MacBook Pro + Dual Monitor Developer Setup

I’d been toying with the idea of a full hardware setup upgrade for a while when Apple dropped the new MacBook Pros in mid-2018. My existing MBP was showing its age and just a single external display wasn’t providing enough real estate.

As a freelance web developer, my goal was to run dual screens from the MacBook Pro; one horizontal and one vertical.

Forgetting all previous painful memories of setting up a new system – my old MBP was five years old after all – I took the plunge. A top spec 15-inch MacBook Pro and two 27-inch Dell monitors were on their way.

After battling for the best part of a week to get my new tech into a “workable” state. I’d like to share the good, bad and the ugly of this setup combination. If you’re thinking about a similar approach yourself, hopefully, this post will help you out.

A bird’s-eye view of my home office setup.

Setup Spec

15-inch MacBook Pro (Space Grey)
2.6GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.3GHz

Retina display with True Tone

Touch Bar and Touch ID

Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB of GDDR5 memory

16GB 2400MHz DDR4 memory

512GB SSD storage

Four Thunderbolt 3 ports
Dell U2715H 27-inch monitor (x2)
VonHaus Dual Monitor Mount
Rain Design mStand Laptop Stand
CHOETECH USB C to DisplayPort Cable (x2)
CHOETECH USB C to HDMI 4K Cable (x2)
Apple Magic Mouse (Space Grey)
Apple Magic Keyboard (Space Grey)
Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless
IKEA Galant Desk

Apple Magic Mouse and Keyboard in Space Grey

All black (space grey) everything.

Connecting Dell Monitors to a MacBook Pro

If you’re looking into buying a recent MacBook Pro, you’ll no doubt be familiar with port-gate. Apple has decided to add only Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports to their laptops moving forward. The issue being, hardly anyone has accessories that support Thunderbolt 3/USB-C; my new Dell monitors included.

The MacBook Pro only has USB-C ports.

With that said, I needed a solution to get my dual screen setup up and running.

HyperDrive

The first thing I bought to used alongside my new port-sparse MBP was a HyperDrive hub. There are many hubs available on Amazon, but this one looked the best to me as it supported pass-through charging.

My aim was to use the HDMI cable supplied with one of my monitors to connect to the MacBook Pro via the HyperDrive’s HDMI port. As well as the HDMI port, the HyperDrive variant I ordered further extended the two Thunderbolt 3 ports it connects via; with two USB 3.0, SD and mini-SD ports.

I had a problem with the HyperDrive which rendered it pretty much useless. Whenever the hub was connected to my MBP, the WiFi would instantly drop. That’s a pretty big design fault. After looking into it, I realised I wasn’t the only one.

I returned the HyperDrive as it wasn’t an option for me when trying to connect my MacBook Pro to the two Dell U2715H’s.

Daisy-Chaining

I initially thought that I’d be able to daisy-chain the two Dell panels. While there is an option in the monitor settings to activate this, it seemed to have no effect on my secondary monitor. I’d linked the primary screen, connected to the MBP, to the secondary screen using the DisplayPort to mini-DisplayPort cable provided. Only the primary screen had input.

After some research, I learned that Mac OS struggles to support the daisy-chaining of displays via DisplayPort.

So daisy-chaining was out too.

USB-C to DisplayPort Cables

Thankfully my next connection attempt was a successful one. I ordered two CHOETECH USB-C to DisplayPort cables from Amazon, connecting each to the monitors separately and into my MBP via the left-hand-side ports.

Using two USB-C to DisplayPort cables, I connected my MBP to the two Dell monitors.

I’m sure other brands will offer similar cables, these were just the right length for my usage (1.2m) and very reasonably priced (£11.99 at the time of writing).

After fixing up the display rotation and arrangement settings within System Preferences on the Mac, I was away!

USB-C to HDMI Cables

If you prefer to use HDMI over DisplayPort, there are cables for that too. Note: you don’t need both types of cable, just 1 or the other.

I actually bought a couple of these too as I often need to hook up my MBP to my TVs. I got the same brand as the USB-C to DisplayPort cables, CHOETECH USB-C to HDMI, from Amazon.

All four cables totalled about £30 less than the HyperDrive I initially bought. Granted, I’ve lost a few port options, but I haven’t needed them so far. Part of me kind of prefers the individual cables than a bulky dock stuck to the side of my laptop too.

Final Results

While there are a few improvements I’m looking to make to my overall home office setup (namely better cable management), I’m super impressed with the 2018 MacBook Pro and dual Dell U2715H pairing. It took a little time to research the right connectivity products, but once everything was up and running, I’m coding more productively than ever.

Running one of the panels up-right has been a real game-changer for me; it’s definitely worth trying if you’re a software engineer or web developer. My usage is predominantly, from left screen to right, code editor and terminal, browser windows, Spotify and Slack.

The dual monitor arm is really what pulls everything together aesthetically and I can highly recommend the VonHaus option I’m using – it’s so well made considering it’s low price point.

My Rain Design mStand does the job of elevating my new MBP up to the same level as the adjacent screen.

15-inch MacBook Pro 2018 with two Dell U2715H monitors

My finished home office workspace with 15-inch MacBook Pro and two Dell 27-inch monitors.

