Bought a Mac Mini M4 in Dec. 16 mb Ram, 250mb SSD, 2 TB External. Sequoia 15.2-15.3. My Mac Mini will suddenly go solid black while using it. Lasts for about 2-3 seconds and is fine with no changes afterword. I upgraded to 15.3 and it still continues to do it, maybe 1 or 2 times a day. Not a real detriment to using it but...
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Mac mini
It does depend on the quality of the monitor, but HDMI is, first and foremost, a TV connection. And by quality, I mean cheaper monitors often limit HDMI to the original HD resolution of 1920x1080, regardless of any higher resolutions the monitor can support under a DisplayPort or USB-C Thunderbolt connection.
That, and over the years, I've seen far too many posts here by folks trying to use HDMI. Issues which disappeared when they used their monitor's DisplayPort option.
I have an EIZO monitor that allows me to use DisplayPort, USB-C or HDMI. Given the cost of these monitors, I know HDMI would work (with a proper high speed HDMI cable), but I'm still going to use a connection meant for computer monitors before I'd even consider HDMI.
Having an HDMI port is intended for video work. It eliminates the need for a break-out box. You use DisplayPort or USB-C to a monitor for your work screen in Final Cut Pro, Avid, Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, etc., and a separate HDMI output to a reference monitor (TV) to see how color will appear on a TV as you simultaneously work in your video editor.
In my case, the ports in use are irrelevant. I've swapped out HDMI and Thunderbolt cables, switched ports on the Mini as well as my two LG 4K monitors and the blackouts continue to happen to the primary monitor no matter the configuration.
It's quite possible (probable?) that it's a software issue, but if it were a one-off software issue, it wouldn't be affecting everyone here IMO.
Glad to hear that's working for you.
Unfortunately I've been using a Monoprice 8K Certified Ultra High Speed HDMI 2.1 Cable on one of my LG UltraFine UHD 27-Inch 4K 2160p monitors since purchasing our Mac Mini M4 and am still encountering the random blackout issue.
Currently I'm using that HDMI cable on the #2 monitor and an Anker USB C Display/USB 4 Data Cable (40Gbps, 8K HD) on the #1 monitor. Per another member's suggestion I switched the USB C cable to the Thunderbolt port on the Mac Mini M4 and no longer encounter the random blackout issue on #1.
So the problem "moved" from the #1 to the #2 monitor. Less annoying since I use the #1 monitor primarily, but still...
As mentioned previously, I've tried all sorts of cables, connections, monitor setup configurations, etc. and the random blackout problem persists. What I have now is the most stable, but it's still there.
Reported the issue to Apple a while back.
Yeah it seems obvious that there's a defect with the HDMI and M4 Mini with a lot of different monitors. There's been plenty of OS updates since it came out and nothing has fixed it. I suspect it's a hardware problem that's not fixable short of replacement.
Your issue is beyond my experience. I know nothing of how refresh rates affect monitor performance. However I have some suggestions based on my years of equipment troubleshooting and root cause analysis. When an issue suddenly arises, the first thing you need to ask is "what has changed". So you had a two week period of having no problems, so what changed at the end of the two week period to cause the new issue? Did you connect the second computer, or was the second computer turned off for two weeks and then you turned it on. To start, I suggest completely disconnecting the second computer from the monitor and trying the mac.
If this works, I recommend contacting apple support for help with using two different computer systems. I think this is probably a no no.
Another thing, check the mac user guide for proper ways to connect a monitor (you didn't say what the resolution is)
Here is an excerpt:
The HDMI and USB-C ports on your Mac mini support video output, so you can connect an external display, a projector, or a high resolution TV.
For Mac mini with Apple M4, you can connect up to three displays in the following configurations:
For Mac mini with Apple M4 Pro, you can connect up to three external displays in the following configurations:
We shouldn't have to buy hubs or special USBC cables just to use our monitors. The fact is the HDMI port on the M4 Mini is out of spec or defective and doesn't work with a good number of monitors. Monitors that work fine on M1 Minis, or Windows boxes. Yes workarounds exist but this shouldn't even be an issue on a piece of hardware like this. If it was a on my Raspberry Pi I'd be more understanding, but not on my $800+ M4 Mini.
