USB-C vs thunderbolt monitor

[andyx181x]

Hi there folks, got a debate going on for my future computer on what type of monitor to get. I plan on buying a new Mac mini M2 and I am not sure if I want to spend a lot of money on a 5K monitor. I seemed pretty content with a 4K but I been reading most of them are USB-C ready but not thunderbolt ready.

The thunderbolt monitors seem to come in 5K which is going to cost close to grand. So I’m not sure other then the higher resolution if I should get one.

If I understand correctly only the thunderbolt monitors can Daisy chain to each other?

I may plan on getting a second monitor in the future but if it’s only a USB-C how will that work to connect a second one?

FYI my Mac is just for normal use and maybe play some steam games and nothing more.

Any advice be appreciated thanks.

 

[Bigwaff]

The M2 mini supports multiple monitors via its HDMI and TB/USB ports. No chaining required.

 

[DaniTheFox]

As I understand DP 1.4 would be able to handle 5K@60Hz HDR with DSC. But this is quite exceptional. So they use thunderbolt for 5K and up monitors. According to the specs TB 3 only need to support one DP stream. That’s why you see only on some Mac that they have TB 4, when they really support two external monitors. (Mac mini yes, MacBook Air only TB. No „3“ or „4“, only TB because the Version 4 of thunderbolt has dual monitors support mandatory. But the rest ist mostly according to the specs of the version 4 of thunderbolt).
But from the beginning TB 3 supported two DP stream because intel had implemented this in there chips.
So 5K monitors use two DP stream which is only possible with thunderbolt (With DP 2.0 and 2.1 this will be an other story)
So this means you can on daisy chain 4K Thunderbolt monitors in reality. Because there is otherwise no DP stream left.