The 2018 MacBook Pro itself is a massive upgrade on my late-2013 model. My old machine used to sound like a Boeing 737 taking off with multiple code editor windows open, whereas the new one hasn’t even booted up its fans yet.

Lack of ports and the gimmicky touch bar aside (I’ve used it turn up the screen’s brightness, that’s it), the new MBPs are a great bit of kit for any developer that wants flexibility.

It’s the best productivity laptop I’ve owned, it has all the power I need and I can take it with me anywhere. Paired with the home office investments I’ve made, I can see this hardware lasting me another five years.

MacBook Pro + dual screens = happy dev.

19 Comments

Beverley Hirst 5th September 2018 at 8:50 am

Certainly looks great Tom. Hope it works well for you.

kailoon 15th October 2018 at 10:55 am

I have a P2715Q and I wanted the exact same setup like yours, yup, going for the MBP 15′ 2018 too. Thanks for the post!

1. Tom Hirst 15th October 2018 at 11:24 am
  
  No problem, glad it helped!
  
Matt 25th November 2018 at 7:16 am

Hi Tom,

what do you think about the touchbar by itselft when you are traveling ?
Do you have any problems with hitting it by accident ? What do you think about the F1 – F12 keys ??

1. Tom Hirst 26th November 2018 at 9:26 am
  
  Hi Matt!
  
  I’m still not really using the touch bar, to be honest. I’ve activated Siri accidentally a few times, but otherwise, it hasn’t been much of a problem.
  
  Day to day I don’t use the F1-12 keys much. Holding down ‘fn’ isn’t too much of a hassle if I need to though.
  
  I hope this helps!
  
Marcin 4th December 2018 at 11:12 pm

Isn’t 27 vertically too high for you?

1. Tom Hirst 5th December 2018 at 9:57 am
  
  Hi Marcin,
  
  I haven’t found it to be too high, although I can see your point. I guess it depends on how far away from the screen you sit and where your eye line is.
  
  Another factor to consider would be how you split up the vertical space. For instance, I like to have two windows open split in half.
  
  Thanks for the question!
  
Trey 14th December 2018 at 5:22 pm

Check your monitor settings menu for the MST option. Once activated you should be able to Daisy Chain the screens. However, it will be limited to mirroring each other. For some reason Apple had decided to not allow storage monitors in their OS even though so the hardware supports it.

This is an area they really need to improve.

1. Tom Hirst 14th December 2018 at 5:36 pm
  
  Thanks, Trey, I’ll check it out.
  
Shynee 14th December 2018 at 11:00 pm

Hi Tom

This has been a great help as I two wanted to move from my iMac and second screen to the new MacBook Pro with 2x monitors but was worried about the USB C and daisy chaining options. But you have put my mind at rest and new MacBook and 2x Dell U2719DC on order

Thanks for the post

1. Tom Hirst 18th December 2018 at 9:29 am
  
  Hi Shynee, thanks for the kind words! Good luck with the setup.
  
David Mankellow 21st January 2019 at 7:49 am

I’ve got an annoying issue. I was desperate to copy your setup, but having the 13 inch 2 USB-C port MBP, I need to use a hub with power passthrough to the port closest to to the monitor (if you know what I mean).

This leaves me with some serious frustrations. It can be very flakey and can take me 20 minutes every time I connect up my laptop (painful since i’m in meetings all the time). I wonder if there’s a better solution by way of a hybrid, so one good hub and then a direct DisplayPort -> USB-C. Have you tried any hubs with enough ports in them? I need, at least, a USB port or two and/or ethernet.

1. Tom Hirst 21st January 2019 at 8:08 pm
  
  Hi David, thanks for the comment.
  
  Unfortunately, I’m not using a hub at the moment. The one I mentioned in the original post just didn’t cut it for me.
  
  If you have a search on Amazon, there are plenty of options, but I can’t recommend any directly.
  
  All the best with the setup!
  
Andy 7th February 2019 at 12:07 pm

Really nice setup, going for the same thing here – but wasn’t sure if the daisy chain would work. I thought these Dell monitors had a USB-C in, in the back of them? So it was MacBook USB-C to Dell screen USB-C, but that’s Apple.

I’m assuming its passing power from the screen to the laptop? Or do you have to run a separate power as well?

1. Tom Hirst 7th February 2019 at 1:11 pm
  
  Thanks Andy!
  
  No USB-C, as far as I’m aware, in the back of my Dell monitors. I’m linking each separately directly to the MacBook using the cables mentioned in the spec.
  
  Having to run separate power too.
  
  Hope this helps.
  
  1. Andy 7th February 2019 at 2:08 pm
    
    That’s a shame, I’m trying to cut down on the cables on the desk haha. Great setup though! Thanks for sharing!
    
    1. Tom Hirst 7th February 2019 at 3:39 pm
      
      Yeah, it’s not ideal.
      
      That said, if you check out the monitor arm I’m using, it comes with cable tidying built-in. I barely notice the extra wires!
      
      Thanks for the kind words, glad you enjoyed the post.
      
Maarten 21st February 2019 at 2:56 pm

Great setup.

I saw aan the picture four ports are used for what do you use the last one?

1. Tom Hirst 21st February 2019 at 3:36 pm
  
  Thanks Maarten!
  
  The fourth port in the image is used for a wired network connection mostly. Sometimes I swap it out to charge my phone or other wireless peripherals.