Big Sur 11.1 External Display Issues!

Yes, I have Beta 11.2. MAC Mini 2018 and Apple Thunderbolt Display still do not work. No display audio, no camera, no USB outputs on the monitor. The brightness of the display cannot be regulated either.

This is just me needing to let out some steam, in the hopes Apple read it at some point. Apologies to all other.

Having been an avid Apple user for 20+ years I have now sold all Apple HW and bought in to the more open Windows world. I fear this lack of the most rudimentary support for external displays (and the lack of associated protocols) is the fist sign of Apple shunning other platform vendors and heading down their own locked of road.

Thank you for the fish and the totally ruined productivity.

It is a shame that Apple doesn't even acknowledge this problem; and apparently though this is a terribly inconvenient problem for those of us suffering it, we are too small a group for Apple to care. They have hundreds of billions of dollars of profits but when it comes right down to it, despite their lip service, Apple just really doesn't care about their customers

I want to believe that Apple hasn't "acknowledged" it yet because a large portion of people are still on vacation, or are going down other avenues such as swapping cables, etc. Some haven't even updated to Big Sur yet because they wait for the first point release. I predict that on Monday the 4th you will see this post (and the dozen other threads on other forums) surging with complaints.

I called Apple and spoke with 3 technicians now. I've been told they are "aware" of the issue but won't confirm or deny that there's a fix in the works. So I hope people keep calling in and reporting the bug.

They made me go through all the troubleshooting steps multiple times now.

I have the same problem with a

13 inch 2020 4 Thunderbolt MacBook Pro on

macOS 11.1 Big Sur

connected either via a Thunderbolt dock WD19TB or a Thunderbolt USB-C hub to

a receiver (Denon ARR4520)that in turn is connected to a 1920x1080 monitor (not a tv as it does not have speakers).

The problem is there with the Thunderbolt ports on the left side as well as with the Thunderbolt ports on the right side of the MBP.

By the way: both receiver and monitor do not have ARC, this is simple HDMI.

Shortly the image appears than disappears and image flickers between black and scrambled etc.

Receiver and monitor work and have been working perfectly with Dell Windows10 laptop via the same dock.

Receiver and monitor work perfectly with other devices (Playstation 4, settop box, 2 different HP Windows10 laptops with HDMI-port, Microsoft Surface Pro 3 connected via Surface Dock and minidisplay port to HDMI converter)

This is all via the same Supra HDMI cable.

The MPB connected via the same dock to a (2x1920)x1080 display via a USB-C out works perfect: the MBP sees this as a DisplayPort connection (according to the Midi-settings).

PRAM and SMC reset done: problem remains.

The receiver supports 4K.

The monitor does not support 4K, only 1920x1080.

Connected monitor to the HDMI cable: image stable (no sound as monitor does not have an amplifier nor speakers).

So the problem seems to be the resolution being higher than 1920x1080 via HDMI even if via a dock or hub.

Called Apple support: support didn't accept it to be an Apple problem and referred me to the receiver manufacturer.....

I have a MB Pro 16 and I use a 27 inch apple monitor with a Thunderbolt 2 adapter (I think this is also called a mini display port but I am not sure.) My wife runs the same configuration with a MB Pro 15 running Catalina. Both of us have no problem.

I have a 24 inch apple display that works with my (old) MacBook Air 13 inch. That unit has a port for the Thunderbolt 2 and the display works.

However the 24 inch won't work with either MB Pro. (and yes I bought the proper adapter )

Any ideas?

thanks phil

As of today. My BenQ 32 will no longer work with 4k resolution. It's stuck at 1080p. It now sits in the corner. My 5k LG is working with my MB Pro 16 as of now. I've checked and replaced cables, no changes.

This is very frustrating and I hope this issue gets addressed very soon.

Unfortunately using a thunderbolt3 connection (benq pd2720u) this is unused up 😭😭

❓🙋‍♂️do you have issues with sidecar too? I have an iPad Pro 2019. With Catalina when it was close to the MBP, I had on the top the sidecar icon informing that there was the chance to connect the iPad. Now this is not happening anymore. To use the iPad I have to go to the system preferences and manually select it from the list of airplay displays.

I had this issue with my macbook mini and found the following solution. I found a youtube video that gives step by step instructions. Posting it below with the hope that it may help others. Please let me know if this works for you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ZgnEwHxgxo

PLEASE CALL APPLE SUPPORT !

It’s very important to make them aware of how many people are experiencing this problem. They are aware of it but we should report all of the display brands and model not working.

Honestly, Apple new OS releases are full of bug. This is unacceptable.

I just bought a "USB C to HDMI Cable 4k 60Hz" and at first, I still couldn't use 60Hz for my BenQ PD2700U. I was super disappointed so I tried to install many things.

I tried to install SwitchResX, but had no luck. Still couldn't change it.

Then I installed DisplayLink Manager like it is said here: https://youtu.be/5ZgnEwHxgxo

But still had no luck. Changed the monitor settings back to DisplayPort 1.4. No change.

I was so disappointed and was ready to ship the new cable back. However, one thought occurred. What happens if I use a different USB-C slot? And that was it! Suddenly, I could switch the Refresh Rate to 60 Hertz!

And even if I put the cable in the "original" USB-C slot back. It's still 60 Hertz! So happy!

This seriously sucks. Apple knows its users are mostly professionals, how can they possibly allow us all to have a degraded workflow for this long. It really doesn't seem like they are in any rush to push out a patch update. This is so unlike apple..

I spoke with a "senior technical support rep" from Apple Support yesterday. He said that this is a known issue with 11.1 and they are working on a fix, unknown ETA.

Like someone else mentioned earlier, pretty unbelievable given how many people use external monitors in a professional capacity. Luckily, I can get by with just the laptop for now but it's still a huge inconvenience.

I believe this is definitely a software issue. Up until this update my Mac was working fine with my Samsung 27in 4K screen. After the 11.1 update the screen is no longer even detected AT ALL. It doesn't even attempt to find it and offer the wrong solutions.

I've tried as some of the suggestions here including using displaylink and changing the displayport version from 1.2 to 1.1. (Only options on my screen) and nothing works.

The monitor WORKS FINE using my other laptop which is running older Catalina OS. I will not be upgrading that anytime soon.

It's incredibly frustrating this "bug" escaped beta testing and the attitude that they don't support external monitors is bollocks. I can't believe this is the official stance?!

Fix the issue ASAP Apple!