Why 5120x1440 Doesn't Work with Apple M1

So my final judgment.

I am keeping the Mini M1 ...I am returning the MacBook Pro M1 (I was to keep one of the 2)

My monitor is the Samsung Odyssey G9 (5120x1440)

I need a Caldigit TS3 for my use case.

The mini has flaws/bug but none are visible anymore if I use the TS3.

MacBook is excluded on the simple fact that it supports only one external monitor (otherwise it was as good as Mini).

Bugs / annoyances

• MX master mouse skips when on Bluetooth ...solved my using Logitech dongle (and possible because of extra USB ports offered by TS3). Dongle is plugged in Mini directly.
• Display port won't wake up ... solved when using TS3 (but there is clearly a problem with mini there on diplayport)
• Small pink dots on HDMI monitor... still there but rare and only lasts a couple of seconds.
• Mini does not offer enough ports... solved with TS3.
• Mini does not detect full resolution and refresh rate ... solved with SwitchResX
• Home Office Headset does not work well in Bluetooth .. solved by plugging Jabra base though USB (headset remains wireless)
• Dual monitor mode ( picture by picture / dual cable) . Works (one DisplayPort cable going to TS3, one HDMI cable going to mini). This is my main daily use mode.
• Ultrawide mode (5120x1440 @ 120Hz) works, display port through TS3, + switchresx + unplug the HDMI cable (otherwise i get phantom monitor). I dont need ultra wide when using mac... so no big deal here... I use the ultra wide with Windows through the other DisplayPort.

Essentially in the morning I walk to the mac ... tap the keyboard which wakes and unlocks the mac with Apple Watch.. then start using my picture by picture monitors for work. No fiddling. Left side Citrix.. right side Office 365.

As for the MacBook if I had chosen to keep it I would have had to let go of my picture by picture mode and I just can't.

For gaming I switch to my PC and use the same monitor 5120x1440 @ 240Mz with Gsync. All good.

SOLVED:

1. First thanks to this thread. I found a lot of information.
2. SETUP: Machine: Mac Mini M1 (Spec'ed out) / Monitor: 49" Samsung CRG9 / Cable: Maxonar 8K 60Hz Type-C to DP Cable 10FT/ Software: SwitchResX / MacOS Version: 11.1
3. The machine will come out of sleep, reboot, and run 5120x 1440 at 120hz

Everything is working just amazing and it looks and feels amazing. I'm hoping I can possibly remove the SwitchResX in the future, but to be honest it solved a problem I had with doing remote meetings and NOT being able to share my screen (because the resolution is too high, and SwitchResX allows me to do that on the fly).

Again, thank you to everyone who posted their hours of trial and error!

I have a SAMSUNG 49” CRG9, which supports 5120 x 1440 @ 120hz. It works perfectly with on MacBook Air 2020. However, on the new Mac Mini M1 I had a hard time getting 5120x1440 @ 120hz. At first the M1 wouldn’t work with the DisplayPort to USB-C cable, even after updating to Big Sur 11.0.1. I assuming it’s because the usb-c cable I had only supports DP 1.3. The HDMI cable worked but not at 5120 x 1440.  

I ordered a Maxonar DisplayPort to USB-C cable from Amazon, which supports DP 1.4. I was able to connect the monitor with the new USB-C cable, however, max resolution I was able to get was 3840 x 1080 @ 60hz. I had to change the refresh rate setting on my monitor from 120hz to 60hz and turn off Freesync. That is when I was finally able to get 5120 x 1440 (low resolution). 

I am still having a problem where the system won’t detect the monitor when waking up from sleep. Currently, I have to unplug and replug the USB-C for the monitor to connect. It might just be a problem with the DisplayPort drivers or Big Sur. I am going to try order different DP 1.4 cables to see if that fixes the problem.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08B3XNZGS/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Hey all, my setup has the Samsung G9 with the M1 Mac Mini, and a desktop PC with an RTX2070. Watching some youtube vids, i made sure to buy a direct DisplayPort to USB-C cable that supported 1.4. I thought that would solve the issue, however, i still had to do some tinkering, although i think you'll still need a direct cable with DP 1.4 support for this to work.

Before playing around with the settings on the computers and the monitor, switching around and wake from sleep bugging out on the Mac Mini was really annoying. Even with the 1.4 direct DP > USB-C cable.

However, I think i've landed at a config that works, although this still requires the use of SwitchResX. Hopefully this will help some of you, there's a trial so you can try anyway.

G9 Monitor Settings:

Game: Refresh Rate > 120hz (240hz would bug out on wake from Mac)

Game: Adaptive Sync > off

System: DisplayPort Version > 1.4

Driver Version: 1008 (get from samsung site, requires a usb stick)

Mac Mini:

• Used SwitchResX to set the display to 5k 120hz.
• Setting Monitor to 240hz seems to bug out when i switch from PC > Mac, setting it to 120hz seems to not have this problem.

Mac OS: Big Sur 11.0.1

Same dramatic situation here. I own a Macbook Air M1 and a LG 49WL95C-W (5120x1440@60Hz). They are connected using USB-C cable (1.4 version) and the monitors can take the native resolution (it works at 3840x1080@60Hz).

Furthermore, it has a crazy behavior:

• if I close the lid, often the external display power off and I cannot wake it up anymore (the only way is a whole rebooting).
• if the Macbook goes in Standby mode, the external display power off and I cannot wake it up anymore (the only way is a whole rebooting).
• if I disconnect the cable, then I try to reconnect it, it doesn't wake up anymore.
• Sometimes, it lose the HDR flag in the Monitor settings.

I own a Macbook Pro 16" Intel based as well and they work fine together.

