The new Mac Mini outfitted with Apple’s fantastic M1 chip is one of the best-value Macs on the market right now. Still, that does not mean it is totally immune to problems, and some owners of the mini computer have been complaining that it is failing to wake connected displays from sleep when it should.
For example, MacRumors forum user gooimac reports having the following experience: “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).”
Other people have had the same issue, such as Pearsnet, who commented in Apple’s own Support Communities forums, yet the cause of the problem remains unknown. Pearsnet’s problem was fixed by tweaking a Mission Control setting in System Preferences, but it is not clear whether this would work in every instance.
According to MacRumors, the bug is not limited to any one type of Mac Mini monitor, with displays using DisplayPort, Thunderbolt, and HDMI ports seemingly all affected. Apple is said to be aware of the glitch but has not yet issued a fix, and for now the only solutions are unofficial. If you are impacted, you could disable the feature that allows your Mac Mini to go to sleep, or unplug the affected monitor and plug it back in. Neither is particularly practical, though.
It is worth mentioning that not all Mac Mini users have been affected. I own a Mac Mini with an M1 chip and have never seen it fail to wake my connected display, so this is unlikely to be a glitch that is rife among all Mac Mini owners. I have, however, experienced the pink squares bug reported by gooimac — another problem that remains unfixed by Apple.
Still, if you own one of Apple’s tiny desktop computers, keep an eye out in case you fall victim to the sleep/wake bug. While it is not going to totally ruin your Mac Mini experience, it is still irritating.
