Intel Reports Fix Coming for Flickering on Monitors Connected to 2012 Mac Mini via HDMI

[calaverasgrande]

it's kind of sad that I am sticking to my first gen Intel Mini because it is solid with the video because of this. God I want to retire that old machine!

[Galatian]

Originally Posted by majkom

Same ****, another post... you are repating yourself

First, dont speak for 99,9% of users as you dont know their needs.
Second, do not compare 6630M to Intel HD 4000, but to 3000 - same generation mini. And there is significant performance boost. Hope you do not believe there is no new and better card than 6630M that can be installed to mini - so again, it will boost performance significantly. And I hope, that you do not really believe, it is impossible to get some 6630M successor (or nvidia equivalent) into mini So again, why not to do so? Because apple said? that is pure zealotism.

Excuse me? So you are saying that this forum may be used just to praise apple? I wrote you once, iMac is not for everyone, I do not want portable MB, mac pro is overkill for average user and hackintosh is infirnging os x license.. You call this whining, I call this discussion about apples fails.

To sum it up, you say asking apple for decent mini is childish and whiney. I say, defending every apples step, no matter how dumb it is, is simply stupid, brainless and pathetic.
Have a nice day.

Seriously check your facts...Intel put a quad core (more heat) inside the new Mac Mini and the possibility of a Fusion drive (more space = less airflow = more heat)...both are an improvement for the 99,9% of Mac Mini owners.

Before talking nonsense at least check your facts. Of course I'm comparing the old 6630M to the HD4000 because that seems to be the problem. You don't understand why they didn't put a discrete chip inside. Apple reasoning is clear:

1. For the average user HD4000 is good enough
2. Quad Core is much more important than slightly faster graphic
3. Fusion drive is much more important then slightly faster graphic card
4. Apple get's highter profit margins (although I guess that is a point for you)

Still: Why do you care? You have options? Why is it that you know better then Apple what they should do with their hardware?

[majkom]

Originally Posted by Galatian

Seriously check your facts...Intel put a quad core (more heat) inside the new Mac Mini and the possibility of a Fusion drive (more space = less airflow = more heat)...both are an improvement for the 99,9% of Mac Mini owners.

Before talking nonsense at least check your facts. Of course I'm comparing the old 6630M to the HD4000 because that seems to be the problem. You don't understand why they didn't put a discrete chip inside. Apple reasoning is clear:

1. For the average user HD4000 is good enough
2. Quad Core is much more important than slightly faster graphic
3. Fusion drive is much more important then slightly faster graphic card
4. Apple get's highter profit margins (although I guess that is a point for you)

Still: Why do you care? You have options? Why is it that you know better then Apple what they should do with their hardware?

You tell me to check facts? OK, so, if the airflow is problem, hows that mini with 6330m and dual disk works fine? - check 1 - fusion with 6330m is not a problem

SSD with quad core vs HDD with dual core - wouldnt say that firs combination generates more heat that second - check 2

HD4000 is good for average user? you mean, lagging expose and dashboard animation on ATD? if that is good, great - some users have really low standards

Yes, apple nows best what to do with its hardware - how to rip off customer and I am not arguing their business model from their perspective, but from customers one.

My point is, why crippling amazing machine with intel HD (revenues is the only reason I see)?

[Galatian]

Originally Posted by majkom

You tell me to check facts? OK, so, if the airflow is problem, hows that mini with 6330m and dual disk works fine? - check 1 - fusion with 6330m is not a problem

SSD with quad core vs HDD with dual core - wouldnt say that firs combination generates more heat that second - check 2

HD4000 is good for average user? you mean, lagging expose and dashboard animation on ATD? if that is good, great - some users have really low standards

Yes, apple nows best what to do with its hardware - how to rip off customer and I am not arguing their business model from their perspective, but from customers one.

My point is, why crippling amazing machine with intel HD (revenues is the only reason I see)?

