italian, but the particular device demonstrated there is evident and some links to further explanations are to English-language sites.

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