M1 Mac Mini Display Options

Question

M1 Mac Mini Display Options

Hi

I have just had the pleasure of purchasing an M1 Mac Mini, after upgrading from my 2013 iMac. However, the quality of the display is not as crisp as my old iMac and I am trying to figure out why.

I have a Samsung LC32T55 32" Curved monitor - this is not 4K but 1080p Full HD. It comes with a HDMI 1.4 port and a DisplayPort 1.2. I have it connected to the Mac Mini via HDMI to HDMI. The settings are 1920 x 1080 resolution with a 75 Hertz refresh rate (I have also tried the other available options of 60 and 50 Hertz but the display looks exactly the same). I use the monitor mainly for work, however, everything looks slightly blurry and enlarged - so when viewing a spreadsheet, for example, I have to zoom out slightly to see all the columns whereas on the iMac everything displays slightly smaller and is perfectly crisp, so no zooming out needed. I obviously purchased a super widescreen monitor to get a larger viewable area when working on documents like this, but it doesn't appear to have worked out as I planned.

As you can probably tell, I am not too knowledgeable when it comes to monitors. Can someone tell me if this is an issue because the monitor is not 4K or would it be better to try connecting via the DisplayPort instead? The monitor came with an HDMI cable, but not a DisplayPort, so I have been unable to test the difference. But, I am happy to purchase a DisplayPort to USB-C/Thunderbolt cable, if there is a high chance that this is the issue.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Michael

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Oct 4, 2021 3:09 AM

Reply

Answer 1

KMB_12

Community Specialist

Oct 5, 2021 6:46 AM in response to michaelhutton82

Hello Michael,

Congrats on your M1 Mac mini! We see your external display is not as clear as expected. We'd be happy to help!

We have a resource that should help solve this for you. Check it out here: If your external display isn't detected or appears blurry on your Mac.

If the issue continues, let us know the software installed on your Mac.

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!

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Answer 2

den.thed

Level 10

83,086 points

Oct 8, 2021 8:00 AM in response to michaelhutton82

I think that you have hit the proverbial nail square on the head.

If you what to get closer to the iMac's 27" display, you will need a higher resolution 27" or 32" display.

I also see a couple of things in your second screen shot that I would change.

go to Accessibility and check Reduce Transparency.
replace the Big Sur desktop background.
uncheck the True Tone settings.
turn off Night Shift.

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Answer 3

Oct 5, 2021 8:33 AM in response to KMB_12

Hi

Thanks so much for the reply. Unfortunately, I have already followed the steps in this article but still have the issue.

The max resolution my monitor goes to is 1920 x 1080 and this is the maximum resolution that system preferences show, even after pressing and holding the option key:

I am confused as, if the monitor is set to the maximum resolution already, I cannot understand why the screen is so blurry and windows are enlarged. It is making it very hard to work, as I am having to constantly zoom out on each app to be able to work effectively.

Regarding the software, the system is pretty standard as it is brand new. I have installed some software that I use for work, but I assume this won't be related as this was all installed after the issue already existed, as the problem has been there since unboxing the Mini and plugging it straight into the monitor.

I have been doing some research and see that the M1 Mac Mini does currently have a fault whereby it cannot detect resolutions for ultra-wide screens and therefore, this software offers a temporary fix until Apple rolls out an official fix: https://www.madrau.com/. Despite mine not being an ultra-wide screen and the operating system being able to detect the max resolution already, I still gave this software a try just in case to see if this fixed the issue, but still no difference.

If you have any other ideas, that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Michael

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Answer 4

den.thed

Level 10

83,086 points

Oct 5, 2021 9:03 AM in response to michaelhutton82

I believe that it is the HDMI connection and/or cable that is limiting your resolution selection.

If I had that same setup, I would test a USB-C to DisplayPort cable to see if that gives the correct resolution for that display.

https://www.google.com/search?

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Answer 5

Oct 7, 2021 6:28 AM in response to den.thed

Thanks for the replies. I did wonder if the issue could be the HDMI connection, so I have purchased a DisplayPort to USB-C cable and given that a try, but unfortunately it has made no difference.

In doing some more research and learning about how screen resolutions work, I am now wondering if the issue is the monitor not having a high enough resolution for its size. My new monitor is a 32" widescreen with a 1920 x 1080 resolution, whereas my 2013 iMac has a 27" with a 2560 x 1440 resolution. I assume this would explain why the picture on the new monitor is not as sharp and everything is enlarged slightly. It looks like the recommended resolution for a 32" widescreen monitor should be something like 3840 x 2160 instead. Would this sound correct?

I just find it hard to understand why Samsung would sell monitors with this resolution when the picture is so bad...it just doesn't seem right that the picture would be blurry when it should have full HD quality. I assume there is no way to force a monitor to work to a resolution beyond its limits? When looking on the Samsung website at their widescreen monitors, most of their range has a 1920 x 1080 resolution, regardless of their screen size.

Thanks

Michael

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