Big Sur 11.1 External Display Issues!

weird issues here too on mac mini dell ultrasharp 49", after update the lowest res was the default selected and i cant even use the one i previously using. direct usb-c to usb-c. all the options. highest resolution is now 38xx.

I took delivery of my new 2020 MacBook Pro 13 a few days ago. I have a Philips 499p9h monitor. Yesterday I went to set up the Mac, and to connect to the monitor with a thunderbolt to usb-c cable (Belkin). The Mac isn't detecting the monitor, and the monitor is saying no source. Sounds very similar to the issue that others are having.

Using a different connection than USB-C fixed the problem for me. I'm running a 42" 4K LG display via an Elgato Docking Station with DisplayPort now, which works as expected. Connecting the same display to the USB-C port on said Elgato Docking Station does not recognize the screen at all.

Same issue. 16MBP from 2020, BENQ EW3270U 4k monitor connected over usb-c/thunderbolt to DP cable by belkin.

Prior to 11.1 update everything was working honkey dory at 4k native resolution, HDR and 60hz worked fine.

After it - didnt wake up properly. couldnt detect monitor correctly, couldnt detect resolutions properly. Couldnt detect refresh rate correctly. Good job! /s

Reading here - it seems it plagues DP connection. So now, I went and got a Thunderbolt to 60hz HDMI adapter by Satechi. Plugged it in, and laptop woke up, detected res properly et cetera. It does seem I have lost the HDR detection, but I can live with that - I wasnt really using that in the first place.

I have a MBP 16'' 2019 with an ACER XR38 and can confirm.

Big Sur 11.1 has this issue.

Big Sur 11.2 (beta) has this issue as well. I couldn't continue working with a 30hz external monitor so went back to Catalina.

However, my biggest reason to downgrade to Catalina was Big Sur's unprofessional Design Language. Ugh.

I have this issue with an LG 4k monitor via USB-C. My only solution is to continually powercycle the monitor until it eventually gets the right resolution. It's a pretty mundane game I play every morning before work.

My workaround (MacBook Pro 13 2020 into a Philips 49 monitor) is to run a usb-c to HDMI cable. So now I have the screen in action, but when I open up Displays it won’t give me options for the correct resolution/aspect ratio. Really frustrating. Does anyone know if Apple are aware of this? I’m stunned that such a fundamental flaw hasn’t been fixed - this is rendering my home office set-up very uncomfortable.

Same monitor, BenQ PD2720U on M1 MacMini - with BigSur 11.1 - it can only display full 4k/60Hz if connected via HDMI port directly. Any other connection involving USB-C/TB3 drops to just 4k/30Hz: TB3 cable, USBC to DP, USBC to HDMI adapter.

I had the same issue. I spoke to an Apple tech rep about two weeks ago (early Dec 2020). The rep told me that with the move to Big Sur, the only way to use, for example, a MacBook Air (2020), MacBook Pro (2018), or iMac (2019) as an external monitor is to purchase an external monitor combined with the use of Apple TV. iPads can serve as a tiny external monitor via Sidecar, but otherwise one is out of luck.

I'm experiencing the same issue. After updating my Macbook Pro to Big Sur 11.1 i cannot connect my LG external screen using a DisplayPort-USB-c cable anymore. With Catalin I didn't have any problems, but now my Macbook doesn't recognize the screen any longer. Now, i am forced to use a HDMI cable but even that option has problem because the picture is now frequently flickering.

At work though, I am using an older LG screen and that screen I can still connect with the same DisplayPort-USBc cable. I really don't understand it.

Does anyone have a suggestion or do I have to wait for a fix? It's absolute ridiculous that Apple changes the OS in a way that I cannot use equipment anymore that I have bought for a lot of money!!!

I don't know much about these problems. So I can be of no help unfortunately.

But I want to voice the Big Sur/external monitor problem so Apple can do something about it. I have my MacBook Pro 13inch 2017 on a Philips 279C9 monitor. The display lags sometimes and mostly produces bad images (like blurry screen saver images) or slow with loading of images.

Luckily, USB-C still recognizes the monitor though.

I have the same issue. MacBook Pro 16, MacSales thunderbolt 3 dock usb-C cable.

BenQ 32 4k direct connect to MacBook, LG5K connected to dock via usb-C cable.

LG is always ok - used as secondary display

BenQ 32 is the primary display - when starting up it opens at 1080p. After a restart, PRAM reset, it may work correctly, sometimes 2-3 PRAM resets.

Once it goes to sleep or shut down it's right back to the same thing. Highly frustrating.

It worked perfect before 11.1.

Recently I got a MB Pro 16 that came with Catalina. After connecting my LG 27UL850-W 4K display colours were horrible, I found a solution in another thread a seriously I was considering update to Big Sur with the hope that this bug would be fixed but it looks it’s only getting worse 😩

On the other hand, when I use the same display with my old MB Pro 2013, colours and definition are gorgeous, so, no thank you, I won’t get Big Sur for a while as I do need best performance in my external monitor for my photography work.

I'm experiencing the same issue with my LG 27UL550-W monitor.

Originally I replaced my USBC to display port cable until I realized this was an issue with Big Sur 11.1. I've called Apple and reported the problem they didn't seem too concerned and tried to get me to do a number of things like reinstalling big Sur 11.1, they also recommended I wipe out my computer completely and reinstall which doesn't seem to make sense because this is obviously a bug with 11.1. I also did PRAM reset and SMC reset.

I didn't feel very confident after I got off the phone with Apple, it seems like they didn't want to contribute this bug to the Big Sur 11.1 that's why it's super important we try and get as many people as possible to report this issue.

Same issue with MBP 16“ and Benq 4k 32“ monitor an Wacom Cintiq 22“. Trying to switch off/on and switching the ports. Now it works again. But hopefully Apple fix that issue asap!!

Roger from Germany