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User profile for user: danique078
danique078 Author
User level: Level 1
4 points

Mac mini 2012 resolution

I recently bought a upgraded 2012 mac mini and my problem is that it isn't showing the full resolution of my monitor,


The mac mini should support up to 2560x1080 so i bought the LGWP500 ultrawide monitor with that resolution, only has a hdmi input


First tried hdmi to hdmi which didn't work because after some searching found out hdmi output of the mac is maxed to 1080 and that you should use mini display to hdmi so i bought a 4k mini display to hdmi but in systempreferences it still doesn't show the resolution, after some more searching i thought it was the version of the cable so i bought an older 4k mini display to hdmi but still doesn't show the resolution,.


when i turn on the monitor it gives me a notification that the screen isn't being used to its max resolution and that i need to adjust it on my mac, currently using the monitor on normal width instead of ultrawide (beacuse ultrawide on 1080p looks horrible) but would love to know how i can use it with the right resolution.

Posted on Oct 9, 2022 8:02 AM

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User profile for user: Johnb-one
Johnb-one
User level: Level 6
9,180 points

Posted on Oct 9, 2022 3:24 PM

Just a quick note: den. thed is quite correct.. a monitor with DisplayPort/Mini DisplayPort + hdmi input would be preferred over one that has hdmi 2.0 only… as your LG ******WP 500 has… that being said, use a better quality of hdmi cable, one that definitely supports HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2… it should say if it does or not… it should give you a resolution of around 2k ( 2160) . Hdmi 1.4 cable that doesn’t support hdcp 2.2 will max out at 1080 p… i don’t know if the hdmi cable LG supplied/gave you with the monitor is hdmi 1.4 or hdmi 2.0 or what.. anyways, an hdmi 2.0 cable that’s compliant and of better quality is readily available and could be pretty affordable. I’ve always gone with monoprice as they are affordable, they offer free shipping, and I’ve never had a bad one from them… just my 2 cents, though


john b

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User profile for user: Johnb-one
Johnb-one
User level: Level 6
9,180 points

Oct 9, 2022 3:24 PM in response to den.thed

Just a quick note: den. thed is quite correct.. a monitor with DisplayPort/Mini DisplayPort + hdmi input would be preferred over one that has hdmi 2.0 only… as your LG ******WP 500 has… that being said, use a better quality of hdmi cable, one that definitely supports HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2… it should say if it does or not… it should give you a resolution of around 2k ( 2160) . Hdmi 1.4 cable that doesn’t support hdcp 2.2 will max out at 1080 p… i don’t know if the hdmi cable LG supplied/gave you with the monitor is hdmi 1.4 or hdmi 2.0 or what.. anyways, an hdmi 2.0 cable that’s compliant and of better quality is readily available and could be pretty affordable. I’ve always gone with monoprice as they are affordable, they offer free shipping, and I’ve never had a bad one from them… just my 2 cents, though


john b

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User profile for user: den.thed
den.thed
User level: Level 10
83,230 points

Oct 9, 2022 8:32 AM in response to danique078

What size is that LGWP500?


Hold the ALT (option) key and click on the Scaled button to see what other resolutions are available.


You also may want to try the above, with a better quality HDMI cable than the one that shipped with the LG display.


FWIW ideally your best bet for connecting a wide screen to the 2012 Mac mini, is to get one with DisplayPort input and then use a MiniDisplay Port to DisplayPort cable.

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User profile for user: woodmeister50
woodmeister50
User level: Level 7
20,563 points

Oct 10, 2022 5:20 AM in response to danique078

It has been reported in the past with the older MacMinis that often a display with HDMI inputs regardless of the connection port on the Mini, the Mini only respond to it as it would if the Mini was connected to the HDMI port. This may be true of the 2012 Mini.


The solution those people found was using the DisplayPort connection on the display resolved the issue. Unfortunately, your display is only HDMI.


While there are third party software that can force the Mini to other resolutions, they can also render the Mini "blind" and useless (the vendors cation strongly that this could happen).

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User profile for user: den.thed
den.thed
User level: Level 10
83,230 points

Oct 10, 2022 6:19 AM in response to woodmeister50

woodmeister50 wrote:

It has been reported in the past with the older MacMinis that often a display with HDMI inputs regardless of the connection port on the Mini, the Mini only respond to it as it would if the Mini was connected to the HDMI port. This may be true of the 2012 Mini.

Yup' your memory is good. 😉


I also recall that the wandering macOS versions lost some of the display resolution versatility that the old OS X cat versions had. I could test this on my old 2012 Mac mini (turned media server), but it's too much work digging out the old hardware, just to prove a moot point.

The solution those people found was using the DisplayPort connection on the display resolved the issue. Unfortunately, your display is only HDMI.

Yup' that is why my initial closing response included,


"FWIW ideally your best bet for connecting a wide screen to the 2012 Mac mini, is to get one with DisplayPort input and then use a MiniDisplay Port to DisplayPort cable"

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Mac mini 2012 resolution

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