Reading through your posts in the thread, I couldn't tell whether you had actually tried a USB Type C to DP cable yet, or if you were saying it didn't play well together based on the information in the thread, which can be quite confusing given people freely mixing DisplayLink and DisplayPort.
I've seen some people try to clarify it, but just to recap in case you haven't tried yet:
- Yes, this should work. You'll just need a DisplayPort 1.4 to USB Type C cable like this one:
Amazon.com: USB C to DisplayPort Cable for Home Office (4K@60Hz, 2K@165Hz), uni Sturdy Aluminum DisplayPort to USB C Cable [Thunderbolt 3 Compatible] with MacBook Pro, MacBook Air/iPad Pro 2020/2018, XPS 15/13: Computers & Accessories
- No, you don't need DisplayLink software, adapters, or special DisplayLink monitors to drive a single DisplayLink monitor using the USB-C port off of a Mac Mini M1 (or to drive two monitors, if you were to drive one from the HDMI port and one from the USB-C port). The M1 Mini uses a protocol called USB-C Alt Mode, which allows a DisplayPort signal to be generated by the GPU, carried through the USB-C port (almost as if it was a DisplayPort port with just a different physical form factor), through a USB-C-to-DisplayPort cable, to the monitor's DisplayPort port. All the cable is doing in that case is physically adapting the pins to the right pinouts, but it's not changing the _protocol_ being used for video at all - the language it's speaking is DisplayPort from the point it's generated by the Mac's GPU all the way through to the monitor.
- Since the signal is DisplayPort all the way through, you need to make sure your monitor is set in its settings to communicate using the 1.4 version of the DisplayPort protocol. Your particular monitor has a setting to "talk" DisplayPort 1.1 or 1.4. If it's set to 1.1, it will only talk 1.1, but 1.1 cannot handle 4K60, and you'll be limited to the resolution / refresh rates you can use (4k @ 30 or 2K @ 60). 1.4 can handle 4K60, however. Go into the On Screen Display on the monitor's menu, and go into System -> DisplayPort. Make sure the setting is set to 1.4.
Once you have the setting in the monitor's menu set to 1.4, connect up the USB-C port on the Mini to the DisplayPort on the monitor using a USB-C to DisplayPort 1.4 cable such as the one above. You should then be able to switch the monitor to the DisplayPort input and set it up in the Mac display settings to output 4K60.
Having said all that, if you _have_ tried that and it isn't working, you're positive that your cable is a DisplayPort 1.4 Alt Mode certified USB-C to DisplayPort cable, and you've verified the monitor's setting is set to DisplayPort 1.4 mode, you might be running into the issues Big Sur has been having with external monitors:
Some Users Having External Display Connection Issues With macOS Big Sur 11.1 and 11.2 - MacRumors. There's discussion in the thread on that article that the Big Sur 11.3 beta 2 released last week has fixed the issues for at least one person experiencing them, so you may want to join the
Apple Beta Software Program and upgrade to 11.3 b2.