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Mac Mini M4 - Random HDMI Blackouts
- Thread starter ChpTrk
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It's an issue with the actual ports. And again it's not limited to just the Mac mini as my Dell Micro does the same thing. I have personally tried many different HDMI-HDMI cables from the ones that came with my HP and Acer monitors along with many different brands of quality HDMI cables.
I am using HDMI to DisplayPort cables with my Dell since that is all it has. But the monitors still blank out just like the Acer and HP monitors on my 2018 and M4 Mini's when using HDMI-HDMI cables.
No amount of swapping cables helps. The only thing that helps with the Mini's and the Dell Optiplex Micro is using HDMI - USBc cables.
Some people have fixed it with new cables, whereas many others have not, but you'll never know unless you try it. I was responding to someone saying they had used a "decent cable", whatever that means.
BTW, this is also an issue with my 3rd generation Apple TV 4K on one TV setup. My 1st generation Apple TV 4K works fine with the same cables and same TV setup.
I never had an issue with my 2010 Mac mini when using the HDMI port. The same monitors with the same cables caused issues with the 2018 mini and M4 Mini.
My Dell has 3 DisplayPort's and one USBc 4 port. The monitors have HDMI ports. So I use HDMI to DisplayPort cable on three monitors and a HDMI to USBc cable on the fourth monitor. The three connected by HDMI-DisplayPort blank out just like monitors connected to the 2018 and M4 Mini's by HDMI-HDMI blank out.
And yes YMMV when it comes to the HDMI issues. Some have no problems, others have screen that go black for a second or two and others have bigger issues. I will say that the M4 Mini has less issues than the 2018 Mini
My Dell has 3 DisplayPort's and one USBc 4 port. The monitors have HDMI ports. So I use HDMI to DisplayPort cable on three monitors and a HDMI to USBc cable on the fourth monitor. The three connected by HDMI-DisplayPort blank out just like monitors connected to the 2018 and M4 Mini's by HDMI-HDMI blank out.
And yes YMMV when it comes to the HDMI issues. Some have no problems, others have screen that go black for a second or two and others have bigger issues. I will say that the M4 Mini has less issues than the 2018 Mini
I'm getting a new LG 6K monitor. I was thinking of using it with HDMI 2.1 instead of Thunderbolt 4, but we shall see if it runs into connectivity issues with HDMI.
BTW, my M1 Mac mini and my M4 Mac mini both worked fine with my Huawei MateView 28" monitor over USB-C... until macOS 26 Tahoe. After I installed Tahoe, the Mac mini does not wake up the monitor after it sleeps. Irritating.
BTW, my M1 Mac mini and my M4 Mac mini both worked fine with my Huawei MateView 28" monitor over USB-C... until macOS 26 Tahoe. After I installed Tahoe, the Mac mini does not wake up the monitor after it sleeps. Irritating.
I get this everytime I use my M4 Mini and it's incredibly annoying. Almost always a 2 sec black out. I've tried 3 different HDMI cables that I already had and no luck.
I'm considering exchanging it at Costco for another unit but only if the new one won't do this anymore.
I'm considering exchanging it at Costco for another unit but only if the new one won't do this anymore.
Hi there, little late in the game but hope my comment helps at least for the state of mind. I got a Macbook Pro 14 M4 base model in July. I got a not so cheap LG 4k 60Hz monitor, it is a very quality monitor, it is even almost match my Macbook's display colors. But this screen goes black for a few sec like 2-3 sec thing, well I have it too. I tried the factory HDMi cable what comes with my montior, I bought a quality 8K Rode HDMi Cable. Same thing happend few times. Finally I bought a 2.1 Super High Speed HDMi 10k UHD 120Hz (its is even got Ethernet in it) from inakustik, very high quality, it was way over my budget back then but I wanted to solve this phenomenon. For weeks it was OK, no problem at all, no blackout. But after MacOS26 update the phenomenon came back. My monitor even flashes between orange and normal sometimes, like when you turn on and off TrueTone. What is interesting in this matter and I don't really saw anybody talk about this, but you can reproduce this "screen goes black for a 2-3 sec" thing in System Settings when you change your refreshing rate of you monitor, in my case from 60Hz to 50Hz or any other then back to 60Hz. Exactly the same thing happens every time you change the refreshing setting value. I also think this is not a hardware issue at all. This is some kind of software or HDMi communication issue between the Mac and monitors or cables. Kinda like it is refreshing the connection or communication but it goes black at the same time. If there is a hardver problem then it would get worse and worse but this isn't the case. Worth mentioning again that this thing happening with me on my M4 MacBook not even with MacMini. Sometimes nothing for a few days/weeks sometimes happen once or twice, and before Tahoe nothing at all. It is more of an annoyance or a phenomenon than a real hardver issues or fault.