Ok sorry I have been misled...I though the 2011 version only had the option of one drive. According to wikipedia you could actually order a Mac Mini with two drives (one 750GB HDD + one 256GB SSD), which is thought was a novum for the 2012 version. I stand corrected.

Still the HD4000 is plenty of fast for the average Mac Mini crowd. But I do see your point: Apple never offered any desktop tower equivalent, but then again product margins should be very low in that area anyway.

[calvol]

Put me in the 6630M crowd, it performs better on my 2011 Mini i5 dual-core than the HD4000 in the 2012 Mini i7 quad-core (returned for refund due to blank screen/snow issues):

Cinebench Open CL test:
- 2011 MM i5 dual-core 6630M: 23.7
- 2012 MM i7 quad-core HD4000: 23.2

Factcheck: notebookcheck 3DMark score shows 6630M 64%> HD4000:

- 6630M: 999.8
- http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Rad...M.43963.0.html

- HD4000: 612.1
- http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-H...0.69168.0.html

Anecdotally, running transitions between a full-screen 1080p and expose, the HD4000 transition is choppy, whereas the 6630M is smooth as butter.

I will never own a Mac with an Intel GPU. I'm hanging on to my 2010 Air C2D/320M Nvidia and 2011 MM i5/6630M ATI until better options prevail.

Good luck all....

[USB123]

I'm getting a Mac of some sort in the new year (either a new Mini, or one of 3 options; refurbed iMac, MBA, MBP ). Not decided yet on which one but hope that the fix will be the solution for the Mini.
I'll wait to see users' reports on the Mini, and hopefully it will work out for all users of the Mini as you did spend a lot of money on the Mini and a bug like this causes a lot of hassle and uncertainty. Fingers crossed!

[rumplestiltskin]

I have been experiencing the "flicker" (although sometimes it may be better described as a "blackout" or even multi-colored "snow" as in an analog TV losing its signal).

I seem to have worked around the problem by using a mini-displayport>HDMI adapter (a cheap one I think I bought at monoprice) and then using the HDMI>DVI adapter that came with the mini. Video seems stable now.

The driver fix will be nice if I decide to connect another display.

[samash]

I recently purchased 4 Mac Minis and am experiencing HDMI problems with all of them.


First, they are all connected to multi monitors. All monitors connected over HDMI experience flickering/black screens.


Secondly, one which is used as a home theater PC is connected to dual screens, as well (one a projector and one a HDTV). Here, there is no handshake with the projector connected over HDMI switch. I have tried with many other computers and all pass HDMI signal through switch and receiver to the projector, but not Mac Minis. There is also no handshake at all with the HDTV--the screen is black. None of these problems exist when connected over the Mini DisplayPort. But since all Mac Minis are using multiple monitors, using only the Mini DisplayPort is not an option.


This is not acceptable. I'm waiting for a solution from Apple.

[calaverasgrande]

well now I am looking at an iMac instead. I will of course have to wait and see if any one reports any external video issues with that first.
I just really need to dump my old mini.
Oh who am I kidding. I will keep it around to play itunes from or as a downloader.

[Milquetoast]

Amazing. Just checking up on the latest from this thread when the "blinked black, then color noise" occurred on my Mini's HDMI-connected Samsung DVI 1920x1080 monitor. Only the second occurrence of the color noise problem.

A soft power cycling of the monitor forced the resync and restored the image.

I did call Apple the other day to register my problem.

[thepro8]

I had color issues with my Samsung Syncmaster PX2370 hooked up to my new macbook air 13" mini display port via the monoprice mini diplay port to HDMI adapter. I ready this thread and bought the "Mini DisplayPort | Thunderbolt® to HDMI®, DVI & DisplayPort Adapter". I figured it would be handy to have anyway. I now have the new adapter plugged in and then I have a DVI to HDMI cable connected to the monitor (HDMI end on the monitor side) Colors look perfect again. Well worth the $11.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/pr...seq=1&format=2

[Westyfield2]

Mac Mini 2012 Review http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/12...i_2012_review/

"I should say right up front that, much as I quite like the Mac Mini’s form-factor, looks and, more particularly, its operating system, I can’t really recommend the latest version, at least not to anyone hoping to hook it up to an HD TV by HDMI, perhaps for media centre duties.

