What Is a DisplayLink Docking Station, and Do You Need One?

Published September 25, 2026 · By Ergocrew · Specs and guidance as of that date, from the pages under Sources

Summary

A DisplayLink docking station adds external monitors through USB using a chip in the dock and software on your computer. It can suit a laptop whose native display limit is below the number of screens you need. Before buying, confirm support for your operating system, permission to install the software, and the dock's resolution with all monitors connected.

How it works

A normal USB-C or Thunderbolt dock passes along video that the laptop's graphics already produce. DisplayLink takes a different route. Its setup guide explains that the software needs access to "the screen pixels needed to render mirrored or extended displays and transmit them over USB to the DisplayLink device." The chip in the dock turns that stream back into a picture for each monitor.

Because the screens are built in software and sent as USB data, a DisplayLink dock can add screens past the laptop's own display limit. StarTech's two-laptop dock, which uses a DisplayLink DL6950 chip, puts it in Mac terms: "DisplayLink technology also supports extended dual displays on base Apple M-Series MacBooks, which are not natively capable of driving more than one external display."

Setting it up on a Mac

DisplayLink Manager "is a required application for products based on DisplayLink technology," according to DisplayLink. After you install it, a setup wizard walks through three steps.

Connect the dock. The wizard "will not proceed to the next step until a DisplayLink product is successfully detected."
Turn on Screen Recording for DisplayLink Manager in System Settings, then restart the app. "macOS requires users to explicitly grant Screen Recording permission for DisplayLink Manager to function properly."
Allow Background Activity if the wizard asks. DisplayLink says this is usually granted during installation, and no restart is needed.

The Screen Recording step is the one that can stop you on a company laptop, since it needs a change in System Settings. DisplayLink states that its software "does not transmit any screen data or pixels to Synaptics or to any third party." On Windows, StarTech's datasheet for its DisplayLink dock also lists driver installation.

Which chip is inside

Resolution depends on the chip, and DisplayLink publishes a table. These are the maximums over DisplayPort for the recent families.

DisplayLink chip	Maximum over DisplayPort
DL-3500, DL-3700, DL-3900, DL-3950	2560x1600
DL-5500, DL-5700, DL-5900, DL-5910	3840x2160 at 30Hz
DL-6350	2560x1600 at 60Hz
DL-6700, DL-6910, DL-6950	4096x2160 at 60Hz, or 5120x1440 at 60Hz
DL-7200, DL-7400	10240x4320 at 60Hz

The notes under the table matter as much as the rows. With two monitors on a DL-6950, "the maximum resolution will be 3840x2160 (UHD) or 5120x1440 (5K UW) if both video outputs are being used." On a DL-3900 or DL-5900, resolutions above 2048x1152 are unavailable once a second display is connected. DisplayLink also says MST should be turned off on monitors that have it, since "MST is not currently supported." Dock listings don't always name the chip, and StarTech's does, in a line reading "Chipset ID DisplayLink - DL6950."

When you can skip it

If the laptop already drives the number of screens you want, a regular dock does the job without the extra software. A MacBook Air with M4, for instance, supports two external displays on its own, and our MacBook docking guide lists the other models. For the M1 and M2 MacBook Air, which stop at one, a DisplayLink dock is the route to a second external screen.

Browsing for one? Browse docks and hubs in the feed →

Sources

We have not tested these products. Specs and guidance are as published on these pages on the date above and can change; the manufacturer's page for your model has the current details.