Mac Studio multi display management: Rinse and repeat 10+ times a day

[sebalvarez]

Feedback Assistant

feedbackassistant.apple.com

I submitted feedback about this multiple times, doesn't do squat.

 

[handheldgames]

I run 2 4K displays via thunderbolt and a 1080p projector via hdmi. With that being said, with the use of SwitchResX, I have no problems and can switch between display configurations on the fly. While I have heard whiners complaining that I bought this expensive MacStudio, I shouldn't have to spend $16 for a piece of software to control my displays. Uggh. It's less than the cost of a good cable.

 

[sebalvarez]

While I have heard whiners complaining that I bought this expensive MacStudio, I shouldn't have to spend $16 for a piece of software to control my displays. Uggh. It's less than the cost of a good cable.

Well, you can me whiner if you want, I don't give a crap, you're some nobody that I don't know. To me, and I'm sure to millions of other people, a state of the art computer like this should have state of the art multi display management, period. And the reality is I already bought a license for SwitchresX that I used in Monterey with mixed success, because that program, or any other, can't do **** about a piece of crap code that reports the display situation to it.

But i haven't installed it after I wiped my internal drive and installed Ventura, because I want to make Apple fix this crap, because nobody should pay over $5,000 for a computer and have to do this crap several times a day, period.

 

[Jayson A]

Well, you can me whiner if you want, I don't give a crap, you're some nobody that I don't know. To me, and I'm sure to millions of other people, a state of the art computer like this should have state of the art multi display management, period. And the reality is I already bought a license for SwitchresX that I used in Monterey with mixed success, because that program, or any other, can't do **** about a piece of crap code that reports the display situation to it.

But i haven't installed it after I wiped my internal drive and installed Ventura, because I want to make Apple fix this crap, because nobody should pay over $5,000 for a computer and have to do this crap several times a day, period.

It's a macOS problem and the user shouldn't have to be forced to buy a third party app to do something that is built into every other operating system. It should "just work" like "magic".

Apple has gotten very sloppy over the last few years. There will be GLARING bugs that are so obvious and annoying that it's almost like they don't even use the software themselves. Apple used to pride themselves with the user experience of just using software and hardware that worked harmoniously together, and now it's a mess.

I feel your pain. I'm going through a situation right now where my hidden apps won't return to their original locations after the monitor has gone to sleep, but visible apps are fine. I hide my apps a lot to keep things clean looking and I've never had an issue like this using the same 4K monitor on my old classic Mac Pro (running Mojave). I've tried different cables, different ports, new user, minimizing instead of hiding, and nothing seems to solve the problem completely.

I've resorted to writing Apple Scripts to put my windows back where I want them.

 

[vapnfaan]

So we are not sure if this happens with Apple Displays?

I wonder what all of our problems have in common...

I am running the same exact monitors bought at the same time. ASUS ROG Strix 43"
One monitor at 144hz on Displayport and other is only 60hz since HDMI wont get any higher
I run them in extended mode, Not mirror mode.

I feel like this could be a simple fix? There has to be thousands of people running 2 displays on a Studio and nobody is complaining about it? You would think this issue would be posted all over the internet.

 

[vapnfaan]

So I’ve had a similar issue with HP monitors that tend to not share any identifying information about the monitors and the Mac gets confused. My solution was using one display connected to thunderbolt 3 and the other to HDMI and the Mac never had an issue identifying the main monitor correctly after that.

Thats my current setup and i still have this problem every single time...

 

[tstafford]

So we are not sure if this happens with Apple Displays?

I wonder what all of our problems have in common...

I am running the same exact monitors bought at the same time. ASUS ROG Strix 43"
One monitor at 144hz on Displayport and other is only 60hz since HDMI wont get any higher
I run them in extended mode, Not mirror mode.

I feel like this could be a simple fix? There has to be thousands of people running 2 displays on a Studio and nobody is complaining about it? You would think this issue would be posted all over the internet.

Definitely happens with Apple displays - I experienced it with my ASDs. Seems fixed now for me (now three ASDs) - hasn't happened in months.

