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2018 Mac mini to monitor Question - could you advise please?

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batfink

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 15, 2008
64
18
Apologies in advance for what I’m sure many will think is a dumb or basic question. I have a Mac mini (2018) on the way and I have a Dell UP2516D 25" IPS QHD monitor. The DEL monitor has 2 x HDMI, 1 x DP connector in, 1 x mDP connector in, and 2 USB ports. There is NO USB-c or VGA.

My question really is, what is the best way to connect up to the Mac-mini for best quality, and what cable will I need to purchase in advance?

Apologies for a newbie question but your help is much appreciated in getting me ‘ready to go’

Mark
 
I use two Dell U2518, which I believe are the successors product, but more or less the same, terrific displays, the QHD res @ 25" is a decent uptick in PPI (and the '18 Mini drives two pretty easily).

So I'm using one of the Dell supplied cables (they're nice and beefy), DP on the monitor side, mDP on the Mac side - if course, the Mac doesn't have a mDP ports, only USB-C (or HDMI), so I'm running two of these adapters:

www.amazon.com

CableCreation USB C to Mini DisplayPort 4K@60Hz, Type C to Mini DP Adapter (Not Thunderbolt Adapter),Compatible with MacBook Pro 2017,Chromebook Pixel,Surface Book 2,XPS 13,Yoga 920,Aluminum Black

CableCreation USB C to Mini DisplayPort 4K@60Hz, Type C to Mini DP Adapter (Not Thunderbolt Adapter),Compatible with MacBook Pro 2017,Chromebook Pixel,Surface Book 2,XPS 13,Yoga 920,Aluminum Black
www.amazon.com

So that's Mini USB-C >> USB-C_to_mDP adapter >> mDP_to_DP cable >> monitor

They're made by cable creations, have had decent luck with their products, ~$9 each.

I guess there's potentially an advantage to using a single cable vs. a cable + adapter (more connections / resistance).
 
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I use 1x Dell U2711 and 1x Dell U2415.
As Namara says, USB-C > DP cable is the simplest option (or an adapter like D.T uses).

One of the reasons to use the DP input rather than HDMI, and a second tip, is to then install this fantastically simple piece of software: "Monitor Control"
github.com

Release MonitorControl v2.0.0 · MonitorControl/MonitorControl

With v2.0.0 the biggest new feature is support for controlling internal displays! Some parts of the underlying codebase had to be rewritten for this. What's new Added support for using ctrl + brig...
github.com github.com

It allows you to use the Mac Keyboard to control the brightness of the external display!

NOTE: this only works with a USB-C > DP connection. If you use HDMI > HDMI it doesn't work.
Good luck!
 
Last edited:
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D.T and Spectrum, thanks again for the feedback and recommendations. Really informative and helpful. Thanks for your time.
 
I am using two Dell U2518D monitors with the mini and these cables;

www.amazon.co.uk

uni USB C to HDMI Cable【4K@60Hz High Refresh Rate】Type-C to HDMI Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro 2018, Surface Book2, Galaxy S20, and More - Grey - 6ft/1.8m

uni USB C to HDMI Cable【4K@60Hz High Refresh Rate】Type-C to HDMI Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] for MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, iPad Pro 2018, Surface Book2, Galaxy S20, and More - Grey - 6ft/1.8m
www.amazon.co.uk

USB-C to either HDMI or DP is the best option, there have been many reported issues using the HDMI port on the MM 2018. And for some it is still on-going.
 
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Spectrum said:
One of the reasons to use the DP input rather than HDMI, and a second tip, is to then install this fantastically simple piece of software: "Monitor Control"
github.com

Release MonitorControl v2.0.0 · MonitorControl/MonitorControl

With v2.0.0 the biggest new feature is support for controlling internal displays! Some parts of the underlying codebase had to be rewritten for this. What's new Added support for using ctrl + brig...
github.com github.com
Click to expand...


Killer app.

OP, at one point I was using my little G's ("Dad, where's my cable?!?") USB-C to mDP cable on one display and HDMI to HMDI on the other, and it was a little janky, there was some wakeup / timing issues between the two displays, running both on TB/USB-C, everything works as expected.

I guess that's just an FYI, since you're currently running a single display for now, but in case you added a second one.
 
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I am thinking about getting the Dell "UltraSharp 25 USB-C Monitor: U2520D". I didn't really want to go over 24", but I think a 25" wouldn't be too much bigger.

Is there any difference in picture quality or colors with using an HDMI cable instead of USB-C? I dunno why, but I prefer to use HDMI, but didn't want to los out on better quality of USB-C was better.
 
OP:

How about a post letting us know which cable you bought, and how well it worked out...?
 
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I've just got a new Mac mini and running it with this display Samsung LS34J55 and have to say liking it so far. Seems to work well with HDMI @3440 by 1440 and 60Hz. It has 2 HDMI and one Display port inputs. Interestingly though I was going to research what my best set up would be. I also have a midrange pc coming for gaming purposes so the Mac is mainly for work based stuff.

What are the advantages of USB-C, DP, HDMI. Aware this may have been answered elsewhere so feel free to point.
 
whooshbong said:
I've just got a new Mac mini and running it with this display Samsung LS34J55 and have to say liking it so far. Seems to work well with HDMI @3440 by 1440 and 60Hz. It has 2 HDMI and one Display port inputs. Interestingly though I was going to research what my best set up would be. I also have a midrange pc coming for gaming purposes so the Mac is mainly for work based stuff.

What are the advantages of USB-C, DP, HDMI. Aware this may have been answered elsewhere so feel free to point.
Click to expand...
Advantage of HDMI is that you save a USB-C port.
Advantage of USB-C > DisplayPort is that you can use this killer app:
github.com

Release MonitorControl v2.0.0 · MonitorControl/MonitorControl

With v2.0.0 the biggest new feature is support for controlling internal displays! Some parts of the underlying codebase had to be rewritten for this. What's new Added support for using ctrl + brig...
github.com github.com
 
Mabsport said:
Can someone confirm 2018 Mac mini should output 60hrtz via Hdmi to Hdmi ? Only get 30 ?
Click to expand...

Mac mini (2018) supports one HDMI display with a resolution of 4096 x 2160 at 60 Hz, plus one of the following configurations: One 5K display with a resolution of 5120 x 2880 at 60 Hz. Two single-stream transport (SST) 4K displays with resolutions of 4096 x 2304 at 60 Hz
 
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