Mac Mini 2012 and 4K monitor

[beerglass007]

Hi all

I just bought a second hand 2012 Mac Mini for a small project i'm doing

I have a Dell 4K 24" monitor which I use with my Mac Book Pro 15" 2015 via display port

When I connect the Mac Mini via the display port I dont get any picture, it only works with HDMI

Will the 2012 Mac Mini support the 4K monitor, i'm not looking for 4K but surely it can do 1080P to the monitor ?

Thanks

 

[Fishrrman]

Monitor input selection?
Try another cable?

 

[campyguy]

Assuming the Mini's mDP port is working, it should work without issue but with caveats. The mDP>DP cables shipping with the Dell display does have a "DP" symbol on it, but COXOC cables are "compatible" and not "compliant" with DP specs - they don't fully convey EDID info between a PC/Mac and an attached display. I fixed this issue by swapping in a compliant cable. A workaround is to unplug the display, wait a few seconds, plug in the Dell cable leading from the Mac you want to connect to the display, then plug in and power on the display.

I use my two P2715Q displays with my late-2013 rMBP, and often use one of the two displays with my 2012 Mini Server. I get a default of 1440p @60Hz with the Mini, but with a DP-compliant cable; I got 1080p with the Dell cable, which has been binned. With a DP-compliant cable, no more power issues.

 

[beerglass007]

The monitor is a 24 inch Dell P2415Q 4K IPS Monitor and runs well with a MBP 15"

The cable works fine with that

 

[beerglass007]

Does this mean anything to anyone

Is the 2012 Mac Mini supported with 4K

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206587

 

[campyguy]

The monitor is a 24 inch Dell P2415Q 4K IPS Monitor and runs well with a MBP 15"

The cable works fine with that

You've missed my point and/or I should have been more clear. If a compliant cable connects a display to a computer, EDID information will be conveyed between the two pieces of hardware. Dell's cables are not compliant - I've tested over a dozen (I own and run a small engineering company...), including my own two displays. Look at the name of the display in the Displays Pref Pane or the System Information app - mine reads "DELL P2715Q", without any hacks - use Google's search engine for "dell display edid hack", and you'll get an idea of what I'm alluding to. The stock Dell cable does not work properly - bust out your multimeter like I did!

The more-relevant point is that some of your rMBP info is loaded into your Dell displays firmware, and that is what your display is "looking for" as a compatible display - but the Mini doesn't have the same capabilities as your rMBP over DP, and the non-compliant cable can't carry/handshake the "new" data. Look up "displayport power over pin 20" and what can happen, at a minimum, to a GPU or dGPU. Your Mini's capabilities aren't being conveyed to the display over DP - and I'd bet that it works fine over HDMI with either Mac, 100% of the time.

I've got 7 Mini Servers attached to Dell displays, with compliant Accell cables. They work 100% of the time, every day. Good luck.

 

[ious219]

Hi all

I just bought a second hand 2012 Mac Mini for a small project i'm doing

I have a Dell 4K 24" monitor which I use with my Mac Book Pro 15" 2015 via display port

When I connect the Mac Mini via the display port I dont get any picture, it only works with HDMI

Will the 2012 Mac Mini support the 4K monitor, i'm not looking for 4K but surely it can do 1080P to the monitor ?

Thanks

Does your Monitor support Picture By Picture Mode. I have Samsung monitor that does and can get 4K at 60hz this way using two display port cables.

 

[BeatCrazy]

Does this mean anything to anyone

Is the 2012 Mac Mini supported with 4K

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT206587

Nope, as it's not listed in that article.

 

[WifesMini]

Mac mini and high resolution 4K displays do not work well together. My wife bought an LG 4k display and the best we could ever get was 30 Hz on here 2014 vintage mini. This is consistent with what Apple says it can do. The downside of this setup is that the mouse is erratic or jumpy in its movement which is annoying. In addition there was an annoying flicker. Bottom line 4k display do not work well. So what does.

The Apple 27 inch monitor from LG does work well as I have seen it working at Apple. The resolution though is not 4k rather it is 3200 by 1800 when driven from mini at 60 Hz. This would imply that the monitor has some internal scaling.

I believe that the mini will drive a Thunderbolt display but you cannot buy these. You can get displays of equivalent resolution to the Thunderbolt. We purchased an HP Pavillion 27 Q for under $300 which is 2560 by 1440. This display runs well and improves the quality over a 1080 display and runs at 60 Hz. There are some other displays of similar resolution available.

Good luck

 

[Trusteft]

I have my mac mini late 2012 connected through the displayport to a 4K 40" Philips monitor. It works just fine. I have it at 1080p 60hz. It works at 4K too, but only at 30hz and that is just not good enough for me.
So yeah, it should work unless something is wrong somewhere.

