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Apple to Fix Resolution Issue With Ultrawide Displays on M1 Macs in Future macOS Update

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In a new support document, Apple has acknowledged that when an ultrawide or super-ultrawide external display is connected to a Mac with the M1 chip, some resolutions supported by the display may not be available currently.

lg-ultrawide-display.jpg

Apple says it is aware of this issue and has a solution planned for a future macOS update. Apple did not specify exactly when a fix will be available, but the first beta of macOS 11.2 was seeded last week, so that is one possibility.

To see additional resolutions for your external display, click on the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your Mac, open System Preferences, click Displays, and press and hold the Option key while you click "Scaled."

There is a running thread about this issue in the MacRumors forums.

Article Link: Apple to Fix Resolution Issue With Ultrawide Displays on M1 Macs in Future macOS Update
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/12/23/apple-to-fix-ultrawide-display-m1-mac-issue/
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Dhock_Holiday

Dhock_Holiday

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Sep 17, 2019
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Looking forward to this update. I'm curious if anyone has been able to run the M1 Air at 3440x1440 at 144hz natively in macOS.

Update: I was able to get my ultrawide to work correctly via a Thunderbolt 3 to DisplayPort cable, in clamshell mode its running at 3440x1440p at 144hz. If you want to use the internal display along with an external ultra wide it will automatically default to 60hz but can be manually set to 144.
 
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adamw

adamw

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Always good to have Apple support more display resolutions in the near future.
 
Juicy Box

Juicy Box

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When setting up a M1 Mac Mini for my parent, I had it connected to a Sceptre ultra wide monitor without issue. At least one I noticed.

My 17" Late 2011 MBP will not work with the highest setting on the same monitor while on MacOS. It is fine on Windows, but not MacOS.

I had to use SwitchResX to fix it, and even still it will only work in 50Hz.

Good luck to the people with this issue, hopefully it gets fixed for you.
 
xraydoc

xraydoc

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ArtOfWarfare said:
Is there any reason apart from aesthetics to have one of these monitors and not just place two ordinary monitors side by side?
Click to expand...
Can’t run one full screen app across two displays.
No bezel dividing the display down the middle.
Playing games on an ultrawide is pretty awesome.
M1 Macs can only support one external display without DisplayLink work-arounds.
 
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I

ikenstein

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Do you think it will fix the issue with scaled resolutions on the LG 5k2k (34WK95U-W) discussed in the thread below? The scaled resolutions currently max out at 3008x1269 (at least in HiDPI).

forums.macrumors.com

M1 MBP & LG 34 inch ultra wide 5K2K

Hi All! Noob here. I've read the new M1 MBP can drive and support 6K display. Does anyone know if it will be able to support LG's 34 inch 5K2K ultra wide display (5120 x 2160)? It has far less pixels than the Pro Display XDR though I know the number of pixels is not dispositive by any...
forums.macrumors.com forums.macrumors.com
 
Krevnik

Krevnik

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Dhock_Holiday said:
Looking forward to this update. I'm curious if anyone has been able to run the M1 Air at 3440x1440 at 144hz natively in macOS.
Click to expand...

I’ve not been doing this with the M1 Air, but the M1 Mini has been driving my 3840x1600 at 120Hz just fine. I don’t use 144Hz with it since that drops things down to 8 bpc, but it worked. But I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t be able to drive that display at 144Hz over DisplayPort 1.4.

4jasontv said:
1. Takes up less space.
2. More immersive content consumption.
3. Not all macs support multiple displays without using laggy usb alternatives.
Click to expand...

4. More flexibility for window layout when doing work. I like a 2/3 + 1/3 split a lot of the time.

But definite +1 on #1 and #2.
 
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4jasontv

4jasontv

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Krevnik said:
I’ve not been doing this with the M1 Air, but the M1 Mini has been driving my 3840x1600 at 120Hz just fine. I don’t use 144Hz with it since that drops things down to 8 bpc, but it worked. But I don’t see any reason it wouldn’t be able to drive that display at 144Hz over DisplayPort 1.4.



4. More flexibility for window layout when doing work. I like a 2/3 + 1/3 split a lot of the time.

But definite +1 on #1 and #2.
Click to expand...
I just wrote up the result section for someone’s research and being able to do 2/3rd screen spss, and 1/3rd word + a pdf cut at least a day or two off my time working. Until I moved to ultra wide I didn’t realize how much time was spent just scrolling through hundreds of variables on my 16:9 display. Two monitors is better than one, but one ultra wide is better than two standard
 
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4jasontv

4jasontv

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lawrencejuliano said:
Interesting, I’m running my 49” LG Ultrawide at 5120x1440@60 on my M1 Mac Mini without any issue.
Click to expand...
Did you have to buy a special cable? Because requiring a $50 - $100 cable isn’t a true solution. Not if boot camp can use an $8 one.
 
Captain Trips

Captain Trips

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ArtOfWarfare said:
Is there any reason apart from aesthetics to have one of these monitors and not just place two ordinary monitors side by side?
Click to expand...
Absolutely. I went from two 24" monitors (1920 x 1080) to one 34" ultrawide monitor (3440 x 1440).

One larger monitier gives me more options for where to place applications, especially if I want to place an app in the middle of the screen. With 2 monitors, in Mac and Windows, I was not able to have an app display on both (although this could have been ignorance on my part).

I also now have one set of cables for the monitor instead of 2 sets of cables for 2 monitors.

Finally, the amount of space that the one ultrawide monitor takes up on my work desk is less that the 2 smaller monitors.

I am much moe productive with the 1 ultrawide as compared to the 2 smaller normal aspect ratio monitors.

Granted, like almost every other computing decision there is no one right answer for everyone. For example, based on reviews I read back when I made my decision to get an ultrawide:
  1. Not many premium / high end games support ultrawide resolutions
  2. Non-ultrawide monitors can have better characteristics at a similar price point - color support, refresh rate, resolution, etceteras.
I bought an AOC 34" ultrawide monitor for about $450 (USD). There are better ultrawide monitors, for a noticeably higher price, that should eliminate the second point above. But you would be looking at $750 to $1000 (USD) or more.

Stats for my monitor:
AOC CU34G2X 34" ultrawide
Resolution in macOS Big Sur: 3440 x 1440 (there are other resolutions but I prefer the maximum)
Refresh rate at this resolution in macOS Big Sur: 60 Hz
I get the resolution and refresh rate in a 2014 Mac mini and a 2020 M1 MacBook Pro.
 
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