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Mac mini's HDMI port stopped working after upgrade to Big Sur

I have 2 monitors connected to my 2018 mini; one via HDMI, the other is Thunderbolt-to-HDMI. After upgrading to Big Sur all was fine for a day or so, and then I rebooted - since then the HDMI connection no longer works. If I open About This Mac and go to Displays, it only shows the one screen (i.e. the one using Thunderbolt-to-HDMI). I tried resetting SMC (https://support.apple.com/en-ca/HT201295) but that made no difference.


I have tested the various combinations: I used the Thunderbolt-to-HDMI cable with each monitor, and they're both fine, so I know the monitors are ok; I tried a different HDMI cable (taken from my Xbox setup, so I know it works) and About This Mac only sees the one monitor, so I can rule out the cable; that leaves me looking at the mac mini itself and wondering if it's a bug in Big Sur or a hardware problem which coincided with the upgrade.


I can't find any mention of a bug disabling HDMI, but now I'm at a loss for what to do next. Is there something else I can test before I resort to taking the mini to the Apple store? It's my main machine for working from home so I really don't want to be without it while they investigate.

Mac mini, 11.0

Posted on Nov 18, 2020 4:05 PM

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Posted on Nov 19, 2020 3:23 PM

I'm having a similar issue. After the update, my 2 monitors connected via usb-c work just fine. The HDMI display, however, says no signal. The weird part is that macOS seems to think that the display is still there. So the problem is now that I have apps that open on that display, but the HDMI device only shows "No Signal". The only thing I have been able to do to get it working again was shutdown, unplug everything except the HDMI and keyboard I use, unplug the power cable, count to 15, plug the power cable back in, count to 5, boot back up, and finally plug my additional displays back in after the boot and login processes have completed. This is extremely annoying.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Nov 19, 2020 3:23 PM in response to pah57

I'm having a similar issue. After the update, my 2 monitors connected via usb-c work just fine. The HDMI display, however, says no signal. The weird part is that macOS seems to think that the display is still there. So the problem is now that I have apps that open on that display, but the HDMI device only shows "No Signal". The only thing I have been able to do to get it working again was shutdown, unplug everything except the HDMI and keyboard I use, unplug the power cable, count to 15, plug the power cable back in, count to 5, boot back up, and finally plug my additional displays back in after the boot and login processes have completed. This is extremely annoying.

Nov 19, 2020 3:31 PM in response to megagokushadow

Sounds like resetting SMC works for you - annoying but at least you have a working screen in the end. Does it cut out at some point or is it fine until you reboot?


My current hack is to connect my MBP to the screen (using the HDMI cable that was previously connected to the mini) and then use a KVM (https://www.sharemouse.com/) so it feels a bit like one continuous display.

Mac mini's HDMI port stopped working after upgrade to Big Sur

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