 

[blaichch]

It’s not possible because 4K is only supported by DisplayPort 1.2 or newer. HDMI shouldn’t work, too.

I have a Mac Mini 2012 as well and I‘m running it with two 2k displays. I think this is the best way to get the most pixels out of it.

 

[knightwrangler]

You can use a 4K monitor with the 2012 mac mini you just won't get the high resolution that a 4k monitor provides especially at a lower 30 hertz with mouse movement being choppy.
I had a Dell P2715Q UHD 4K monitor and the best resolution I could get was 2560x1600 at 60 hertz using the cable provided with the Dell and using the thunderbolt/display port on my 2012 mac mini. The mouse movement and scrolling was smooth but the fonts looked not as clear and razor-sharp. The best way to describe was like a hazy soapy like look to the screen but when I used a 2015 or 2016 MacBook Pro with the Dell I got the full sharp, clear 4K resolution at 60 hertz.

 

[ActionableMango]

Will the 2012 Mac Mini support the 4K monitor, i'm not looking for 4K but surely it can do 1080P to the monitor ?

Yes, but not at 4k60Hz. 1080P should be fine.

Campyguy is correct you need a compliant cable like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Accell-B143B-003B-UltraAV-DisplayPort-Locking/dp/B0163LQUH6/

Your existing cable probably has pin20 passthrough, which is noncompliant but extremely common.

 

[Chuck Rodent]

To get good 4K video out of my 2012 Mac Mini Server I went to an eGPU. The Sonnet Breakaway box with Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB was on sale last week and this combo was supposed to be plug and play. Unfortunately this hardware combo is not supported in the latest version of OS X 10.13.2 for TB1 and TB2. High Sierra 10.13.2 will recognize the eGPU and shows correctly in the System Report under About this Mac, but just will not work. After plugging it in and a lot of head scratching, I got the eGPU working on my Macbook Pro under 10.13.1. When the Mac Mini was downgraded to 10.13.1 High Sierra, the 4k monitor fired right up.

I am using the Mac Mini as a dedicated gaming machine for Zwift. Zwift is graphically intensive program and the built in Intel Graphics gave poor performance. The Unigine Heaven framerate of the eGPU is about 8 times faster than the built in Intel graphics. I am very happy with the result, the solution is much cheaper than a new computer with high end graphics, plus the video card can be upgraded later to the Radeon Vega if needed. Apple will be supporting eGPU going forward since the Developer Kit is the same hardware as above. If future OSX updates do not correct the problem of TB1 into a TB3 eGPU, I'm stuck at OS X 10.13.1 for the Mini. However, the eGPU will be compatible going forward with any of the Macs with TB3.

 

[ziggy29]

To get good 4K video out of my 2012 Mac Mini Server I went to an eGPU. The Sonnet Breakaway box with Sapphire Pulse RX 580 8GB was on sale last week and this combo was supposed to be plug and play. Unfortunately this hardware combo is not supported in the latest version of OS X 10.13.2 for TB1 and TB2. High Sierra 10.13.2 will recognize the eGPU and shows correctly in the System Report under About this Mac, but just will not work. After plugging it in and a lot of head scratching, I got the eGPU working on my Macbook Pro under 10.13.1. When the Mac Mini was downgraded to 10.13.1 High Sierra, the 4k monitor fired right up.

This is strange. I'm on 10.13.2 and I am using an RX 580 with a Mantiz Venus and it works perfectly. Maybe it's specific to 4K? Does this run with a lower resolution, say 1080p or 1440p?

My display is only 1080p so I can't really test resolutions above that. I suspect with a TB1 connection you won't get 4K (certainly not at acceptable frame rates), but I think it could probably somewhat handle 1440p (not at 60Hz and/or highest detail levels) based on how well it's doing with 1080p.

 

[Synchro3]

My Mac Mini 2012 (TB1) with 10.13.2 with RX 580 eGPU working too.

 

[Chuck Rodent]

This is good to know that the latest High Sierra does not break the eGPU, it must be something in my system. I would be interested in the OS and other configuration that you are using for TB1 and a eGPU. On the eGPU.io forums many other users are reporting that the TB1/2 connected eGPUs are failing when upgraded to OSX 10.13.2.

My config is:
Apple Mac mini quad "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012/Server)
16GB
500 SSD Samsung EVO
Dell P2715Q Monitor 4K (Also NEC PA 271W 2160X1440)
Sonnet Breakaway 350
Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter
Apple TB2 2m cord

Displays are mini Displayport.

OS X 10.13.1

Same eGPU connection on the Macbook Pro Retina 15 (Late 2013) using TB2 also failed under 10.13.2. I might try my 2014 iMac Retina after it is updated to High Sierra.

 

[ziggy29]

Wonder if there's an issue with the Mini Displayport or the cabling. Mine is hooked up through HDMI.