The thing is, you see, the new Apple’s HDMI performance is crap. Hook the Mini up to an ordinary 1080p TV – as I did – through an HDMI cable and you’ll think you’ve gone back in time to the 8-bit VGA era: dithered colours, jagged curves and diagonal lines, the lot. Some folk have said their HDMI output flickers too - something that past models have, some say, been afflicted by - but I didn’t see that, just the poor colour quality."

...

"The woeful HDMI performance means I really can't give the 2012 Mac Mini the thumbs up. If Apple fixes this serious issue soon, I’ll change my mind. I do like it. It’s stylish, and while you might not want to pay extra for a good-looking box, you’d surely not say no to one all things being equal. It is rather swish sitting next to a telly. "

Maybe now Apple will listen?

[brdeveloper]

Originally Posted by SnowLeopard2008

Yes, so try a different connection? Did you try a MiniDP/Thunberbolt to VGA adapter? You do know that a VGA cable is capable of full HD resolution right? What is your infatuation with HDMI

You do know that VGA is capable of full HD, but you need a state-of-the-art cable to have a decent noise level. Otherwise, the interference/color reproduction is perhaps a bigger problem than flickering.

My Core 2 Duo 2010 Macmini has no issues with HDMI with a plus of having a DVD player built-in

[Westyfield2]

Anyone got the new EFI yet? Which out of Poor colours/Screen flickering/Screen blanking/'Snow' are fixed?

[sauria]

Originally Posted by Westyfield2

Anyone got the new EFI yet? Which out of Poor colours/Screen flickering/Screen blanking/'Snow' are fixed?

Saw one at the Apple Store, it looked washed out connected to an HD TV via HDMI.

[MagnusVonMagnum]

Originally Posted by Westyfield2

The thing is, you see, the new Apple’s HDMI performance is crap. Hook the Mini up to an ordinary 1080p TV – as I did – through an HDMI cable and you’ll think you’ve gone back in time to the 8-bit VGA era: dithered colours, jagged curves and diagonal lines, the lot. Some folk have said their HDMI output flickers too - something that past models have, some say, been afflicted by - but I didn’t see that, just the poor colour quality."

I don't get any of that on my 2012 Mac Mini through the HDMI connector. Colors and edges are normal and were so before I installed the firmware update also. I did get blank-outs at random intervals and saw snow upon turning the computer out of sleep mode for a second or two, but that was it.

After I installed the firmware update, the blank-outs (thus far) appear to have gone, but today for the first time, I had snow on the screen when I woke my Mini from sleep and it persisted for probably 10 seconds or so and then suddenly the display came back on. That does concern me, especially since it's AFTER the firmware update. Clearly, whatever Apple did to "fix" the problem didn't fix everything.

[jongampark]

Originally Posted by Fuchal

My 2011 (HD 3000) flickers/flashes as well on HDMI, but I bet there's no fix ever coming for that.

I reported video related problems, that is Mac mini hangs with strange pattern of white rectangles. ( in Windows, wavy noise appears on a top of a monitor and crashes. At least it reboots. ) last Nov. 2012.

But I didn't hear any progress on that yet.

[FakeWozniak]

Yes, thank you, your entire post consisted on a entry in Wikipedia which stated what I said.... at the beginning and doesn't support your 'optimized CPU' argument.

Emphasis mine...

Also, may I add one thing? It seems you also tried to edit the article to suit your needs. Which got changed by Wikipedia administrators right back. I checked the edit history. Curious... the times of editing and your post are eerily close.

Wow, that is a first for me. I quote the first reference Google shows and am accused of editing the source. It wouldn't be worth that level of effort. How about you post a reference that says a GPU is NOT an optimized processor. Consider you might be splitting hairs.

[sauria]

So this issue remains over HMDI with the HD 4000 IGP?