I have two DELL P2720D in my Mac Mini M4
first display connected USB-C - HDMI cable
second HDMI - HDMI
Second monitor (use HDMI) randomly goes black, signal missing etc.
I have try new cable (High-Speed HDMI Cable,), but no luck..
Now I change both screens to use USB-C - DisplayPort
So far two days without problems!!
first display connected USB-C - HDMI cable
second HDMI - HDMI
Second monitor (use HDMI) randomly goes black, signal missing etc.
I have try new cable (High-Speed HDMI Cable,), but no luck..
Now I change both screens to use USB-C - DisplayPort
So far two days without problems!!
Am running into this right now with a brand new M4 Mini.
Even came prepared and had bought a new HDMI 4K-rated cable beforehand since I had experienced that same issue on a Linux box. No dice. These black screens are real heart stoppers too. They last just long enough that it looks like a system crash in the making.
I guess fuzzing around with screen res parameters might resolve the issue. For now I've set this thing to 30hz refresh rate which in my experience is enough to at least not see the black screens anymore. Time to look into adapters for the many Displayport cables I have collected over the years...
Even came prepared and had bought a new HDMI 4K-rated cable beforehand since I had experienced that same issue on a Linux box. No dice. These black screens are real heart stoppers too.
They last just long enough that it looks like a system crash in the making.I guess fuzzing around with screen res parameters might resolve the issue. For now I've set this thing to 30hz refresh rate which in my experience is enough to at least not see the black screens anymore. Time to look into adapters for the many Displayport cables I have collected over the years...
I have an m4 Mini using Sequoia.
I have a Dell Ultrasharp display connected via HDMI-to-HDMI.
I've seen the display "go black" several times.
It doesn't happen often, and it's not predictable.
It lasts for about 2 seconds, then "comes back" on its own.
I'll take a wild GUESS that something (don't know what) is causing a momentary loss of "synch" between the Mini and the display, hence, the loss of the display for lack of a good input signal.
That's followed by a quick "re-negotiation" of the connection and the display comes back.
Again, that's an uneducated guess.
The cable may have something to do with it.
I'm using the cable that came with the display...
I have a Dell Ultrasharp display connected via HDMI-to-HDMI.
I've seen the display "go black" several times.
It doesn't happen often, and it's not predictable.
It lasts for about 2 seconds, then "comes back" on its own.
I'll take a wild GUESS that something (don't know what) is causing a momentary loss of "synch" between the Mini and the display, hence, the loss of the display for lack of a good input signal.
That's followed by a quick "re-negotiation" of the connection and the display comes back.
Again, that's an uneducated guess.
The cable may have something to do with it.
I'm using the cable that came with the display...
This is a common problem with borderline* HDMI cables. However, it's also a problem on some Apple + third party display combos, even with good cables.
*Some borderline cables work fine with certain hardware combos but not others. For example, on my home theatre system, some cables did not work properly with my Sony video player, but worked fine with another player. A new cable worked fine with both setups.
I have same issue on a Mac Mini M2 running Sequoia. I'm using a JuicEBitz 4k rated 2.0 cable and have been debating whether I should try the new cable suggestions and go with an 8k 2.1 HDMI, but sounds like there's no guarantee it will make any difference... Hmmm. May have to just buy one and see what happens. 🫤
Exactly, seems like Apple might be a bit too focused on its own displays here. Bit strange to prominently include an HDMI port and so few USB-C on the rear of the Mini if they are not making sure they can actually handle corner cases well.
