Mac mini M4 Thunderbolt ports intermittently providing power

Question

Mac mini M4 Thunderbolt ports intermittently providing power

Set up a new M4 Mac mini, there's nothing attached to any of the ports except a Dell monitor into one of the rear Thunderbolt ports and I'm getting the notification that one my devices is using too much power. Any idea why this is happening? The rear ports appear to be intermittently providing power to external accessories when I've tested them. USBC iPad worked fine once and then not later on. Same with an iPhone and a a set of Bose headphones.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac mini, macOS 15.2

Posted on Feb 2, 2025 10:00 AM

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Answer 1

hcsitas

Level 6

13,940 points

Feb 2, 2025 12:04 PM in response to andyinthelakes

Physically disconnect the Thunderbolt cable from the Mac port. Then connect HDMI-HDMI with the Dell-supplied cable or one not longer than 3 feet, might fix. If you need hub functions, you can reconnect the monitor’s USB upstream port to the Mac. If you do, verify through the Mac’s Display settings that HDMI is the chosen path for video.

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Answer 2

Mar 4, 2025 3:21 AM in response to hcsitas

Thanks for the reply, it seems odd that this would be required. I also don't seem to be able to scale the display with HDMI which makes it an unsuitable solution. I was wondering if anyone knows why the Mac mini is behaving this way as it seems like a bug.