- Apple released macOS Big Sur 11.1 this week.
Has the new update resolved my persistent issues
with external displays on my M1 MacBooks?
No.
Hey, I'm Jerry.
And a few weeks ago,
I posted a video talking about some of the issues
I had with performance and external displays
on my M1 MacBooks Air and Pro.
I also posted a follow-up explaining
how some of the performance issues that I saw,
could be explained by things like
the codec I was using for editing video
or unoptimized apps
and Rosetta Translation.
The issues that continued to bug me,
were the slow USB-C speed
and my external monitor only displaying 30 Hz
through Thunderbolt and DisplayPort.
So I downloaded the Big Sur 11.1 update
to my MacBooks Pro and Air.
And they can now display 60 Hz
with my BenQ PD3220U monitor.
So, I guess that solved all my issues.
So be sure to hit the thumbs up button if you liked it.
Hit subscribe if you want
and I'll see you next time.
Wait, no.
There's more stuff.
Just to get the USB-C speed stuff out of the way first.
I've seen no improvements on my T7 SSD speed
using the M1 MacBooks after the 11.1 update.
They're still much slower at reading this drive
than my Intel MAX.
But like I always do, I left for lunch.
And when I came back to the office
I found the new display issues.
Waking up the MacBook Pro M1
while connected to the BenQ display,
created this weird scaled down version of the 4K display
on the BenQ monitor.
But then it also partially mirrored
part of the built-in display on the BenQ as well.
That distortion also have this weird ghosting.
And you know what, it's easier just to show you.
I'm connected to the Mac via Thunderbolt,
but when I wake it up,
you'll see that there's some other
screen or display issue.
And it looks kind of funky right here
but you can actually see what's happening
when I unlock the computer.
So we have,
essentially multiple displays
kind of distortions showing up over here.
And then the MacBook's screen
is kind of mirrored on this side.
So we can bring up display preferences,
and show you what the configuration is.
The configuration is, as it should be
with the MacBook display to the right of the BenQ display.
And the BenQ display is in fact running at 60 Hz.
(mouse clicks) See that right there?
And if you look over here
you can see that,
we have kind of like a mirrored distortion
going on between the MacBook display
and the right side of the BenQ display.
This can be fixed by disconnecting the Thunderbolt cable
and reconnecting it.
(clicks)
Give me one second.
There we go.
So the display is now fixed, but this happens frequently
when the computer goes to sleep and I wake it back up.
but everything is back to normal now
after reconnecting the cable.
So, the 60 Hertz issue seems to be fixed
on the M1 Macbooks
when connected to the BenQ display
using Mac iOS 11.1.
But now I have this issue
when waking up the computer connected directly
to the display with Thunderbolt.
And you might be thinking that
I should just use another connection option like HDMI
or DisplayPort.
Well,
the issue actually happens
with all three connection options
on my BenQ display and the MacBook Pro M1.
Now you're probably thinking
that this is a problem with the monitor,
the BenQ monitor, obviously.
So it's time for some tests.
I have a MacBook Pro M1,
MacBook Air M1
and a 16 inch MacBook Pro.
That I'm going to use to test with this BenQ monitor.
And I'm going to try HDMI, DisplayPort
and Thunderbolt on all of them.
Starting with Thunderbolt connected directly to the monitor.
We already know that waking up the Pro M1 from sleep
causes this weird distortion, so.
Let's give the MacBook Air a shot.
The MacBook Air, luckily did not display any issues
when waking up
when connected via Thunderbolt to the display.
The 16" MacBook Pro looked like
it was going to be fine at first.
I did a number of tests,
and each time the BenQ display
woke up and acted as it should.
Unfortunately, after the camera was off,
I was still testing.
And at one point,
the external display just would not turn off.
It kept cycling on and off,
Like it was trying to find a new source.
Like I said, I did not get a video of this
but I'll show you an example in just a moment.
But the 16" Macbook Pro
did have a different issue,
where it was displaying 60 Hertz
but I only had a limited number of resolution options.
A disconnect reconnect, brought back resolution options.
but then, I couldn't get 60 Hz
Now, using HDMI and Apple's AV adapter.
We can test all three laptops again.
