M1 Mac mini display issue

So, it got escalated up a couple of levels and then...please go to the Genius Bar.

I actually cancelled my booked appointment there this week because I was busy with work and life. Next appointment isn’t until a week on Sunday and it’s getting really close to Christmas (in a pandemic) so it’s going to be a total pain to get there.

I don’t know what I was expecting really, but all roads point towards returning it. 😞

Yeah agreed. If it's bothering you or you have a bad case of it probably best to return if possible.

My replacement machine is definitely better than the first. The problem has appeared twice so far, once at the first (very) cold boot 5 mins out of the Amazon van last night (7pm), and once this morning. Both rectified by a reboot and it has yet to re-appear in todays session following said reboot at 08:30am. Same keyboard, mouse, screen, apps, settings as the first machine.

When the issue does appear there's less squares onscreen and they cover a smaller area. They also only appear at the top now, first machine had them both top and bottom.

At this stage I think I'm going to keep the device though. Main risk being if it fails outside the 12mo warranty of course, with any serious failure within that period covered. Theres always the chance of a software fix or fault acknowledgement in the meantime. Unfortunately for me I sold my Surface to return to the Mac after 6 years so don't have another machine to revert to.

If I was to guess I'd say it's a problem with some display controller. If it was a shared memory issue I'd expect the artefacts to show up in screenshots which they do not, it's almost as if the image leaves the M1/RAM just fine, but fails to reach the display intact.

Im no expert, just an observation.

Hoping for a resolution for everyone.

Best.

Hi, I've been reading about locks and pink boxes for several pages. My problem is less serious but just as annoying. When cold, my screen, a Benq 4k 28 ", blinks for a few seconds without losing the video, also sometimes when it goes to sleep it does not recover the video, only if I disconnect the HDMi cable or reset the mac mini, if I restart only the monitor says no There is a video source, I am attaching a video with the problem.

PS: The same thing happens to me with HDMI to HDMI cable and with USB-C to HDMI cable.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ty993t08ouzo4zn/parpadeo.MOV?dl=0

Hi there,

Another interesting (albeit very annoying) issue.

I am currently testing a workaround on my BenQ 1080p 144hz panel where I have the Displayport-to-USBC cable @ 120Hz as "Display 1" on the Mac, but then a HDMI-to-HDMI cable on the same monitor (60Hz) set as "Display 2" on the Mac. I have then enabled "mirror display".

No pink squares after many reboots (may be somehow tapping into what various commenters have mentioned about their second display being OK?), but I have had my first full-on system crash/auto reboot. The crash log seemed to reference "Thunderbolt" a few times.

Not holding much hope that the pink squares are totally gone at this stage, however, desktop switching is now buttery smooth where it was glitchy before, and I am able to re-enable shadows in World of Warcraft without the screen flickering.

I am presuming this is safe to do (can't see why not though at your own risk as ever :D) though if so it would be interesting if anyone else had positive results trying it.

Best.

When will we see an official Apple statement about these problems? Hello Apple!?!?

It is sure Apple knows what is going on, and what's the cause of these problems. So they should give us infos, what's going on here.

I have had my m1 mini for a week and noticed this on day two after updating the to the latest version of Big Sur. I do not have an issue when using my monitor with my windows laptop. I really hope Apple issues a statement soon or I’m returning the machine. Shame....

I have the same issue. I have tried different backgrounds, different HDMI cables (2.0b & 1.4) & a different monitor (also with the different cables and the artifacts appear on restart. They go away after varying periods of time.

I am now using my monitor over USB-C (DP), with a HDMI cable just hanging out the back of the machine, no pink dots in two days w/ cold boots each morning and a few test reboots throughout yesterday. Makes no sense though these things never do. All other ports bar ethernet are populated.

Update from myself. Sorry it's a bit long but important.

I recieved and email from Apple on Saturday saying they had tried to contact me regarding this issue.

I have not posted it or reported it anywhere else so can only summise it's from this thread.

I called support back and was told the issue has been escalated above the normal support channels, they (Apple Support) have been told not to troubleshoot this issue and I've been passed up the chain to a more senior team looking into problems with new hardware. The person I spoke to on the phone was surprised the issue had already been ecsalated to this team (it was the "higher up" hardware team who had initally tried to contact me, not just the usual support team).

Anyway I'm expecting a call back this afternoon and it's being described as information collecting for the moment.

I'm updated onto the latest BETA of Big Sur 11.1 and the issue is still present.

Machine has also now developed another weird problem when waking from sleep in that both of my displays are totally black. The mouse pointer is visable and I can move it but there is nothing else on the displays, just total black. Putting it back to sleep then waking doesn't solve it, nor does unplugging monitor cables. Only a full reboot with the power button does.

I'm worried.

I've decided to just put them out of my mind and forget they're an issue. Most everyone in this and other threads agree it's primarily a startup issue, or wake-from-sleep-for-a-moment issue and isn't recurring under normal use.

I wonder if it's more of an outbound signal strength or impedance issue more than it's going to be a GPU issue over time.

Maybe I'm foolish in the long run, but I'm not returning it, and I'm not worrying about it any more.

Here's hoping. :) Good luck to all of us.

I also been contacted by mail and by phone, and did not report that. It seems Apple is taking that serious what is good in fact. I did not get in contact with support, cause there is not much I can say about the problem. Happened on one day, I am using HDMI cable, and it also appears when switching spaces, then at different positions. After this day, it did not happen again. Yesterday I had an all black screen for just one or two seconds, without having done any specific thing.

I’ve been contacted too, which was strange because the outcome of my last interaction was basically to return it to the place you bought it or come to a Genius Bar.

I’ve requested a call tomorrow afternoon. Let’s see.

Well, kudos to the Apple team for taking this seriously. I got the call on time and they took some logs, and got my collection of videos of it happening.

Luckily on mine it happens consistently on the transition between the login screen and the desktop, and very rarely persists to the desktop. But at least it means tests can be run.

So far I know that it happens in safe mode and on the primary monitor (I changed today and it followed to the new primary monitor). It happens on both HDMI and USB C. I've got an old Dell on the HDMI and a new Dell on USB C.

The only other thing I could do is dig out an old LG monitor to round out my tests. :-)

I too have been contacted by Apple, without me contacting them first, which was nice of Apple.

I spent an hour and half on the phone to some guy who took logs from my Mac Mini as well as tried seeing what different HDMI cables would/could cause etc etc. Also sent him a few videos of the problems occurring to help show the issues which he was very grateful for.

I too seem to only have problems before logging in, but have the odd issue on the desktop from time to time, but they tend to go away from different certain things.

Hopefully as Apple are taking this situation very seriously I am confident they will find a solution soon.