M1 Mac mini display issue

Big Sur 11.2 (20D62) didn't fix the error for me and even some Apple insiders told me that it's very probably a hardware defect and I should return it before the return period ends. So I did it and waiting for Apple to announce the fix officially to buy another silicon Mac.

Did your pink squares appear on the login window and then disappear from the Desktop like mine did? I’m also using HDMI, and your post that 11.2 corrects this gives me hope. It’s confusing with people speculating that it is a hardware issue.

I am seeing the same problem with my mac mini M1 8gb.

I see pink squares when logging in, which disappear after logging in.

I have a 1080p ASUS monitor.

I connect to it via HDMI.

The operating system is macOS Big Sur 11.1 (20C69)

I have a feeling this is happening because the mac mini is not optimized to work with low resolution monitors (there are no macbooks with such low resolution in the apple product line). In addition to these problems, the fonts on a 1080p monitor look terrible.

Has anyone tried changing the monitor to 4k?

Has anyone tried connecting a 4k monitor via USB-C?

Are you experiencing the same problems?

Foolishly didn't return mine in the 14-day window for returns. It's ok though. I'm selling mine and have washed my hands with the issue. It was my first and it will be my last last mac. Thanks for the support Apple. Noticed they still haven't piped up on the issue. Good to know they take due responsibility for a defective, under-baked product they should never have released without proper testing. So long Apple.

i had the Problem with HDMI Connection too

With USB-C to USB-C Connection i had the squares and in addition, the monitor did not wake up until I switched it on and off

now i use a cablematters typ-c to displayport Cable this works without problems since over a week

FWIW, I just bought another Mini M1 today for the household. It's got the pink squares. They go away. They don't come back until reboot, and even then not always. Just like my other one. It continues to be not even a little bit serious. If this was 30 years ago when I was building PCs, I'd whine about "crappy drivers on this $19 VGA card" and try to find newer drivers. If it persisted after the login, I'd care more. It doesn't. I don't. I now have four M1 computers, and they're all working great, and the minis have a few pink blocks on the login screen. * shrug *

Someone earlier in the thread mentioned a possibility that the Mini does some interpolation on the screen size that the laptops do differently or don't have to do at all because of native resolutions. I'm not sure it's THE issue, but I do think it's a decent lead to look after if people still care about this problem.

I'm in complete agreement here! It's not good form for the issue to be there at all, but it's not specifically causing me any problems and I don't consider it worth sending back an otherwise superb machine.

I don't ever see the login screen because I auto-login. I'm the only person that goes near the machine. I used to see the pink squares from time to time but they would always go away after a while. It worried me because I thought I might have a hardware issue.

A few weeks back I plugged in an additional 24" 1080p screen via USB-C to DP cable. Not because of this issue specifically, I was doing a lot of coding and I needed the second screen. So that meant I had 1x 1440p screen via HDMI and 1x 1080p screen over USB-C. I also set the "Desktops have separate spaces" setting to on (or enabled) . I don't recall seeing this issue since these two things and I stopped worrying about it.

But then being a 1st generation product I don't anticipate keeping it for much longer than a year, 2 at the most. If people are really concerned they should send their machines back (assuming they still have the option), otherwise, and assuming the squares go away after a while I'd personally log the issue with Apple so there is a record of it and then move on.

Yes they appeared on the login screen, then after logging in they appeared-disappeared for about 10 seconds, then they were gone... WIth version 11.2 (20D62) I don't see any pink squares anymore anywhere, even if i make 10 reboots in a row.

I’m wondering if this is an OS issue, not an M1 issue.

I’m here because I’m thinking of upgrading my 2015 i5 iMac.

I’m running an external 1080 display. TB to HDMI. Has been working fine until last update. During wake, the second monitor will sometimes go completely pink. There are other times where it’s pink and snowy.

I think it is clearly a software issue on the M1 Mini. Just did the upgrade to version 11.2 (20D64), the pink square are still gone... I also met the snowy second monitor issue earlier, also had the display wake issue and It happened very rarely that both of the displays went black for a few seconds, the system didnt freeze tho... was really weird, but these issues seems to be resolved with the recent beta builds... will report back few days later. And regarding bluetooth, no connection issues so far. Im using an old magic trackpad 1, a Delux mouse bought from aliexpress and a Microsoft Designer Keyboard. I absolutely love this machine... Yes there were / are some bugs here and there, but come on this is new stuff... and apple makes a good job with the beta releases, way better than microsoft ever...

Yes, can confirm that pink squares are back on final 11.2 but for me only on the login screen. After login they immediately go away. Also noticed if my LG UltraWide is connected with dp-usbc cable the system cannot go to sleep, have to use Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.

I have an 34" ultrawide LG display. If I connect with the HDMI cable all is fine. If I use the thunderbolt cable the screen remains dark on startup. Unplugging the cable and plugging it back in will turn the monitor on. If the Mac mini goes to sleep for to long the screen won't come on again (un-plug again).

Update 11.1 --> 11.2 didn't change anything.

For now I am using the HDMI cable...

Updating to 11.2 - Made my Mac not detect any display at all. It is running and it can do everything (Thank god, I had Any Desk installed on my mac to check). But, it doesn't detect displays and it's practically bricked now.

I also have some screen issues :

– When I initially boot the Mac mini, my screen disconnects and reconnects before and after I log in my account. I get this issue each time I power my Mac mini on.

– Pink squares appear also during booting, but disappear as soon as I'm logged in. Also get this each time I boot up.

– During use, I sometimes get random thin horizontal black&white lines running on my screen and when it gets worse, I get display issues and my screen disconnects and reconnects. Sometimes it happens 3 times in a minute, and sometimes I can have an entire day without this problem.

My monitor was connected before to a mid-2014 MBP without any problems, so I don't think it can take the blame.

It is connected via an HDMI cable that has served my well over the years without any problem either.

I called the Apple Care to ask if they were aware of these issues and if they thought it was a software or hardware problem and if I should replace my Mac mini since it's brand new. They made me run the diagnostic, which showed no issue on my mac, then they asked me to verify if the resolution was the right one (it was), and told me it was probably my mac and forwarded me to another person so I could return it. So I did. I'll get a replacement soon, we'll see if the issue is still there or not.

I have no idea if returning was the best solution, since I had no other issues than that, but to be honest my experience with the Apple Care call wasn't really satisfying and I was left with more questions than before the call. I thought they could help me determine where the issue was and thus help me decide what to do (if they told me it was a software issue I'd have waited for an update fix, if they had told me it seemed to be hardware I'd have returned it, and if they had told me they really didn't know, I'd have asked if I could return it within the warranty if the problem hadn't been solved with later updates), but they didn't really answered my questions and just forwarded my after saying they weren't sure.

For those with the issue still on 11.2 did it seem different? I got it only once so far on 11.2, and it was only 2 pink spots for about 10 seconds. So it was way less spots and went away faster than before with 11.1. (On a m1 mini - 16gb ram)