M1 Macbook Pro - External Monitor Blurry Text

Hi Grant,

In my case the *exact* same cable is connected to the 4k monitor when on the I7 Nvidia 1060 Windows PC. I just swung over the computer end from the PC to the Mac-Mini. The text is unusable for sustained periods and yet picture and video is fine. So why could that be explained by a dodgy cable? Yes I can read the text, sure, (just about), but it is slightly fuzzy, blurred and sends my eyes tired.

That said, I am willing to try anything, I so want to keep the MacMini. I get what Apple are wanting to do with M1 and it's such a great idea. It's a pocket speed demon and has grest potential. But, none of that is any good if I ca';t read the monitor and code on it and type my documents.

Please suggest to me an example of such a cable ??

Working on my iMac now - aaaahh, so nice.....

Best, Stephen

If your display is capable of using DisplayPort family connection, that always produces better results than HDMI. (But you cannot convert back from HDMI computer-port TO DisplayPort family on the display.)

 Menu > about this Mac > (System Report) > Graphics & Displays

shows TWO values for screen resolution.

the first is the actual resolution in use for graphics.

the second, labeled User Interface (UI) Looks like shows the effective resolution after scaling is applied to text items.

Check that both of these are as you expected, especially that the actual resolution is the maximum resolution for the display.

It is kind of you to check. I have played around with all those settings Grant. Yes, I am on iStyle text too and played with the blue light settings at great length. Doesn't improve the situation. Nor does swapping to Displayport. I should be getting the higher quality and bandwidth HDMI cable later so will try that. I cannot see that fixing the issue though, but worthy of a try. I surely hope it does because the M1 and MAc is superb.

Would a DP cable (1.2 max on this monitor) connected to the Thunderbolt port of the mini need to be an active cable do you know please?

That's really helpful many thanks for posting this information

As my monitor (a BenQ 1080p HD 24 inch) has DVI-D I will try using a DP to DVI-D cable. I am definitely not a tech person so why would this remedy the problem and presumably stop the M1 using YPbPR instead of RGB mode?

I have spoken to apple and they have told me that officially now the M1 does not have support for external monitor but they are working on it and hope to have a solution out this year (!) as there has been such a demand. Its a pity they don't make that clear when you purchase an M1 machine. What I can't understand is that there seem to be a lot of people attaching monitors to screens and multiple screens even for video work with M1 machines. How come they are able to do this? So there must be unofficial solutions somewhere - they can't all be working with cr*p display quality screens (sometimes three of them at once!). So frustrating.

It is astonishing Apple let the M1 out with this issue. Especially so since Apple prides itself on the user experience and the "feel" of the platform for which they charge a significant premium. Steve Jobs would turn in his grave..... I can accept that the issue might have been in the first releases of M1/Big Sur as an initial bug or code shortcoming/oversight. But we are now at 11.2.3 and you still haven't addressed this issue. There is also an issue with colour accuracy related to this.

Does not take Einstein to realise that many people are working from home more in the pandemic. As such, they need more screen real estate to remain productive i.e they need an external monitor attached to their machine. And, of course, you HAVE to use an external monitor with the Mini. A lot of MACs used in the corporate world nowadays. Employee productivity is going to start to suffer unless this matter is addressed and this will start to hit Apple sales when employees no longer can do their job properly and start calling in sick to work with headaches/eye strain induced ** this problem.

Apple, we know you read this and many other forums. You need to take this matter seriously and get a fix out in 11.3. It should be treated as a priority issue.

What I am doing now is doing my video and photographic work on the M1 and switching over to either my iMac or my Windows machine (M1 Mac and windows machines hooked up to same monitor on different DP/HDMI ports) when I need to do textual work. It is far from ideal and not really acceptable I'd argue. Windows is perfectly clear.

Still having this issue with Apple Multiport Adapter. I have got an LG Ultrawide monitor connected via HDMI 2560x1080 and my texts are blurry. With my Windows laptop everything is perfect. When will this be addressed??

I just received a new M1 Mac Mini and I noticed that colors and text on two separate monitors are not very clear. My first monitor is an LG QHD ultra-wide and my second is a AOC QHD 16:9 monitor. I called customer support and after some troubleshooting said that I should call the monitor manufactorers about the issue. I am not satisfied with this answer. I have a PC that runs Intel HD graphics and looks beautiful on both these monitors. If I cant resolve the issue I may just return it since this is a major deal breaker for me.

jdelamett6163--

You have posted a "me, too" on the end of a thread that is already so long that Readers can no longer provide you with customized help. (We can't keep straight who is talking, and the specifics of what Mac and what MacOS you have.)

If you would like to pursue YOUR issue, you need to start a new discussion and include what model of MacBook Pro by year, early mid late, and screen size, what version of MacOS and a summary of the issue in your own words, and .

I can start a new thread but its the same issue everyone on this thread has been talking about. After reading all the posts I think their doesnt need to be a customized solution but rather a generic one for everyone in the thread.

Thanks for the reply, i dont have a usb c hub with display port, if i still go with hdmi couls you please recommend the brand and type that will solve this issue? Maybe from amazon for instant. Really appreciate!

Nothing to do with this issue. I purchased such a certified cable at a cost of $25 and it made no difference to this issue. My previous cables with perfectly with Windows and the new cable did not improve matters on either windows or the M1 Mac.

Can we get a better answer than all of our hardware is faulted. I have a 4K monitor and when I plug it in with the same HDMI cable I notice that in the displays settings I get slightly different options. Instead of a choice of resolutions I get multiple options of either larger screen or larger text.

I am using a cheap QGeem USB C to HDMI cable to my ancient Samsung Syncmaster and was worried that I had an incompatible setup, but this suggestion work. Holding option and clicking on 'Scaled' and selecting a nearby resolution did the trick. Thank you!