Connect 3 x Thunderbolt Displays to Mac mini 2018

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Connect 3 x Thunderbolt Displays to Mac mini 2018

Hi - I have 3 x Thunderbolt Displays and a Mac Mini 2018 3 GHz 6-Core Intel Core i5 with Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB. According to Apple I should be able to connect 3 displays ... 2 via USB-C and 1 via HDMI. I have connected 2 of the displays successfully using USB-C to Thunderbolt Adapters but cannot get the 3rd Thunderbolt Display to be responsive. (It does work as I have swapped the connectors around to test) - I have connected an HDMI TV successfully as a third monitor using an HDMI cable. I have a MiniDisplayPort to HDMI adapter that I am attempting to connect the Thunderbolt Display with ... none of the screens work using this cable .. could it be the cable itself (there seems to be a difference between minidisplay port and thunderbolt) - or am I simply unable to connect a third Thunderbolt screen to the Mac mini 2018 ? The adapter I am using is FOINNEX HDMI to Mini Displayport Adapter/Converter 4K@30Hz, Active HDMI Male to Mini DP Female Connector for MacBook Pro,Mac Mini,HP Laptop,Dell PC to Cinema Display(24/27 Inch), iMac Monitor - If it is the adapter - can anyone recommend one ? Thankyou in advance !!!!

Posted on Sep 17, 2023 8:07 AM

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Answer 1

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den.thed

Level 10

93,490 points

Sep 17, 2023 9:09 AM in response to Nik Walker

The support spec's are clear.

see > Mac mini (2018) - Technical Specifications

Video Support

Support for the following combination of maximum concurrent display setups:
Up to three displays:
- Two displays with 4096-by-2304 resolution at 60Hz connected via Thunderbolt 3 plus one display with 4096-by-2160 resolution at 60Hz connected via HDMI 2.0

You can not connect a third TB display to the HDMI port using any other type of adapters or cabling.

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Answer 2

Sep 17, 2023 6:44 PM in response to Nik Walker

Nik Walker wrote:

Sorry this isn't clear to me - why is that ? Is it because the Thunderbolt Display is a higher resolution than 4096-by-2160 resolution at 60Hz ?

You can't convert HDMI to Thunderbolt.

Thunderbolt is a general-purpose expansion protocol. It may not be as fast as a 16-lane PCIe slot, but it is very much like a way of adding PCIe devices outside of a computer's case.

You can get PCIe cards that add things like USB 3.0 ports and HDMI ports. Have you ever seen a device which plugged into a USB 3.0 port or a HDMI port and that gave you an external PCIe slot? Thought not …

The 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display doesn't have an especially high resolution. 2560x1440 would be well within the capabilities of DisplayPort or modern versions of HDMI. But it speaks Thunderbolt, probably to support the built-in dock. (Especially the FireWire 800 port – USB 2/3 didn't have what it took to support FW800 adapters.)

That's why the resolution of the Thunderbolt Display, alone, is NOT sufficient reason to conclude that you should be able to connect it via HDMI, DisplayPort, or any other non-Thunderbolt connection method.

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

93,490 points

Sep 17, 2023 2:14 PM in response to Nik Walker

Nik Walker wrote:

Sorry this isn't clear to me - why is that ? Is it because the Thunderbolt Display is a higher resolution than 4096-by-2160 resolution at 60Hz ?

Because the 2018 Mac mini only supports two Thunderbolt Displays.

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Answer 4

Sep 17, 2023 6:57 PM in response to hcsitas

hcsitas wrote:

An HDMI port on any Mac cannot be dongled to connect to anything other than an HDMI display. Chuck your dongles and stick to displays/TVs with HDMI ports. Nothing else will work.

Conversion from HDMI to single-link DVI is trivial. There are also HDMI to DisplayPort adapters (though very few of these, compared to the number of adapters that go in the other direction).

It's trying to convert HDMI or DisplayPort to Thunderbolt that won't work.

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Answer 5

hcsitas

Level 6

13,970 points

Sep 17, 2023 8:18 PM in response to Servant of Cats

Not so on the Mac, it won’t work no matter what the donglers/internet claims. HDMI-HDMI only.

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Answer 6

hcsitas

Level 6

13,970 points

Sep 17, 2023 12:53 PM in response to Nik Walker

An HDMI port on any Mac cannot be dongled to connect to anything other than an HDMI display. Chuck your dongles and stick to displays/TVs with HDMI ports. Nothing else will work.

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