The Pro M1 displayed the same distortion issue
with the mirrored portion of the display.
This time, the MacBook Air woke up
with a different issue,
Where it looks like colors are inverted
or discolored on the external display.
I'm not really sure how to explain it
but disconnecting and reconnecting the adapter
from the Mac fixes the issue,
until the next sleep-wake cycle.
The 16" Pro on the other hand
worked just fine.
Moving onto DisplayPort
going through a CalDigit SOHO Dock,
the Pro M1 exhibited the same distortions
and duplicated part of the display.
The Air M1 and the Pro 16 seemed to work just fine.
So after testing all three laptops with the BenQ monitor,
with all three connection types,
I was pretty confident that the external display
was the issue
which really sucks because I think the display is amazing.
It's big, it's modern,
and it has a very very good display.
Before returning it though,
I wanted to run some tests
on all of these MacBooks
and another 32" monitor that I have.
It's a Samsung UJ59 series.
It's a very basic monitor that runs less than $300.
And just to rush through this,
I actually had no wake issues with the Samsung monitor
using DisplayPort or HDMI
with any of the three MacBooks,
which is great.
So it looks like again,
I have confirmed that the BenQ monitor is bad.
The only problem is
I don't want to use the Samsung monitor everyday
because, although it's big and bright
and it looks okay,
the angles are not the best and the HDMI
will not go over 30 Hz on 4K.
That's not a deal breaker.
I can get 60 Hz on DisplayPort
but I still wanted a slightly better display.
So I ran in the Best Buy
and the only 4K monitors they had in stock
was the 28" Samsung UR55 series,
which looked decent enough in the store
to get me by for awhile.
I got home and ran all of the same tests using HDMI
and DisplayPort.
With DisplayPort, all three computers seemed fine.
And I found with HDMI,
all three Mac books would constantly display
to cycle on and off,
like it was searching for a source.
Just like the 16" Pro did with the first monitor.
Now let me just clarify a few things real quick.
I did try different cables and different adapters.
I tried DisplayPort on two different docs.
HDMI on a dock and the Apple AV adapter.
And I tried a different Thunderbolt, HDMI
and DisplayPort cables.
And of course, different monitors.
All of which produced this weird set of results.
Also all three computers have been updated to 11.1.
So what's the issue?
Is it macOS?
Is it the M1 chips?
The displays, adapters, cables?
I don't know.
And I'm kind of running out of ideas.
So if you have any suggestions on what it could be,
let me know below.
As long as it doesn't involve buying more monitors
because I can't afford anymore.
I ran one last test using a Dell PC.
And I found zero issues connecting with DisplayPort
or HDMI to any of the three displays.
Overall, my display issues with the M1 MacBooks continue.
Or continue to evolve.
With the 11.1 update fixing one issue with refresh rate.
I now have additional issues
with waking up external displays
and getting unexpected results.
The issues with distortions and discolorations
and source searching are not a hundred percent guaranteed
that they happen,
but they do happen enough that it is expected at this point.
Each source computer and monitor combination
seemed to have their own unique set of issues.
But it does look like DisplayPort was a bit more reliable
than HDMI in my tests.
And the cheaper UJ59 monitor worked pretty well.
The 16" MacBook Pro
was the most reliable machine out of the three.
And was best when using DisplayPort on the Samsung monitors.
This M1 Pro seemed to have the most issues.
And the M1 Air was the only one that seems reliable
using Thunderbolt connected directly to the BenQ.
Anyway you cut it,
this seems absurd.
I am pretty disappointed in these tests,
and never thought I would need to choose a monitor
based on compatibility issues
over just which,
connections it supports.
At this point,
I don't think it matters
if the causes is the MacBooks or macOS.
I did not see any issues when using the windows PC
which cuts down on a lot of the other variables.
This needs to be fixed quickly
before I pull the rest of my hair out.
But until then,
I guess I can't take any more breaks during lunch
that allow the computer to go to sleep.
So if you're looking for a great desktop Mac set up,
but now you're persuaded not to go with a Mac book,
you should check out this video right over here.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked it.
Hit subscribe if you want
and I'll see you next time.
(ambient music)