Mac Mini (non-pro) display support for 4k, since that’s the display resolution you probably already have

[Guest /u/Objective_Economy281]

I kinda dislike that Apple describes the display performance in terms of displays that are very not common, like 5k and 6k. So I tested with a more common resolution.

 

I “tested” the display support for the base M4 non-pro Mac Mini with my 4k 144fps display, which has 4 inputs. The mini will drive any 3 of the inputs at once, and the 4th one to be plugged in gets ignored.

 

Further, the Mini will connect to two of them at 4k144, but for the third monitor, it will only give 4k60. This is in line with what I was expecting.

 

Also, these results are for testing with 4-lane DisplayPort alt mode on the Thunderbolt 4 ports. If you use a non-Thunderbolt hub that has any USB 3 connectivity, that hub is using only two of the lanes for DisplayPort data, and is reserving the other two for USB 3 data. And this apparently causes the 4k frame rate to be limited to 60 FPS from that output. I assume this means that the Mac doesn’t use DSC, in the same way it doesn’t use MST.

 

So, use 4-lane hubs (kinda rare, but I can provide a link) or Thunderbolt hubs (kinda $$$) if you’re not going to direct-connect to your higher-performance monitors.

 

Also, for power output, the rear ports are required to supply 15w each, and I got all three of them supplying 10-11w simultaneously. On the front ports, one was able to supply 12w, and while doing so, if the other one pulled more than 5w, the port shut down.

 

While all of those were happening, I ran a CPU and GPU benchmark. And doing all that together, I got the power-draw at the wall up to 121 watts. It is rated for 155 watts, and I assume most of what’s left is for the extra cores on the M4 Pro.

 

submitted by /u/Objective_Economy281

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