Please, Apple do something!!!

Thanks but that warning scared me a lot.

I tried instead this solution:

• I deleted these 2 files ( /Library/Preferences/com.apple.windowserver.plist and ~/Library/Preferences/ByHost/com.apple.windowserver.XXXXX.plist ) and rebooted.
• Then I went on Preferences->Monitor, held down the Option key, clicked on Resolution->Resized, then I selected 5120x1440

At the moment it works partially. I mean, it cannot wake up after standby or if it goes power off for any reason (e.g. disconnecting and reconnecting the USB-C cable) when the Macbook is still on.

Just an update from my side on this topic.

Since this morning I've been using an LG 49WL95C with my Mac Mini M1. Haven't really experienced any issue at all.

What I have to do was:

• buy a USB-C to DP cable (this one specifically although I doubt that one cable or another can make a difference - https://www.purelink.de/en/2890/usb-c-to-dp-cable-1.00m-white). Note that this cable is only DisplayPort 1.3 compatible.
• set the DisplayPort version on the LG to "1.2"
• in System Preferences, access "Display", press option, select scaled and then 5120x1440

That's all.

Haven't had a single hiccup since this morning. Monitor works beautifully at full resolution, even after several wake ups from sleep more or after several reboots.

Appreciate the procedure is in line with what others reported but thought I'd share anyway to confirm it works effectively and, in my case at least, without any issues at all. :-)

I was finally able to get full 5120 x 1440 and solved the monitor not waking up after going to sleep. I tried the Cable Matters Display Port DisplayPort to USB-Cable and the adapter. However, the one that I found to work the best was the Maxonar DisplayPort to USB-C cable from Amazon.

To get full 5120 x 1440, I changed the DP settings from 1.4 to 1.2 on the 49" CRG9 monitor. Also under System Preferences on the mac there is hidden display option. System Preferences -> Displays-> Press and hold the Option key on the keyboard (that will bring up Detect Displays -> Click Detect Displays.

Some good news, with a caveat.

Had opportunity to test MacBook Air M1 with Philips 499P9H (5120 x 1440) today. It worked with the HDMI on an Anker USB C dongle. I was very happy.

so I set this all up on my desk.

Later, I tried using the Apple USB-c cable to connect the MacBook to the USB-c hub in the monitor, and get some power etc. As soon as I had the Apple cable connection from the monitor to the MacBook, the monitor reset, and since then has only been able to see 3840 x 1080. Restarts, and power off's have not changed this.

I have a usb-c -> DP cable on order, I will test with that later in the week, and update here.

I finally have a real simple and effective solution!

I have a samsung 49" 5120x1440 120Hz screen with FreeSync with my MacBook Pro M1

The macbook is fully capable of running this resolution and 120Hz refresh rate.

you just need to install a small app available here: https://github.com/Eun/DisableMonitor with a displayport 1.4 cable

Look at my screenshot

I finally have a real simple and effective solution!

I have a Samsung 49" 5120x1440 120Hz screen with FreeSync with a MacBook Pro M1

The macbook is fully capable of operating with this resolution and a refresh rate of 120 Hz.

Just install a small application available here: https://github.com/Eun/DisableMonitor with a displayport 1.4 cable.

Look at my screenshot

Strange thing. Quickly ordered the CableMatters DP Cable from Amazon. Switched to DP 1.4 and it worked (even after a reboot) but it raised a new issue. Since I used the Cable my monitor will display the connected port in the OSD every 5 seconds. Very annoying so I used my original cable. Well I expected that I have to use DP 1.2 again but no it still works. The whole DP thing ist still somewhat wonky. Dunno if it is due to the fact that I updated to 11.3

It is working here with this cable:

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B08B3SB5VC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

and this screen:

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07PQ4MPT6/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

120Hz works either but in that mode it can't handle 10Bit color afaik

Which Screen do you tried ?

Only since you can't get it working , don't imply other can't either.

It is working like a charm here.

We have never claimed that it is running at HiDPI.

HiDPI is unequal to Ultrawide.

I just told that it is working with 5120x1440 and the fonts are crisp here.

Not as Crisp as on a retina screen (HiDPI) ofcourse where you can run it @ 200%.

To make that work properly you need a higher (vertical) resolution then 1440 px or you have to live with 720px estate in height. But that Screen would cost a lot more than a ultra wide ;)

eg LG Ultrafine has a resolution of 5120 x 2880

That would give you a screen estate of 1920x1080 @ 200%.

So I would need at least 3 of them to get more estate (dual head suxx since you would have always a bezel in the middle of the view)

5720 x 2880 would be lovely :) and then in OLED Quality, THAT would be crisp and enough estate @ 200%

I wonder how much this would (will) cost.

I ended up having to use that screenres app to even get all of the HiDPI options to show up.

I had two choices that were in the range of what I needed to be able to see, the first one where you can see and read the fonts, but they looked like windows 95 fonts from the pre-true type era, and the very next step in magnification made the text look smooth, but it was so blown up that literally every panel in Lightroom had a scroll bar, and desktop icons were fist sized.

I don't remember what the "pretend" resolutions were since I sent the machine back, and it really doesn't matter who has managed to get something usable for themselves. I could not, any many others can't either, and it makes even less sense when these products are marketed as a "luxury" product that "just works" when something as simple as display compatibility is an issue like this at a fundamental level.

Windows reports this monitor correctly at 5120x1440, display scaling at 100%, and all the fonts are clean and easy to read.

Set your display on the mac to 5120x1440 1:1 and see if you can spot the difference. If your fonts and scaling look better, that's awesome, yours works properly.

Mine did not.