M1 Mac mini display issue

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 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.

In response to Chrysothemis19, I agree that returning was the best solution, I would have done that as well. The pink squares are just an irritation to me, I only had them when I connected hdmi to hdmi and now I have updated to 11.2 they seem to have gone altogether. If I had other screen issues as well, I would think and act differently.

FWIW, I've been building, maintaining, optimizing, and even writing drivers for (in some cases) various computers since the 80s. This *TOTALLY* has always felt like a software issue to me. I've also largely ignored it, and I've been telling people to just return the computers if you're not happy; big return numbers are the only way to get a big company's attention on something like this.

If you're only getting the pink squares, you can just move on with your life and start using the computer for real; it's such a small thing in the greater pantheon of possibilities. Should it happen? Of course not. I'm not excusing it. I'm simply choosing to wait it out.

$.02

This thread is pretty amazing for all the consternation; return the stupid thing or wait for a fix. It's a pretty easy choice. $.02

That wouldn't make me happy either. Others in this thread have reported that 11.3 beta fixes their issues. It's due out in a couple of weeks, maybe?

I returned my Mini and got a Macbook Pro 13" and it has a similar issue but it's easy to work around where if you create a second desktop and drag an application window over to it at the same time anything on that second desktop then has a pink tint. I'm guessing the issues are related.

Based on what I'm hearing farther up the thread though I have faith these are just early adopter issues and there is hope.

So, I've found an interesting experiment that colors most/all windows pink. It tells me the pink we might be seeing in all of this is the one they use for transparency like mattia1089 has found. I've found that when I use control+up arrow, create a new desktop, then drag a window to that desktop all in one operation that the windows on that new desktop are all pinkish in color. Also like mattia1089 has found turning the "Allow wallpaper tinting in windows" feature off fixes the color problem.

So, I wonder if that fixes the pink blocks as well.

Note that, rebooting fixes my problem above completely. Any new applications that are opened directly to that desktop don't seem to have any issues either. Just the ones that were previously opened. If those previously opened windows are sent back to the original desktop they're fine but when bringing it back to the newly created desktop they get the pink hue again.

It's a weird bug for sure but that also gives me confidence that it is a software bug.

I'm using a MacBook Pro 16GB/1TB model. I'm following this thread because I had the pink squares issue on a Mac mini that has been returned at this point. I do not have the pink squares issue on the MacBook Pro, just this weird new desktop issue.

I have had my M1 Mac Mini for a couple months. My USB-C monitor never has trouble. I had this monitor connected via HDMI, and I would get the "snow" every other day or so on wake. I switched to USB-C and no issues.

I have connected a second monitor to HDMI, and the snow has reappeared. I have swapped out the hdmi cable, and it did not help. Clearly it is an issue with the Mac Mini, not my monitor or cable!

My first monitor (that has HDMI and USB-C) is a Dell. The second monitor (with only HDMI) is a Samsung. So, is not brand specific either!

I called Apple, and they said I could bring it into the store, but if they could not duplicate the issue there was nothing they could do. I just keep unplugging the HDMI cable and plugging it back in. But, a new computer should not have this issue!

I left quite a detailed response to this and my post got removed by Apple because it discussed b e t a software. Honestly, I really can’t be arsed to type it all in again. TL;DR; stick with it, I believe it’s fixed in the next release but I’m obviously not allowed to say why I think this.

However, if Apple are going to remove posts telling their users that their problems should be solved soon then I’d send it back and request a refund because frankly that’s just bizarre and they don’t deserve the customers / sales.

Hi,

I don't restart the Mac. I just unplug and plug the HDMI cable back in. It is fine then as long as I am using the Mac. The only time I get the snow is when it wakes up from sleep (about 50% of the time) and occasionally when it starts up (about 10% of the time). The plugging and unplugging, to date, has always worked.

I have never seen the pink squares to date. But my HDMI monitor has snow (like the analog TV when a station wasn't broadcasting) almost everyday. I finally turned my Mac Mini around, so the ports are facing me. That way, I can quickly plug and unplug the HDMI cable to fix it. BTW the monitor plugged into the USB-C port NEVER has an issue.

I used the HDMI monitor (as well as the USB-C one) on other Mac computers (primarily Macbooks) and on Windows computers never with any issues. It is just since I am using it with the Mac Mini that I have to unplug and replug it in each day to get it to work. Clearly, this is a Mac display issue. (I have updated to the most current OS.)

I had the same problem with my M1 Mac Mini but after I reinstalled Big Sur the pink block problem disappeared.

I switched my monitor from the 60hz default to 75hz that it’s capable of and no more pink dots since then. Not sure if it will stop them long term yet, but if did work for now.

Yep. Return it. That's way outside the normally-reported issues in this thread.

I had the same problem with my new m1 Mac mini, but eventually changed to an HDMI to usb-c cable for the monitor and now it seems to have solved the problem (for the time being at any rate)

I confirm, no more pink squares running Version 11.3 Beta (20E5172i)

Sleep also works, which didnt before.