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Can the base M4 Mini power a triple 4K/120hz/144hz LCD setup?
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M4 Mac mini only supports up to 60Hz displays if there are three displays. See tech specs.
Mac mini - Technical Specifications
See all the technical specifications for Mac mini with the M4 or M4 Pro chip.
www.apple.com
Can it support dual 4K/120hz or 144hz?M4 Mac mini only supports up to 60Hz displays if there are three displays. See tech specs.
Mac mini - Technical Specifications
See all the technical specifications for Mac mini with the M4 or M4 Pro chip.www.apple.com
"Help?"
Copied directly from the "technical specifications" page linked to above:
============
Display Support
M4
Simultaneously supports up to three displays:
Up to three displays: Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI
Up to two displays: One display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI
============
So...
It looks like the answer is, "no".
Copied directly from the "technical specifications" page linked to above:
============
Display Support
M4
Simultaneously supports up to three displays:
Up to three displays: Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI
Up to two displays: One display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 8K resolution at 60Hz or 4K resolution at 240Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI
============
So...
It looks like the answer is, "no".
Other high-bandwidth devices connected to the Mini will affect the total bandwidth available to monitors.
Only if they're connected to the same physical port (such as through a Thunderbolt dock.) If they're on separate ports on the back of the Mac, they don't share bandwidth.
But it's pretty simple - macOS is very limited on its support of multiple high-refresh-rate displays. My Mac Studio M1 Max only supports >60 Hz over HDMI. Using Thunderbolt port, to a Thunderbolt Display that supports 120 Hz when connected to my Windows computer, it only supports 60 Hz. Even the HDMI only supports >60 Hz under 4K.
(I have two displays, one 5K ultra wide 5120x2160 that supports 120 Hz at full resolution; one 4K "conventional" 3840x2160 that supports 240 Hz at full resolution. On my Macs, neither is supported at full resolution and full refresh rate. I can get 240 Hz at 1080p when connected via HDMI, and 1440p at 120 Hz, but above 1440p, it drops to 60 Hz.)
Resolution/refresh rate options don't change even when I have three Thunderbolt 3/4 devices connected. (Thunderbolt SSD, Thunderbolt 4 display, Thunderbolt 3 dock - while the fourth rear USB-C port has a 10Gb/s USB-C 3.2 dock connected!)
Although oddly, while I can't get >60 Hz out of Thunderbolt natively, if I use a USB-C-to-HDMI adapter rated for ultra-high-bandwidth (a Dell USB-C to HDMI 2.1 Adapter that supports 8K or 4K/120) I get the same support as the HDMI port on the back of the Studio directly. Even running through a Thunderbolt 3 dock's "Thunderbolt out" port! (So speed should definitely be dropped by using the dock itself.)
I haven’t done a lot of research on this topic, but have gained a little knowledge reading discussions.
trychen.com
We see that Apple’s claims must be reliant on DSC support (e.g., HDMI 2.1):
That is, 50Gbps+ of necessary bandwidth for 8K/60Hz exceeds the 40Gbps of Thunderbolt 4. However, when using DSC, the bandwidth requirement is 16.55Gbps.
There’s also:
That says ~8Gbps is dedicated to video output. Additional video bandwidth can encroach on general bandwidth. I don’t think that matters here, although, when I add up display configurations Apple mentions (using the DSC bandwidth requirement), they are within 32Gbps. Could be coincidence.
Anyway… If we refer back to the bandwidth calculator, triple 4K/144Hz would be 31.35Gbps (10.45Gbps with DSC x 3), which not only is <40Gbps but also <32Gbps. So, it seems plausible.
One of the caveats seemingly being, your displays/monitors must support DSC (i.e., HDMI 2.1 or DP 1.4a).
Mine can achieve up to the full refresh rate — I chose 120Hz because it’s divisible by 30 — via HDMI.
www.msi.com
With that, I’ll make my final segue… The other caveat apparently being cable quality:
If we consider Apple's supported display configurations:
And use this calculator:
Video Bandwidth Calculator - Chen Index
My personal website providing software and resources for learning and reference purposes only.
We see that Apple’s claims must be reliant on DSC support (e.g., HDMI 2.1):
That is, 50Gbps+ of necessary bandwidth for 8K/60Hz exceeds the 40Gbps of Thunderbolt 4. However, when using DSC, the bandwidth requirement is 16.55Gbps.
There’s also:
That says ~8Gbps is dedicated to video output. Additional video bandwidth can encroach on general bandwidth. I don’t think that matters here, although, when I add up display configurations Apple mentions (using the DSC bandwidth requirement), they are within 32Gbps. Could be coincidence.
Anyway… If we refer back to the bandwidth calculator, triple 4K/144Hz would be 31.35Gbps (10.45Gbps with DSC x 3), which not only is <40Gbps but also <32Gbps. So, it seems plausible.
One of the caveats seemingly being, your displays/monitors must support DSC (i.e., HDMI 2.1 or DP 1.4a).
Do your displays/monitors natively support HDMI 2.1/1.4a (i.e., DSC)?
Mine can achieve up to the full refresh rate — I chose 120Hz because it’s divisible by 30 — via HDMI.
MAG 321UP QD-OLED
MAG 321UP QD-OLED is the latest MSI QD-OLED panel, these displays exhibit the best picture quality when gaming and provide an ultimate immersive gaming experience with a super-fast 0.03ms response time.
www.msi.com
With that, I’ll make my final segue… The other caveat apparently being cable quality:
Yes, they both support it.
And strangely, my 2019 Intel MacBook Pro with Radeon Pro 5500M graphics supports both displays at >60 Hz just fine at the same time.
When at "native resolution / 2x Retina", I can get 120 Hz on both:
When I switch the 4K AW3225QF to "low-resolution" 1440p, it can do 240 Hz (I also switched the 5K ultra wide to a retina 'looks like' similar
And yes, the 5K is connected via Thunderbolt, same as when it is plugged in to my Apple Silicon Studio:
Wish I knew.
macOS also has problems with daisy-chasing displays or multiple displays on one connection, whereas the exact same Mac works perfectly when booted in to Windows 10.