 

[CMMChris]

I submitted feedback about this multiple times, doesn't do squat.

I feel you. I have tons of bug reports open myself, some of them without attention for several years. Still, bugging them is the best way to get attention. The more people file a report, the more likely it is they will finally react.

 

[macpro2000]

just sell the Samsungs and buy a couple ASDs or XDRs. Easy.

 

[Jayson A]

This is how I fixed mine. No matter how messed up my windows get, I just hit F19 and they go back to the way I want them. I wrote an AppleScript

 

[theluggage]

One thing I’ve noticed with the two Mateviews on my studio is that the displays take about 30 seconds to fully power up from cold, even though the logo appears almost immediately. Wait 30 secs before powering on the Mac and it pretty reliably starts up with the displays all shipshape. Boot up while the displays are still initialising, the Mac doesn’t detect them and you have to re-select the USB-C input on each display before they register. They seem reasonably well behaved after that, though.

I wonder if some of these problems are caused by displays taking different times to wake up from energy saving mode?

 

[YodaATmac]

Just wondering: have you ever tried to turn of the power management of the monitors them self?

Eco Solution; Energy Saving; Eco Sensor; No Signal Power Off - Samsung DC43H User Manual [Page 84]

Samsung DC43H Manual Online: eco solution, Energy Saving, Eco Sensor, No Signal Power Off, Auto Power Off. Menu M System Eco Solution Enter E Eco Solution Energy Saving Eco Sensor No Signal Power Off Auto Power Off – The Displayed Image May Differ Depending On The Model. Reduce The...

www.manualslib.com

 

[BrianBaughn]

There's always a chance that Apple will fix this but we've all seen issues go years and not be addressed.

Honestly, one might have better luck getting Samsung to tell how to alter the model number in the monitor's firmware.

 

[designerdave72]

I have an update on my display settings. I uninstalled SwitchresX and installed Cordless Dog’s ‘Stay’ and after using it for a couple of days it works much better. There is the odd window that fails but better one window than many!

 

[Jayson A]

I have an update on my display settings. I uninstalled SwitchresX and installed Cordless Dog’s ‘Stay’ and after using it for a couple of days it works much better. There is the odd window that fails but better one window than many!

Do you have to press a command or does the app sense when the screen is woken up?

Edit: just looked up Stay and that’s basically what my AppleScript does except I can attach a keyboard command to it.

You can even do it without third party software by using “Shortcuts” or “Automator”

I’ll post my script below and tell you how to modify it…

 

[designerdave72]

Do you have to press a command or does the app sense when the screen is woken up?

You can assign a hotkey (or up to 8 hotkeys) if you wish and yes it works when the Mac wakes up. A dialogue box briefly appears after it's been done. Would be good to see that script.

 

[Jayson A]

You can assign a hotkey (or up to 8 hotkeys) if you wish and yes it works when the Mac wakes up. A dialogue box briefly appears after it's been done. Would be good to see that script.

When I get home I’ll share it here.

 

[Jayson A]

You can assign a hotkey (or up to 8 hotkeys) if you wish and yes it works when the Mac wakes up. A dialogue box briefly appears after it's been done. Would be good to see that script.

As promised, here's the scripts.

First you need to write a script that figures out your current preferred window position. Adjust it based on which app you want to get the settings for.

tell application "Finder" to get the bounds of front window

Then, for the actual script, copy the results from the first script into this script. Obviously change it to use the apps and window settings that you prefer.

try
   tell application "Finder"
      if exists front window then
         set the bounds of the front window to {736, 324, 1825, 1057}
      end if
   end tell

   if application "Safari" is running then tell application "Safari" to set the bounds of front window to {320, 118, 2240, 1262}

   if application "Messages" is running then tell application "Messages" to set the bounds of the front window to {514, 570, 1325, 1252}

   if application "Music" is running then tell application "Music" to set the bounds of the front window to {518, 216, 2043, 1164}

   if application "Mail" is running then tell application "Mail" to set the bounds of the front window to {433, 179, 2127, 1202}
end try

Then to assign a keyboard shortcut to it, make a Shortcut or Automator service menu action and assign it a keyboard command.

