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M1 Mac Mini Won't Wake Connected Displays, Some Owners Complain

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Some customers who have purchased an M1 Mac mini have been experiencing an issue that causes the machine not to wake a connected third-party display from sleep.

m1-mac-mini-vignette.jpg-feature.jpg

This is not an issue that's affecting all M1 Mac mini owners, but there are numerous complaints on the MacRumors forums and the Apple Support Communities dating back to November when the Mac mini was first released. MacRumors reader gooimac explains:
My M1 (8gb/256) Mac mini doesn't seem to want to wake my displays after its been sleeping. I have tried with 2 different displays with 2 different HDMI cables with the same thing occurring on each one. I am currently only using one at a time. I also noticed some pink squares/graphics glitches on the Big Sur boot/log in screen (with the coloured background, not the black and white boot up)
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MacRumors reader Mike, who emailed us about the issue, has seen the same problems.
I have a new Mac Mini M1 with 16 GB of RAM running Big Sur 11.2.3 and every time the computer and screen go to sleep, the computer will not be able to wake the screen up.

Actually, I get "No Signal" displayed on the screen after the Mini wakes so technically the computer wakes the monitor but it fails to send a video signal. The screen is a 34" LG Ultrawide 4K Thunderbolt. It wakes fine with my 2018 MacBook Pro so there's nothing wrong with the display itself.

The only way I can get the Mini to send a signal to the display is to unplug and replug in the Thunderbolt cable. Sometimes repeatedly. Obviously, this is not an ideal solution.
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This issue appears to be affecting a wide range of displays that connect over Thunderbolt, HDMI, and DisplayPort adapters, but there are also plenty of people who are having no issues at all.

It's not clear what the problem is, but Apple has been looking into one M1 Mac mini display issue that causes strange pink squares to appear on displays connected to one of the machines.

Apple is aware of the issue, and there could be a fix in the works that's coming in a future update. One solution for now may be to disable the feature that puts the Mac mini to sleep, but that's not ideal. The other solution is to unplug and replug in a display that's not responding after a Mac mini wakes from sleep, but that too is an inelegant solution. There appears to be no other fix available at this time.

Article Link: M1 Mac Mini Won't Wake Connected Displays, Some Owners Complain
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/03/25/m1-mac-mini-connected-display-issue/
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For reference, my M1 MBP wakes my ViewSonic 32" 4k without issues, ever. Press any key and it is pretty instant.

I can actually close and the lid rapidly consecutive times and it always works. Note: closing the lid doesn't "sleep" mine, but changes resolution on my monitor.

I use the Caldigit Thunderbolt T3+(model number?) dock.
 
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CC77 said:
If it doesn't wake a third party display, and Apple no longer produces any first-party consumer displays (I'm not counting a $5K Pro Display XDR as "consumer") doesn't that mean....it doesn't wake any displays?
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Yep mine won’t wake any display connected to it, tried three different so far and numerous adapters. I need to unplug and plug it back in to get it to recognise it again.

They replicated it at the Genius Bar, replaced the logic board but it didn’t fix the issue. Told me to wait while it gets investigated.
 
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PinkyMacGodess said:
My Intel based Mini, just today, would not show video on the TV hooked to the HDMI port. The TV kept saying 'No Connection'.

I had to hold the power button in to shut it down, then hit it again, and then I finally got video. Weird...
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My 2018 Mini does this all the time, if I'm gone for 15-30 mins it won't reconnect to the display after I wake it. That's why I no longer turn the display off unless I'll be gone for more than an hour. Thanks Apple.
 
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CC77 said:
If it doesn't wake a third party display, and Apple no longer produces any first-party consumer displays (I'm not counting a $5K Pro Display XDR as "consumer") doesn't that mean....it doesn't wake any displays?
Click to expand...
Steve is rolling in his grave. C’mon, Apple! The stock isn’t doing well now so maybe Cook will “think differently”.

 
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I have the M1 MacBook Pro and when connected to an LG 27UK850-W 27" 4K, I needed to disconnect and reconnect the computer to get the screen to wake. This occurred whether I was connected via a CalDigit docking station or not. However, when I connected the laptop to an LG 5K (HKN62LL/A) monitor via a CalDigit docking station, it works flawlessly.
 
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This happens with my Mac mini 1 or 2 times a week or so. When it does the only thing that works is unplugging the USB C cable from the Mac mini itself (not from the display). I hope a fix comes soon! That's one of the last issues I still have with my Mac mini since recent updates have fixed the bluetooth issues.
 
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