Big Sur 11.1 External Display Issues!

Just received this message from Apple on Feedback I had provided regarding (lack of full) resolution on my 32 inch monitor and it not waking up after going into sleep mode:

"There are changes in the latest update, build 20E5217a (Big Sur 11.3 Beta 5), that may have resolved this issue."

I do not have this beta version installed. If anyone has this beta version installed can you please advise if the issues we have been going in this discussion group resolved. Thank you.

Hope a fix for this is in the works.

Currently on the fence as to whether to buy a Mac Mini M1, or build a fanless NUC.

I'm a long-time Mac user, and the reported performance of the M1 is appealing, but I was already mildly put off by the (in my opinion) excessive prices for memory and internal storage which can't be upgraded later on. With this display bug gaining attention (not affected me before as long-time MBP user with integrated screen) and some reporting it has persisted for years, I'm beginning to think again...

NUCs are great but alas, they are not a Mac or rather have MacOS.

I will simply say to consider if you get the Mini - 512 SSD or larger and absolutely get the 16 gigs RAM. The latter does make a difference.

Of course you could get a lower end NUC and either go with Windows or better yet, Linux. Either way you'll miss MacOS (even Big Sur incarnation). Use it and later consider either a Mini or wait until the next round of M1 Mac offerings come out some time this year.

Hopefully, items will be more in order then such as any bluetooth challenges, more ports, and on the Mini, better placement of the 3.5 jack for audio (lame location and unusually tight fit to a fault).

My post should have been clearer - I want to buy the Mac Mini M1, but I am concerned about these display issues people are experiencing.

What concerns me most is that they seem to have been around for several years and OS iterations and Apple hasn't solved them, so I'm not reassured they will solve them now either, until it actually happens...

I admit I only have one monitor display being used and the connection is a usb-c to DisplayPort mini. It works well with the Mini M1 directly connected. I haven't had a chance yet to do the same with a TB3 connected dock that is on order.

Perhaps the ideal is to look to see which monitors are in act working well with M1 Macs and perhaps that will help you decide until the problems are corrected. I know that the maker of my monitor BenQ supposedly is creating their own fix but so far, I have not seen it published (most likely firmware update).

I have tried to get the HDMI port to work with Big Sur 11.1, 11.2, and now 11.3 beta versions. The HDMI port won't connect to any display. I have no problem with the usb-c to HDMI, but since the Mac mini only supports one display per Thunderbolt controller that means I am maxed out at two displays: 1) my LG Ultrafine 4K via one T3 port and 2) one of the two supported displays I own (a 4K LG and Samsung 4K tv) in the usb-c to HDMI dongle slot. I have tried to use the thunderbolt/usb-c ports on the back of the Ultrafine to reorder my displays without success; the CalDigit T3 to Dual HDMI doesn't work. Apple support responses suggest they have no team solution for this or can't solve it. Haven't tried purchasing say a Sonnet Puck for $600. (but would that work?).

I have posted and complained before on this issue and I believe Apple still owe us all a proper fix or reply. Following some other users who solved their issue I did the same thing once I understood what to do but not why.

I have Mac Book Pro 15 (2019), MacBook Pro 16 (2020) and a Mac mini (2021) all show the same problem with the LF 49 (4K) and LG Ultrawide monitors that I use both with HDR. For the latter I need xSwitch because Apple does not provide the correct resolution. In all cases I am using USB-C to USB-C.

I have 2 for arounds.

1 - Using HDMI from the monitor to a port replicators and these connect to USB-C on the Macs.

2 - Using USB-C to USB-C (no interim hardware), on the monitors, open their settings and change Display-port 1.4 to 1.2, if you have OSD (on screen display) Lock on then you might need to turn that off before you can change the display port setting. Now I seem to have both screens working as expected including HDR.

I do not know if this would work for other monitor brands so sorry if it doesn't help you

Hi, thanks! I do have a usb-c to HDMI convertor available for my (4) Mac Mini 2018 Thunderbolt ports and like you I can get two monitors to work (T3 --> T3 for LG Ultrafine 4k 23.7" , and HDMI --> usb-c to HDMI convertor for either of my two other displays) but now have a spare monitor---I used to get 3 to work. I can only get 1 display per each T3 controller to work (even with convertors = two of four Mac mini 2018 T3 ports). Any third display won't be recognized in the HDMI port--the HDMI to HDMI connected display shows up in display settings but the Mac reports no signal and the monitor then goes dark.

I've tried switching cables and displays back and forth with different convertors and trying to daisy chain off the T3 ports in the back of the Ultrafine but no luck. However I configure I can't get the LG Ultrafine 23.7", the LG 27UL600, and the Samsung 4K to all display at the same time. So I switch out the LG27UL600 and the Samsung 4K on the usb-c to HDMI port convertor.

I only display content streamed from Netflix, Shudder, HBOMax, and appleTv . I can't figure out if or when any of the content is being sent to my Mac in HDR but I'm happy with what I see on all my displays. Of the three (all are 4K), the LG Ultrafine 23.7" display won't recognize HDR but automatically maps to DCI-P3 wide color gamut (looks great); my LG27UL600-W and My Samsung 4K NU6900 are both HDR displays but sRGB color space so I don't know how much they can push HDR above SDR but I'm happy with them as they are.

[Edited by Moderator]

By the way the above attempts are my personal tested results from downloading Big Sur 11.1 and 11.2. The moderator informs me that they will edit any direct comments for OS in progress, betas from this forum (they should be referred to the beta forum/s). But I did try all the above with general release Big Sur 11.1 and 11.2.

On MacMini M1 my BenQ PD2720U is limited to 4k @30Hz whenever connected with Thunderbolt3 (either TB3 to TB3 or TB3 to DP or even TB3 to HDMI). So far I don't see any update from BenQ despite being a new model (2020) and latest BigSur 11.3 r5 doesn't fix it. Even passing to Display Port v1.2 on the monitor doesn't make things better. Very annoying since TB3 connection is much more desktop friendly and comfortable over HDMI+USB.

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.

I have a Mac Mini and have never had issues with usb-c to HDMI for a second display. The Mac Mini 2018 is also limited to two displays --either through the HDMI (if it works) or a usb-c to HDMI you should be able to get the maximum two displays it supports--see below

The same o my site, my Dell P2415Q monitor is detected but in 2K resolution only what is not native resolution unfortunatelly :-( so the fonts are little fuzzy which is really bad.

[Edited by Moderator]

Same here...

Macbook pro 16" 2019 (Intel based)

Display Newskill Icarus 27" QHD (2K resolution at 60/120/144/165 Hz), DisplayPort 1.2 and HDMI 2.0

Cable USB-C -> DisplayPort that specifically accepts up to 8K@60Hz

Never had a problem with my old monitor 1920x1200 HP display.

The display works perfectly on other non-Apple computers with the same cable.

My issue is that every now and then (some times twice a day, other times 5 times in 60 min), the display switches OFF and a seconds after it auto-switches ON again. Occasionally, it can also happen that the display goes to sleep forever, and I have to disconnect and reconnect the cable for it to work again.

The issue happens no matter what frequency I make use of or what monitor configuration I use (tested all different frequencies, just in case). I have tried all usual different recipes (PRAM/SMC reset, ) but the issue remains.

I am trying the recipee from TiiRoo now, but without success for now (may be I have to reboot the computer for it to work?) so I will keep trying this one and if it works I will update this comment.