Macbook Air M1: No 4K@60Hz possible on my 32" 4K BenQ EW3280U

Caldigit minidock, indicated as compatible with Air M1, provides 4K 60hz. But, it should be forced adjusting manually in display preferences. Doing that the letters, images, etc.. are ridiculously small, instead of having a better definition with the right size. I believe that it is an issue in the OSX software. When you connect with the mentioned dock with a 4K monitor, in my case, the resolution by default is HD and not 4k

Are you connecting over display port or are you using the Caldigit hdmi adapter? I think that could make a difference, I've tried multiple connection types and whenever I've used display port I was unable to control the output and I would get very tiny font.

No need of any additional software. The caldigit minidock is working well. The problem is not in the dock, in my opinion. I can adjust resolution from the Air M1 display preferences to 4K 60hz, just connecting the dock. But the letters and images are proportionally smaller (unusable), instead of sharper with the right size (better image) thanks to the higher resolution.

Right now M1 do not support 4K 60Hz over DisplayPort Interface (which going through USB-C or Thunderbolt).

You need to use USB-C to HDMI Adapter like Belkin F2CU038btBLK.

Works fine, support 4K, 60Hz, HDR in Netflix.

Had the same problem at the beginning. Using this cable solved the issue for me: Cable Matters USB C-naar-DisplayPort-kabel (USB-C-naar-DisplayPort-kabel, USB C-naar-DP-kabel) ondersteunt 8K 60Hz, zwart, 1,8 m - Thunderbolt 3-poort compatibel met MacBook Pro, Dell XPS 13 en meer. https://www.amazon.nl/dp/B01LYD2Y19/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&ref_=ppx_yo_mob_b_track_package_o1_img

It is a Dutch website but I'm sure the cable can be ordered elsewhere as well.

I had issue with my BenQ EX2780Q but the issue was with the monitor and not the mac itself.

More info on BenQ's help center here: https://www.benq.com/en-us/knowledge-center/knowledge/how-do-i-connect-my-mac-m1-to-benq-monitor.html

And I also went through the process I explained here: https://www.reddit.com/r/BenQ/comments/lxk7rn/benq_replacing_my_ex2780q_for_better_refresh/gyxtpvl

In reply to JWBigSur a few posts back,

Thought I'd buy this cable to try it out, and it works, 4k/60hz where macOS previously showed 5k(?)/30hz on other cables and hubs. One thing to keep in mind is that it didn't initially work and I had to switch between "default for display" and "scaled" to make it forget to old settings. Also check the model nr of the cable since stock seems to change, one I tested is: cable matters 201036-blk-1.8m-eu

I was on live chat with Apple Support for 90 mins, passed between 2 different advisors who did not have a clue what they were talking about.

You have solved my issue in 2 seconds, something Apple Support couldn't do in 90mins.

Thanks

I wish all Apple support was as good as the woman who solved this for me. She asked around and had that solution in about 5 mins. I read through this thread and none of the options worked for me but this did so I figured I’d post. Glad it helped ya!

Oh my god. I had the exact same issue with my M1 MBP 13" and Samsung M7 4K monitor. It drove me insane for 2 days until I was finally able to resolve it.

I was using a USB C 3.1 cable that supports 10GBPS and technically this should work. For some reason, the Mac was never showing me the 60Hz option and always defaulted to 30Hz. If I forced the resolution with SwitchResX, the output on the screen was blurry. 30Hz was driving me nuts as all the animations were not super smooth, but the fonts and rendered images and windows were pixel perfect.

I went through with a couple of the USB C cables and the issue still remained. Samsung support also confined that the USB C of the monitor supported 4K at 60Hz.

Here is what worked for me. My screen had additional setting under GENERAL > EXTERNAL DEVICE MANAGER > Anynet + (HDMI-CEC). This was disabled for USB C and enabled for HDMI 1 and HDMI 2. Once enabled of USB C, immediately 4K@60Hz was enabled and everything was pixel perfect and smooth.

Additionally, the USB C thunderbolt cable supports 40GBPS. The technical specs of 4K 60FPS state that 17.8GPS is required. So I am not sure if you would get the full benefit of the display by using a USB C alone. I will try the thunderbolt and see if that makes any difference. The specs from the monitor do not say if the USB C port is thunderbolt enabled.

I have a 2021 MBA M1, macOS 11.6, just bought a 4K 24inch LG. Hooked it up with the supplied HDMI and an old DELL USB-C/HDMI mini hub. Could only get 1080p. However, when I switched the DELL hub to a JUKU thunderbolt hub with HDMI, I got all the higher res options, including 4K. Holding down the option key whilst clicking scaled is a great trick also. Thanks to all the previous posters for pointing me towards the solution.

I ran into this issue today when connecting a MBA M1 to an external HP z27 screen (capable of up to 4K@60Hz) over a USB-C to USB-C cable. Output defaulted to 4K@30Hz and the Display Settings UI didn't give me the option to change it to 60Hz.

After some Googling, I landed on this discussion and tried connecting my screen with a USB-C to DP cable. I was then able to choose the Refresh Rate between 30Hz or 60Hz. This is not an ideal setup for me since the laptop won't charge over USB-C to DP and I don't want to have to use different USB-C ports for connecting an external display and charging.

I then connected back the USB-C to USB-C and disconnected the USB-C to DP cable. To my surprise, the Display Settings UI then provided me the option to choose the Refresh Rate between 30Hz or 60Hz. I was able to choose 60Hz and it displays correctly. However, I tried disconnecting and then reconnecting back the USB-C to USB-C cable, and at one instance the Refresh Rate setting disappears from the UI and it went back to 30Hz. It stayed at 60Hz on another test. I guess this won't hold after I reboot, I'll keep testing.

HTH

i having the exact same problem. I think this is a M1 compatibility issue.

Shayann, I hope you understand that this forum is not closely monitored by Apple. If you want to send feedback, call them or send feedback via this is the link: https://www.apple.com/feedback/

I have a Samsung: Samsung U28E590D 4K 60Hz display

USB-C Hubs are limited to 30Hz at 4k...

So I bought a dedicated adapter, now I can get 60Hz, but only at "Low resolution" not HD Resolution.