The base model chips only supports 2 monitors. The Pro, Max, and Ultra chips all support multiple monitors.
They all support two monitors (one internal and one external for macbooks, and two external for desktops). It’s not an artificial restriction. Each additional monitor needs a framebuffer. That’s an actual circuit that needs to be present in the chip.
TIL, thanks! 🌝
I use a Plugable docking station with DisplayLink with a base-level M1 MacBook Air and it handles multiple (3x 1080p) displays perfectly. My (limited) understanding is that they do that just using a driver. So at a basic level, couldn’t Apple include driver support for multiple monitors natively, seeing as it has adequate bandwidth in practice?