M1 Mac mini display issue

Hey guys,

How many of you actually updated your mini to the latest OS 11.3?

It does resolve the pink squares issue, you know ;)

Not sure about the "snow" issue as I have never experienced it.

I have performed mega stress test on my mini with 30 shut downs and restarts over 10 hours and pink squares are gone for good :)

In another post I'm following, some of the guys mention that they talked to support and Apple is looking into it. I was about to return my brand new Mac mini but now I'm going to wait. There should be an official solution soon. Nevertheless, we are having issues with different monitors, configurations, cables, and adapters, so it looks like Apple put in the market a machine that was not fully tested. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/252072263

Jochen84 wrote:

Because I usually put my Mini in sleep mode instead of shutting it down I hardly ever see the pink squares that only happen during boot for me.

However, a new (to me) issue is now starting to occur all of a sudden.

When waking from sleep I only get a screen full of noise (see the attached photo). I need to replug the hdmi cable to make it go away.

https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/aa9610ae-3dd5-4823-964c-fde8e79bdf48

Jochen84: I also had the screen full of noise issues sometimes, but on my 2018 mini. I would turn the monitor off and on again and that would do the trick.

11.1 is out. For me it's a 3.27GB update. The release notes mention nothing about this particular issue, which is unfortunate. However, it still could be fixed in the update. Sadly, we may all update and see an improvement but not know if it's resolved entirely or not- since Apple isn't claiming it's resolved. :(

This release also addresses the following issues:

• QuickTime Player might quit when opening a movie with a timecode track after upgrading from macOS Catalina
• Bluetooth connection status was not displayed in Control Center
• Reliability of unlocking your Mac automatically with your Apple Watch
• Trackpad scrolling speed may be faster than expected on MacBook Pro models
• LG UltraFine 5K Display may incorrectly display at 4K resolution on Macs with M1

I do have the same problem with my M1 Mac mini from day 1, Apple support couldn't help with the issue.

• I tried many different HDMI cables that do work with my other devices but didn't fix the issue
• The same monitor works with my 2012 MBP and Blackmagic design's video switcher without any issues

• There was an audio splitter (3.5mm) connected to the audio output of the monitor and since I removed it these strange squares stopped appearing (since few days)

I will let you know if I see these strange artifacts once again.

They are back ! The Mac mini m1 started to have the purple pixels and sudden blank screens again..

The fix below didn't work :

• There was an audio splitter (3.5mm) connected to the audio output of the monitor and since I removed it these strange squares stopped appearing (since few days)

I'm planning to try these :

• Try different HDMI Cables
• Run the Mac mini m1 with a Samsung LED TV and check for the purple pixels / blank screens

I did successfully return to the 11.1 public release AND all the issues with my monitors are again gone. In order to do so here are the steps I followed.

1. Un-register from the Apple unreleased program. I can't use the “b*t*” word or my post will get auto deleted. To do so go to system updates. On the far left you will see a note about the computer being enrolled in the “unreleased” program. Click the link provided and it will un-enroll your mini from the program. Once done (only takes a second) you will get a message saying it is done and that you will no longer receive “unreleased” updates.
2. Go to the app store and download the latest public version of Big Sur (for me it was 11.1 I wanted to revert to as I knew it worked). Once downloaded, simply install it. The install somehow knows you have an unreleased version and just proceeds with the install letting it install the previous 11.1 replacing the installed non-public 11.2.
3. Once complete you are done! You can confirm your return to the previous version by clicking “About this computer” after clicking on the apple in the top left.

Exactly the same issue here. I have to admit that it’s concerning. The only time I’ve ever seen something similar before is faulty GPU.

i had it over USB C from install. It was a pink line across some of the setup prompts. Now it seems to be from cold. I’ve changed now and have 2 monitors and it appears on the primary monitor.

I've had a similar issue to you. Pink artefacts often appear on the login screen for Big Sur. If a certain USB device is plugged into either port on the unit, the pink artefacts will often show and even flash on and off. I returned the first unit and the replacement does the same thing to a lesser degree. These issues shouldn't be occurring. Should have been picked up in the extensive testing they must have done before releasing the product.

This is my first Mac, and perhaps it will be my last. Tech support didn't have a solution or any reason why this was occurring. I can only think its either faulty GPU chips, a software issue or interference/poor component shielding. Hopefully with the videos and pictures I've sent Apple they can suss out what's going on and fix it quickly.

I have a Mac Mini M1, 8GB, 512GB SSD. Pink square dots appears on start up. They disappears after few minutes. An my Samsung SSD T5 is disconnecting (from USB-C) after wake up the Mac Mini M1. Restarting brings SSD back again.

Also run the update. No luck. I think it's a software issue. When I create an extra (empty) space, F3 (see screenshot), and do a reboot, the purple squares are gone on my desktop. I only have the purple spots on the login page. Give it a try.

Hope Apple will come with a real fix soon.

A good way for me to cause these artefacts to appear is by logging into the Safari-only Guest account on startup. Mouse movement causes the artefacts to flicker. I'm leaning towards returning this machine. It's distracting and shouldn't be happening. Apple support has no clue what to do about it, and their unwillingness to offer up any solution is putting me off Apple as a brand. Great way to lose customers. This is my first Mac, and it's left a bitter taste in my mouth. I should be enjoying the $1000 AUD machine I just shelled out for - not spending day after day troubleshooting it/wondering if at any moment the GPU is going to fail.

Because I usually put my Mini in sleep mode instead of shutting it down I hardly ever see the pink squares that only happen during boot for me.

However, a new (to me) issue is now starting to occur all of a sudden.

When waking from sleep I only get a screen full of noise (see the attached photo). I need to replug the hdmi cable to make it go away.

I wanted to try the belkin 4k hdmi cable before returning the M1MacMini and failed.. Pink squares are still appearing.. I am not going to buy any m1 / silicon mac software is until apple officially makes statements for acknowledging the errors and make announcements that these issues are fixed..

I received my M1 Mac mini 4th of December 2020 and after my first restart I noticed the same issue “pink squares” on screen that you enter your user password. After some restarts the “pink squares” appears general anywhere. I try everything such as: deferent cables, tv and monitors and fresh installation of the software Big Sur and the problem was the same. And expect from this I couldn’t create user to log in. I send it back to istorm shop in Greece and they try again fresh installation with the same issues to continue. I send it back second time and I insist for the same issues and they communicate with apple and recognize the issues. So the shop give me the option to buy something else or the same product if I want. I order the intel i5 version Mac mini 2020 which is more expensive to be sure that I won’t have hardware issues again. If it was a software problem I believe they would not take it back. So I think you should try the same. Send it back and buy something else. M1 processor is very new technology with hardware and software issues and that’s why they sell it cheaper. They want to try it and fix in the future the issues in a new processor M2 or what ever. After 2-3 years maybe the will solve the hardware and software problems. For now it is not very good choice to buy m1 chip. If you want more information for what I try before I return it back I can answer here!