Big Sur 11.1 External Display Issues!

According to "5 Things to Know About the macOS Big Sur 11.3 Update"

https://www.gottabemobile.com/5-things-to-know-about-the-macos-big-sur-11-3-update/

Bug Fixes

• ...
• External 4K monitors may not display in full resolution when connected over USB-C

Please, can anybody confirm whether or not Big Sur 11.3 Update corrects our nasty, long lasting external display bug? (I'am still downloading of Big Sur 11.3 Update 6,2 GB …)

Thx!

It is good that your USB-C to DisplayPort adaptor works! I have a Mac Mini 2018 and I never had a problem with a USB-C to HDMI connection on my Mac. However Big Sur did knock out my HDMI port. And 11.3 does not fix that issue. So I would advise Mac Mini 2018 and even Mac Mini 2021 M1 owners and owners of other Macs that have reported HDMI issues to back-up your Catalina before updating to HDMI if you need that HDMI port for an external display. 11.3 may not do it for you.

Are drivers required for speakers / monitors like they are for external devices like printers? I had a problem with my Samsung 4K tv not recognizing USB-C to HDMI and that went away after I pushed the power button down on my remote and kept it down to reset the TV. Have you tried the speakers connected directly to the Mac? or via a hub? If your controls for the audio output modes (amplify, surround) are via the monitor then that would be a problem.

if one dongle connection works to connect to the display and Acer audio output device then at least there's that. My Mac Mini 2018 lost an HDMI port in Big Sur but can connect a second display using USB-C to HDMI.

No change using a 20” Apple Cinema Display LCD via a USB C - DVI adaptor on a MacBook Pro. The display still turns into a strobe light if your MacBook goes to sleep etc. it’s fine until you log in, then flashes in and off et. Until you restart. Guess Apple doesn’t care about supporting their own legacy products or anyone who can’t afford to fork out for a new USB C/HDMI Display

Well, this definitely looks like an OS issue to me. BigSur update was almost pushed 3-4 days later my purchase and till that point, I did not have USB C adaptors so do not have much to say, but in the initial days of update, even the power was pushing an issue in the machine.

Now my screens, just start giving different colors. It also affects the applications I use for chat (Slack, Whatsapp, and Zoho Cliq), these applications give a flickering kind of thing.

After reading things on the internet, it seems it definitely is a refresh rate kind of an issue. Used and tried two different monitors. Its the same issue. Tried an HDMI to USB C Wire and an adaptor both. Maybe Apple will fix this up soon. The machines get really really hot.

the problem changed a little with the 11.3.1 Big Sur Update.

• Before the Update, a secondary HDMI monitor wasn't properly recognised after restarts and shut downs. If I reconnected the secondary monitor, it worked as usual.
• Now I'm able the restart without any problem. The secondary monitor works. I'f the computer (a Mac Pro 7.1) is shut down and booted up fresh, the secondary monitor doesn't work. Reconnecting doe still help.

Thanks, Apple the problem is solved halfway, but it would be very nice, if a fresh boot would work as well.

My clients laugh at me, and on your ten thousand dollar computer, when I have to crawl around on my knees behind the studio desk, to reconnect a second monitor anytime the system boots up.

This is a problem, that causes bad reputation for me and for Apple Macintosh computers among audio professionals around here.

Changed behaviour with Big Sur 11.3.1.

So far I had a workround: to switch my external Benq monitor to Display Port 1.2.

Now the display doesn't wake up properly after going to standby – even with DP 1.2.

Apparently Apple is working on the issue. But the updates didn't make any better.

I switched from using MBP direct usb-c connection to external display's usb-c port, to MBP usb-c -> HDMI adaptor -> external display's HDMI port, then this issue cleared. I guess Big Sur has a bug with usb-c drivers.

This is really a long thread. I have a 2020 Intel T2 Macbook Pro, and a Dell 3008WFP (very similar to Apple's old 30 inch Cinema Display). It has worked well with several Macs, and this Mac connects nicely to a Monoprice 27 inch HDMI. Alas, the Dell offers only limited resolutions, no more than 1920 x 1200, but what is worse is the image on the display is cropped (no menu bar, no dock, but "hover pop ups" are visible from where I infer the dock to be). 90 minutes of collaboration (lots of rebooting, serial disconnection and reconnection of cables, NVRAM & SMC resets, safe boot) with an Applecare Senior Advisor left with a long list of über-tedious things to try. I am using an Anker hub with HDMI (works fine on the other display). My question for readers of this thread is "Has anyone successfully bypassed such nonsense by using a different interface, for example a USBC/TB3 to DisplayPort cable?"

This is not the typical upgrade complaint that is noted for external displays--users have reported issues with display connectivity or display resolution settings, not as far as I can tell Cinebench / CPU / GPU scores, and certainly not Finder issues. Although I lost my HDMI port for my Mac Mini 2018 on Big Sur my Finder and overall OS X speed and responsivity subjectively improved with Big Sur--Finder speeds, file copying, reboot etc. Perhaps a third-party conflict (or even malware that coincided with your upgrade?) is slowing your Mac down. Have you tried Disk Utility / First Aid for possible disk errors, checks for virus and malware, and / or reinstalling your 11.4? Is there possibly an updated driver for your Samsung? I have a Samsung 4k tv nu6900 43" TV hooked up to my Mac mini--I don't game with it or use it for graphics intensive apps (only streaming), but it's performance improved with Big Sur--again, subjective, but looks better with such AppleTv etc. -- no video issues.

My MSI Optic AG32C gaming monitor is working fine except there is no audio. It works fine on my Windows laptop but that has an HDMI jack so not surprising. I'm using a Belkin HDMI to USBc adapter I just bought from the Apple store, since there was no Apple adapter of this type available. From what I can see of MSI, there is no listed support for any Apple devices; there is only mention of Windows support for this peripheral. Support at MSI puts me on hold forever. Guess that means I need to call Apple Support or bring the monitor and laptop into the Apple Store. Maybe I can get the AirPlay to work. So far, that doesn't work, either.

I have a single monitor (LG QHD Display), connected via an Anker Premium USB-C hub and an HDMI cable. My Mac is "MacBook Pro (15-inch, 2017), 2.9 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i7, 16 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3" running Big Sur 11.5.2.

With my laptop display open, I get the proper 31.5-inch (2560 × 1440) resolution, all is good. But when I close the laptop (to keep my cat from biting and cracking the display), poof, "About this Mac" still assures me that I have 31.5-inch (2560 × 1440) resolution. But in System Preferences -> Displays, I see Scaled->1080p. When I choose "Default for Display" I sometimes get back full resolution, like today. This will often persist, and I am not bothered again for a bit. Hope it helps.

In case anybody is wondering, this problem has still not been fixed.

I have a 16" Macbook Pro (2019) - I had zero problems before the 11.1 Big Sur update in December 2020. Since then, my Macbook has not been able to use external displays with via Thunderbolt 3 / Displayport.

The problem is not and has never been about HDMI. The problem is with Displayport profiles over TB3.

The anecdotal evidence attributing the problem to cheap cables detracts from the focus of this thread.

I am having the same issue too. I've a Mac mini i7 with 64 GB RAM . I've connected 3 monitors. 1 is Acer while the other two are 27bw Pavillion HP. They used to work perfectly all together but after the update, only two connect at the same time. If I remove one, 3rd one will start working.

It's just that all of a sudden, 3rd monitor support is gone. I've also tried complete wipe out and multiple reset. One of the monitor is connected directly through USB to HDMI while other two are connected through official Apple Adapter. I've tried mixing them up but basically 3rd monitor only works if either of the first two monitors are shut down