This was my first foray into HDMI with Apple ever - and I just cut it short and went back to Displayport. Those black screens better not show up ever again.
I agree, which is why I posted my comment about how this happens even when using Apple's own Screen Sharing app. No cables are involved.
HOWEVER, if you do have bad cables, these dropouts can and will occur, but that's with any computer/OS...
The blackouts aren't exactly like screen flickering though. At least on my setup it was always a single black screen event that lasted like a second or two. Followed by a stable picture for a good while. Might be two entirely different issues.
Just to throw a spanner in the works, I am running a 2018 base Mini hooked up to a Dell S2721QS via HDMI. I have been having the short term blackout problem since shortly after purchase in Feb, 2019.
Indeed. My link in post #3 points out how this is longstanding issue. This isn’t a single system, platform (e.g., M4), or software (e.g., macOS Tahoe) issue.
The (supposedly) better HDMI cable has eliminated the issue up to 60 Hz. Although, I noticed when the monitor was set above that (i.e., 120 or 165 Hz), the occasional dropouts would still happen. I would describe them as rare, though they occurred nonetheless.
Following the link chain, you get to:
Even though I have no intention of using that solution (i.e., tape around the HDMI connector), the theory of the problem being also power-related did interest me; it seems plausible.
All of my computers are on the same circuit. However, as an experiment, I purchased two (new/fresh) surge protectors and plugged the Mac mini into one and the display/monitor into the other. This apparently made no different. I wasn’t really expecting it to, but figured it was a cheap enough attempted solution.
But… I do have a new experiment going. Last September, I purchased a UPS. This was actually its own experiment. My dual GPU PC was tripping the breaker frequently. The power consumption was reported (by outlet monitors) at up to ~850W. Actually, anything >~600W (e.g., Core i7 11700K and RTX 3090) could cause the trip. I was suspecting transient power spikes as the obvious culprit. Well, that does appear to have been the case, as even as much as ~1kW from “gaming” PCs through the UPS no longer causes the circuit breaker trip. Anyway… Back to the HDMI and Mac issue. I initially kept other devices off of (i.e., not connected) the UPS because I wasn’t sure how well it could/would absorb such (obviously) extreme transients. However, the UPS has been performing better than expected, as noted earlier. As such, I’ve slowly added other items to it. Related to our discussion, the first was the monitor/display. I cannot recall any instance of brief blackout. Nonetheless, now I also have the Mac mini connected and, as of about a week ago, I’ve switched back to the 120 Hz refresh (UHD, looks like FHD). So far, smooth sailing.
I don’t have the knowledge (e.g., electrical engineering, developer of connection standards) to explain why this is. Also, assuming this does seemingly alleviate the dropouts. However, if required to submit a conclusion, I assume the issue involves signal quality and syncing, timing problems.
If someone can explain the possible reasons for these outcomes and/or has a more conclusive way to test, verify, I’m interested and probably willing to give it a go.
I've seen the flickering issue now too on mine. So there's a proper black out typical for a borderline cable/resolution issue that lasts for a bit and also a very brief and so far very rare flicker that indeed might be software for all I know. Really does look like two separate issues to me.
Apple what have you done? Amateurs... 🙄
My fancy USB-DP cable is due today, lets see if at least one issue can be dealt with.
Edit: Indeed - so far and with the Displayport cable hooked up since yesterday: no more black screens and I haven't seen any flickering either. Computer now seems to work like you'd expect it to. HDMI might be cursed on this thing.
Apple what have you done? Amateurs... 🙄
My fancy USB-DP cable is due today, lets see if at least one issue can be dealt with.
Edit: Indeed - so far and with the Displayport cable hooked up since yesterday: no more black screens and I haven't seen any flickering either. Computer now seems to work like you'd expect it to. HDMI might be cursed on this thing.
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