Big Sur 11.1 External Display Issues!

Hi, I want to insist. One guy here told me he works with external hp usbc docking station 120w with MBP 16 2019 and displayport and 49” external.

this worked for me 2 weeks ago since now.

IS NOT THE SOLUTION AND IS 200€ aprox , but is working for me.

for the most desperate guys try this :S

Just a follow up to my earlier post:

Today I reinstalled the J5Create Virtual USB plug in

https://en.j5create.com/pages/big-sur-support

It's performing much better than before. 1 problem I can see is that now, Apple TV will not show video in the apple tv window or full screen. I think it's related to the license protection probably. You know how Apple now prevents showing copyright items on a projector, I think it's like that. If I remove the J5Create software and go back to 2 USB-C cables for each screen, AppleTV works normally.

I'll also add that I think both the j5Create and DisplayLink options appear to use the screen recording feature. Today on my macBook air runing the DisplayLink, I saw a message "Someone is viewing your screen" on the log in screen. It went away when I logged in and turned off DisplayLink on that computer. So, hmmm. that's not good.

I hope Apple addresses this in the OS soon.

Hey guys, at this point any suggestion to get our monitors work properly is as good as any. Of course it doesn't solve the issue, but at least Samo, as well as many others, posted their temporarily solution - thanks.

However, please specify what equipment you're using, i e computer, monitor, cable, usb-hub (if any).

I'm on MBP 16" 2019, LG 32UD99 with LG usb c to usb c cable,

my solution:

Start/open MBP

Start LG monitor

Change input to hdmi 1

Shut down monitor

Start monitor, (computer now charging) wait for the OSD telling you hdmi is getting no signal, but click OK to change to usb-c

Click OK (on monitor)

Still - Apple - w*f, solve this crap.

Indeed!

Apple DOESN'T READ these forums. This is what I did and I call their attention:

• Open a ticket at https://getsupport.apple.com/
• Leave feedback at https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html
• Bug @applesupport on Twitter

Everyone, I mean EVERYONE that had posted in this thread should do the same. This is the only way to be heard, otherwise this thread will get to 100 pages, MacOS Ver. 15 would be out there and the bug will be there as well. We don't want that of course.

I don't know if something happened overnight, but today I was able to connect my Dell 27'' external monitor to my MacBook Pro (running Big Sur 11.2.2). I did the updarte of the OS two nights ago, and yesterday (Saturday 27th Feb) I was still unable to connect the monitor using the USB-C port. After looking a bit around for this problem, I did the following steps and now it seems to work:

• I disconnected my laptop from the external docking station that I used to connect the monitor (via HDMI cable);
• rebooted the laptop without any peripherals attached;
• after the laptop came back on, I connected the monitor using the USB-C cable that came with it - now the laptop has recognised the monitor and I can use it in the same way as I was using it when I had my other laptop running Catalina OS.

I am not advocating that this is in any way a solution to this problem - in fact I have seen comments saying that something similar worked for them, and other comments saying it did not work. Why it worked in my case I have no idea (I didn't do anything at all other than installing on Saturday the updated version of the OS - I did nothing at all on top of it). I can only say that now I can use the external monitor (including using all the USB ports that are on the monitor itself) and charge the laptop via the single USB-C connection Monitor-Laptop.

Hope this helps trying to pin down the issue, somehow....

Apple doesn't read this thread. If you want this problem fixed, you have to put pressure on Apple. So call customer service and report the problem here: https://www.apple.com/feedback/macos.html Do both: call and write.

That sounds interesting. I know the Benq 2700u can switch between display port 1.1 and 1.4, so question to Benq folks - does changing between 1.1 and 1.4 make any difference?

This is covered on page 51 (system menu from the monitors onscreen display) of the user manual:

https://benqesupport.blob.core.windows.net/esupport/LCD%20MONITOR/UserManual/PD2700U/PD2700U_UM_EN_210223112939.pdf

Also, does using the hdmi port instead make any difference?

Thanks for the pointers, @ijscom.

After half-a-dozen crashes in a half-hour, this worked for me. I have a Dell S2721HGF display. I lowered the resolution to 1600 x 900 and lowered the refresh to 50 Herz. No crashes for the rest of the day.

Having same issue with both of my high res monitors (one at office, one at home) when using USB-C cables after an OS upgrade. My MacBook Pro 16 is now running Big Sur 11.2.3. No issues prior to the upgrade. Now I only get very low resolution options in my display settings, even if I option-click the Scaled resolution option, and "Default for display" is not showing the right default.

First display is a 43in LG 4K display. Switching to the HDMI port using a HDMI-to-USB-C adapter was my workaround for that one.

Second is a 35in BenQ Ultrawide QHD. Trying the suggested workaround of lowering the display port version from 1.4 (to 1.1 was the only option in my case) worked on the BenQ.

Hoping Apple fixes this soon.

The scale icons on Display Settings (the Larger Text --> More Space insets) for those who are getting USB-C recognition w/their Mac (w/out difficulty or needing restart) may not represent the entire range of resolution settings available--"Press and hold the Option key while you click Scaled to see additional resolutions for the second display." This shows the entire range of available displays for a connected display (or right hand Alt key for Windows keyboard):

Change your Mac display’s resolution - Apple Support

You may have already tried this--after you go to Display>Arrangement and reestablish the order <LG1><iMac><LG2> (by moving around the displays shown in Arrangement and overcoming the finicky "snap to" resistance--I've encountered this too)--or if they did remain OK in the proper order--click again to highlight the display you want to be your primary display in Arrangement. After the highlight appears around the display, the dock and icons may move back to the monitor (iMac if that's your chosen hub) you expect to see them at. But yeah, for many of us, not all the displays can be found in Big Sur. Plug and play ain't what it used to be.

Okies. I see you said the apps switch is between LG1 and LG2. If you can display two monitors plus the iMac that's golden.

I don't recall anybody in those 40 pages reporting problems going from one 11.2 updates to another. We hit them earlier--still backups are good before updating. Apple support more or less advises me if the usual resets don't work after I've lost displays or peripherals and I can't live with what I have then a good bet is to use Recovery mode and go backwards. Personally even tho I lost the HDMI port Big Sur feels more stable than Catalina.

I know my own issues have been slightly different than most with both of my identical HDMI displays detected but the completely random swapping of screens & apps on unlock. Updating did not make a single bit of improvement for me, however changing on cable from USB-C/HDMI to USBC/VGA (an option for me that I realize not everyone has) has resolved the screen swap problem. Refresh is lousy on that screen, but at least everything stays in the same place!

I had very similar issues but with my 7,1 and Eizo monitor. I thought it was GPU and Apple thought it was monitor. Brought it in for repair Dec 2020 and Apple saw no problems. Bluetooth issues developed in January/Feb. Monitor issues continued. Sent monitor to Eizo and they said it was the computer. I brought it in to Apple 4 times. They eventually replaced GPU and top IO board. Display and bluetooth issues went away but major performance issues developed. Trying tp process RAW images from my Canon camera halted/froze the computer. Finally they replaced motherboard and CPU. Got machine back a month ago and everything is great. It took a while to find someone at Apple who actually tried to fix it. horrible experience. Also communication with phone techs and store techs is non-existent. My Mac was out of service for 6 months it sucked.

Get on the phone and give Apple a call. There was hardly any wait time for me.