 

[Chuck Rodent]

Tried both HDMI and DP, all ports on the card. I'm not too worried since it is working right now and Apple will either support the eGPU on TB1/2 or not. We'll see next year.

 

[Synchro3]

This is good to know that the latest High Sierra does not break the eGPU, it must be something in my system. I would be interested in the OS and other configuration that you are using for TB1 and a eGPU. On the eGPU.io forums many other users are reporting that the TB1/2 connected eGPUs are failing when upgraded to OSX 10.13.2.

My config is:
Apple Mac mini quad "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012/Server)
16GB
500 SSD Samsung EVO
Dell P2715Q Monitor 4K (Also NEC PA 271W 2160X1440)
Sonnet Breakaway 350
Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB
Apple TB3 to TB2 adapter
Apple TB2 2m cord

Displays are mini Displayport.

OS X 10.13.1

Same eGPU connection on the Macbook Pro Retina 15 (Late 2013) using TB2 also failed under 10.13.2. I might try my 2014 iMac Retina after it is updated to High Sierra.

I guess that with a TB1/2 Mac a TB1/2 eGPU enclosure is preferable, and with TB3 Mac a TB3 enclosure.

eGPU working with 10.13.2 without issues (even sleep works):

My config:
Apple Mac mini quad "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012/Server)
16GB
Asus PB279 4K Monitor (connected via DisplayPort)
Akitio Thunder 2 box
Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB (albeit the card is recognized as R9 xxx card, because second generation)
Apple TB 2m cord (no TB3 to TB2 adapter needed)

OS X 10.13.2





4K Playback:

[doublepost=1514377824][/doublepost]

This is strange. I'm on 10.13.2 and I am using an RX 580 with a Mantiz Venus and it works perfectly. Maybe it's specific to 4K? Does this run with a lower resolution, say 1080p or 1440p?

My display is only 1080p so I can't really test resolutions above that. I suspect with a TB1 connection you won't get 4K (certainly not at acceptable frame rates), but I think it could probably somewhat handle 1440p (not at 60Hz and/or highest detail levels) based on how well it's doing with 1080p.

4K @60 Hz is no problem with my TB1 configuration.

Do you use the Mantiz Venus with a Thunderbolt 1/2 Mac or a Thunderbolt 3 Mac?

 

[JessieComputes]

We have recently hooked a Mini up to a 4k TV where the TV does upscaling, and are pleasantly surprised at what a good job the upscaling does, especially on text. The TV has a 'smart' OS, but that is crap compared to using MacOS and the Apple trackpad. I was thinking of going down the Hackintosh path with an NUC, but now I think we will wait to see what Apple offers in the New Year.

 

[fricotin]

We have recently hooked a Mini up to a 4k TV where the TV does upscaling, and are pleasantly surprised at what a good job the upscaling does, especially on text. The TV has a 'smart' OS, but that is crap compared to using MacOS and the Apple trackpad. I was thinking of going down the Hackintosh path with an NUC, but now I think we will wait to see what Apple offers in the New Year.

What TV do you use ?

 

[JessieComputes]

Panasonic 58ex730.

 

[Paniko]

I guess that with a TB1/2 Mac a TB1/2 eGPU enclosure is preferable, and with TB3 Mac a TB3 enclosure.

eGPU working with 10.13.2 without issues (even sleep works):

My config:
Apple Mac mini quad "Core i7" 2.3 (Late 2012/Server)
16GB
Asus PB279 4K Monitor (connected via DisplayPort)
Akitio Thunder 2 box
Sapphire Pulse RX580 8GB (albeit the card is recognized as R9 xxx card, because second generation)
Apple TB 2m cord (no TB3 to TB2 adapter needed)

OS X 10.13.2

Hey @Synchro3 , it's a valid solution? I have a late 2012 MacMini same as yours and was contemplating the eGPU solution.
Just a pair of questions:
1- does the Akitio Thunderbolt2 power the card or did you have to feed it with an external power supply?
2- I have a single Asus PA24 monitor connected via HDMI. I suppose i'll have to connect it to the eGPU. It is feasible (booting is my concern).

Thanks

 

[Synchro3]

Hey @Synchro3 , it's a valid solution? I have a late 2012 MacMini same as yours and was contemplating the eGPU solution.
Just a pair of questions:
1- does the Akitio Thunderbolt2 power the card or did you have to feed it with an external power supply?
2- I have a single Asus PA24 monitor connected via HDMI. I suppose i'll have to connect it to the eGPU. It is feasible (booting is my concern).

Thanks

1 - My Akitio Thunder 2 is modified with an external power supply
2 - Yes it is feasible, but no eGPU has boot screen, neither the officially supported Sonnett eGFX Breakaway Box. However it boots fine and the desktop appears in the moment the graphics drivers are loaded. HDMI is no problem if you use the Sapphire RX 580 8 GB (first and second generation).