Mac Mini M1 + dual Apple 27" LED Cinema Displays?

Has anyone succeeded in getting dual older apple monitors working? I can get dual monitors working but not both Apple 27".

For USB-C, I picked up some Mini DisplayPort adapters that work fine, but of course only one can work at a time with the M1.

For HDMI, I can hook up any of my other HDMI capable monitors and it works perfectly. I picked up an HDMI to Mini DisplayPort adapter off Amazon (QGeem brand) and the monitor recognizes that the Apple monitor is there (in About this Mac) and the displays preference pane shows it as part of the settings but it won't display anything - I've obviously contacted the company as its probably an issue with the adapter - but wondering if someone has found another way to hook up the 27" to HDMI?

Cheers,

Mac mini, macOS 11.0

Posted on Dec 4, 2020 10:29 AM

Top-ranking reply

bonkers34

Level 1

4 points

Posted on Mar 2, 2021 8:40 AM

I had similar challenge to get my Thunderbolt2 27" and my LED Cinema 27" Display working on the Mac Mini M1. The thunderbolt display worked without problems using the Apple Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter.

However, getting the LED Cinema Display to work on HDMI was more challenging. I followed the same route as describer above and picked up an HDMI-to-DisplayPort Adapter and a DisplayPort-to-MiniDP adapter from Delock:

https://www.delock.de/produkte/G_62496/merkmale.html

https://www.delock.de/produkte/1048_Displayport-male---Mini-Displayport-female/65240/merkmale.html

Although it did work, I had random blackouts on the display, but it was still showing up as connected. Nothing in system logs.

I noticed that the blackouts would also be triggered when I touched the HDMI adapter, so I was getting suspicious that the HDMI port might be quite sensitive to HDMI cable quality. I also googled some posts elsewhere talking about HDMI cable issues on Mac Mini M1.

So took a chance and ordered another HDMI-to-DisplayPort adapter with higher spec:

https://www.delock.de/produkte/G_63206/merkmale.html

Instead of the STDP2600 chipset, this one is using Lontium LT6711A and has a higher spec up to 4K @ 60Hz.

This effectively solved the issue, and both screens run flawlessly.

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17 replies

Mar 3, 2021 4:44 PM in response to Larbeyr

Could you send the link to those adapters on Amazon?

Larbeyr

Level 1

9 points

Dec 14, 2020 3:38 PM in response to paulnish

Paul, I was following your pathway to solving the issue and just thought I would add my experience. I have a two displays, one 27" thunderbolt and one 27" Led Cinema Display. The thunderbolt of course connects with the Apple Thunderbolt 2 to USBC/Thunderbolt 3 adaptor. For the Apple LED Cinema display, I was struggling with trialing two different HDMI to Mini Display port adaptors (QGEEM and StartecH), which were recognised by the computer but showed nothing on the display. I then tried you pathway of HDMI-Display Port and Display Port-Mini Display Port adaptors (ALOGIC-Different Manufacturer to your adaptors) and worked first time. In short this looks like the correct pathway to drive the Cinema Display from the HDMI port.

Many thanks for the tip.

Regards

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Mac Mini M1 + dual Apple 27" LED Cinema Displays?