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

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
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)

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.

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.

Related Roundup: Mac mini
Buyer's Guide: Mac Mini (Neutral)
Related Forum: Mac mini

Popular Stories

iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature Purple

iPhone 18 Pro Features Leaked in New Report, Including Under-Screen Face ID

Tuesday December 16, 2025 8:44 am PST by
Next year's iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will be equipped with under-screen Face ID, and the front camera will be moved to the top-left corner of the screen, according to a new report from The Information's Wayne Ma and Qianer Liu. As a result of these changes, the report said the iPhone 18 Pro models will not have a pill-shaped Dynamic Island cutout at the top of the screen....
apple music chatgpt

ChatGPT's Apple Music Integration Is Now Live

Wednesday December 17, 2025 3:50 pm PST by
There's now a dedicated Apple Music app for ChatGPT, which allows ChatGPT to make music recommendations and build playlists. Apple Music can be added to ChatGPT through the Settings section in the Mac app, website, or iOS app. Apple Music is listed under the apps option, and connecting to it requires signing in with your Apple Account for authorization purposes. ChatGPT can be used to...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple's 2026 and 2027 Product Roadmap: Foldable iPhone, iPhone 18 Pro, M5 Macs, and More

Tuesday December 16, 2025 4:42 pm PST by
There has been a whirlwind of rumors over the last few days, sourced from leaked internal software designed for the iPhone and the Mac, and news sites like The Information. Below, we have a quick recap of everything we've heard this week, which serves as a guide to Apple's product plans in 2026 and beyond. We've organized the info by likely release date, though there are some products that...
apple iphone air battery pack

Apple Aims to Boost Popularity of iPhone Air 2 in Two Ways

Tuesday December 16, 2025 11:06 am PST by
We have been covering iPhone 18 Pro, iPhone 17e, and iPhone Fold details from The Information's report about future iPhone models, and next up is the iPhone Air 2. The report says that Apple aims to make the iPhone Air 2 more attractive in two ways. First, Apple is apparently considering adding a second rear camera to the device, which would resolve a key limitation. The current iPhone...
iOS 26

iOS 26.3 Beta 1 Features: What's New So Far

Monday December 15, 2025 4:23 pm PST by
Apple is testing iOS 26.3, the next version of iOS 26 that will launch around January. Since iOS 26.3's testing is happening over the holidays, it is a smaller update with fewer features than we've seen in prior betas. We've rounded up what's new so far, and we'll add to our list with subsequent betas if we come across any other features. Transfer to Android Apple is making it simpler...
Apple Logo Top Half

Early iOS 26 Software Leak Uncovers Dozens of Upcoming Apple Features

Monday December 15, 2025 3:05 pm PST by
Software from an iPhone prototype running an early build of iOS 26 leaked last week, giving us a glimpse at future Apple devices and iOS features. We recapped device codenames in our prior article, and now we have a list of some of the most notable feature flags that were found in the software code. In some cases, it's obvious what the feature flags are referring to, while some are more...
apple beta 26 lineup

Apple Leak Confirms Work on Foldable iPhone, AirTag 2, and Dozens More Devices

Monday December 15, 2025 2:05 pm PST by
Last week, details about unreleased Apple devices and future iOS features were shared by Macworld. This week, we learned where the information came from, plus we have more findings from the leak. As it turns out, an Apple prototype device running an early build of iOS 26 was sold, and the person who bought it shared the software. The OS has a version number of 23A5234w, and the first...
a15 chip

Apple Tested a MacBook With the A15 Chip

Wednesday December 17, 2025 7:19 am PST by
An internal Apple kernel debug kit suggests Apple has tested a MacBook with the A15 chip, alongside a separate A18 Pro-based MacBook that appears to be closer to a shippable product. The information comes from internal kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. The kit was accidentally released on Apple's website earlier this year, but it was quickly pulled after information started...
maxresdefault

Apple Developing iMac Pro With M5 Max Chip

Tuesday December 16, 2025 7:30 am PST by
Apple is developing a high-end iMac featuring the M5 Max chip, according to information from leaked internal software. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. The finding comes from leaked kernel debug kit files used by Apple engineers. These kernel debug kit files enumerate unreleased Apple hardware by internal identifiers, such as codenames and platform names, and they...

Top Rated Comments

brdeveloper Avatar
62 months ago
The same happens with my 2018 Mini with Catalina. It's not a M1-only issue!
Score: 43 Votes (Like | Disagree)
anshuvorty Avatar
62 months ago
This isn't just a M1 Mac Mini issue, this also affects the M1 MBA, which I have. I have to disconnect my Thunderbolt dock connection and reconnect it and then the display works perfectly again.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
djc6 Avatar
62 months ago
I've had this problem for years with my 2018 mac mini, on anything connected to the HDMI port. Both the 2018 and M1 mac mini use the same MegaChips MCDP2920A4 DisplayPort 1.4 to HDMI 2.0 converter chip inside.
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
CC77 Avatar
62 months ago
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?
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
!!! Avatar
62 months ago

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...
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.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
PinkyMacGodess Avatar
62 months ago

The same happens with my 2018 Mini with Catalina. It's not a M1-only issue!
Mine too this afternoon. It's done it a couple times in the past month that I've had it. I've never had issues with earlier Minis I've had. I wonder if it's Big Sur?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)