That's it! Enjoy!

 

[Jayson A]

Just bought Stay, it works really well! I don't even have to do anything, it just works when it detects a display has been connected or disconnected

 

[pappl]

Here is a cool App for Mac which launches on startup automaticly:

https://hidock.app/

HiDock is an app that lets you set different Dock settings for different display configurations.

Maybe it sets the main monitor configuration?

 

[sn1p3r845]

I shouldn't have to spend $16 for a piece of software to control my displays. Uggh. It's less than the cost of a good cable.

This is literally basic computer functionality ever since multi-display has been a thing. It's not about the cost at all, this should be the last thing users need to worry about.

 

[Jayson A]

This is literally basic computer functionality ever since multi-display has been a thing. It's not about the cost at all, this should be the last thing users need to worry about.

My issue is just a single display where the windows won’t go back to where I had them after a display power cycle.

 

[sebalvarez]

just sell the Samsungs and buy a couple ASDs or XDRs. Easy.

Great solution! Why didn't I think of that before. How dumb of me!

I assume you're going to give me either the $3,200 + tax for the Apple Studio Displays, or the $12,000 + tax for the two XDR ones. Hell, I'd be happy with the two ASDs, nothing fancy.

 

[sebalvarez]

I feel like this could be a simple fix? There has to be thousands of people running 2 displays on a Studio and nobody is complaining about it? You would think this issue would be posted all over the internet.

This is not just in the Mac Studio. The computer I was loaned for work is a 2021 Macbook Pro M1 Max and has the same problem. And that's a $4,000 machine. Hell, even if it was the most basic, smallest Macbook, this shouldn't happen. Apple has one of the best brand recognitions of any company in the world, why drag it through the mud like this?

But to answer your other question, most people don't have time to post on the internet about this. I have found several posts about this going back years, before the M1 chips. But forget about this particular issue for a moment. For every person complaining online about something, there are 100 that have the same problem and don't post online.

To me, the question of whether or not this was a problem with my specific two displays was answered when I connected two other displays of another brand, but the same brand and model of the pair itself, and it kept happening. Maybe this weekend if I have time I will connect one of the Dells, along with one of the Samsungs, and see what happens, just to test this, not that I will use the Dell, because the main reason I bought the two Samsungs is because they are 32" and the Dells are 27". When used as 2560x1440, the resolution that works the best for me, a lot of text is really small in the 27". Otherwise, I'd be fine with the two Dells.

 

[sebalvarez]

Then to assign a keyboard shortcut to it, make a Shortcut or Automator service menu action and assign it a keyboard command.

That's it! Enjoy!

Sorry, apparently I'm not getting notifications for this thread anymore. Is this a script for the display problem or something else?

As promised, here's the scripts.

First you need to write a script that figures out your current preferred window position. Adjust it based on which app you want to get the settings for.

tell application "Finder" to get the bounds of front window

Then, for the actual script, copy the results from the first script into this script. Obviously change it to use the apps and window settings that you prefer.

try
   tell application "Finder"
      if exists front window then
         set the bounds of the front window to {736, 324, 1825, 1057}
      end if
   end tell

   if application "Safari" is running then tell application "Safari" to set the bounds of front window to {320, 118, 2240, 1262}

   if application "Messages" is running then tell application "Messages" to set the bounds of the front window to {514, 570, 1325, 1252}

   if application "Music" is running then tell application "Music" to set the bounds of the front window to {518, 216, 2043, 1164}

   if application "Mail" is running then tell application "Mail" to set the bounds of the front window to {433, 179, 2127, 1202}
end try

Then to assign a keyboard shortcut to it, make a Shortcut or Automator service menu action and assign it a keyboard command.

That's it! Enjoy!

Nice, but does this do anything for the dual display chaos, or is it just to keep windows arranged to the setup you want?