Should have asked this to begin with. What make and model monitor is this?
For all who are experiencing this problem with their Mac Mini please give Apple detailed feedback via Mac Mini Feedback.
Hello,
Happy to know that I am not alone !
I have the same issue: momentaneous black screen for 1-2 seconds on MacMini M4 with an Eizo CG223W display connected with a cable USB-C/Thunderbolt to DisplayPort to the Eizo screen !
Nothing is connected to the HDMI port...
It seems that I don't have this issue when I first connected the Eizo using a HDMI cable (because I didnt' have a DisplayPort cable).
I should make the test again using HDMI to see what will happen.
I have the exact same problem as the OP. Black screen while using it for 2-3 seconds - usually happens after waking from sleep or if the machine has been on for a few hours. Have clicked 'prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off' to see if it helps, to no avail.
Started after I upgraded from Sequoia 15.1 to 15.3/4 in the last two weeks.
Using DP1.4 connection to a Dell UW4025 (latest firmware). Mac Mini M4 Pro with 24GB.
Hopefully, Apple will do a fix.
Same issue here. Typically within 2 minutes of waking from sleep the monitor will not display an image for a few seconds and then resume with the image. I'm using an Acer ED273U Abmiipx 27" 1500R Curved WQHD 2560 x 1440 Monitor. I know there is no issue with monitor or cables because this same setup has worked for over a year with a Windows PC which doesn't have this strange issue. I've tried taking the refresh rate down from 75hz to 60hz and it does not resolve. Same issue on 15.3 when I got it last week and with 15.4.1 after updating.
I also occasionally have the known issue where the USB ports will not recognize external devices when waking from sleep. Unplugging and plugging in the cable fixes that issue.
Same issue for me. I have 2 monitors, both Dell 24" connected via HDMI. One connected directly the M4 Mac Mini the other connected to an external Thunderbolt 3 Dock. The one connected to the dock never has the 3 second blackout issue, the one connected directly to the mac does. Very random, very annoying.
Also new Mac Mini M4, had for about 2 weeks. Screen been randomly going black for 2-3 seconds during the day intermittently today. Asus 27" PA27JCV display (5k). USB-C connection from back of MacMini. The monitor also serves as a hub.
I will try a cold reboot and reseat cables, but nothing has changed and things are secure. First week or so it was fine.
Update since the reboot. I've had one instance of black screening for a few seconds. I noticed it seemed to coincide with disk activity with my two USB external drives (slow).
Keeping watch... I suspect there's a timing/bandwidth issue with devices? I don't think it's a cable issue. I'm not using HDMI, FYI. USB-C (high speed). I'm using all three ports on the back - listed as USB 3.1 Bus by the System Report, none on the front - my hard drives are on a separate port from the monitor's port.
My old M! Mac Mini was doing this, and now my new Mac Mini M4 Pro is doing it. Randomly, some days are fine. Today it was a bit worse. I rebooted and as I was reading these posts it blanked about six times. I turned off my LG monitor and turned it back on and it hasn't blanked yet in a half hour. Will see.....
I'll add a "me too". Identical problem... screen goes black for a second or two then returns to normal. It's sporadic but happens every time I use it. Occurs most often when using Safari, but also at other times. Cannot find a correlation with any other activity. Running a dual monitor setup and it only happens to the "main"/#1 monitor.
M4 Mac Mini, 500GB SSD running Sequoia v15.5 (although the issue appeared as soon as I bought it running an earlier version) connected to two LG 27UN850 27" 4K UHD monitors, one by Thunderbolt, one by HDMI.
I've switched out the monitor positions, switched out which monitor is using which cable, replaced both cables, hard reboot, etc. No improvement. Issue continues. So it's not the monitors, not the cables.
Upgraded from an M1 Mac Mini - same dual monitor setup - never experienced this issue.
Apparently it's down to the M4 Mac Mini. Annoying but not the end of the world. Hopefully Apple will address this at some point.
Mac mini M4 screen go black randomly
