MacBook Pro M4 with thunderbolt 5 and portable monitor

If you are looking for a separate monitor that does work, please start a new topic thread.

As a frequent contributer to this community, I have observed:

• This thread is primarily about those monitors that are affected by this bug.
• That would logically mean finding one that works in this thread would actually have less odds of success than outside the thread.

And based on your response saying you want one that is sold in Amazon UK, what would really help is the Make and model number of the said monitor. That way you could search Amazon, as well as other resellers in the UK.

I just tried and this works.. funny.

Technically this also can be addressed using some external power back, but you right, main idea is to avoid using any extra connection to have second monitor working

it's not a cable issue. people have taken their M4's and monitors into Apple stores and they haven't been able to get them working there with Apple-sanctioned test equipment.

Nice letter, but no one who works for Apple will see it here on the Apple User-to-User Support Communities.

Perhaps you could post it on the feedback pages, where Apple employees WILL read it, but generally do not respond:

Product Feedback - Apple

lindowmac wrote:

I will say though USB4 =/= Thunderbolt 4.

Yes. This. My understanding is that

• USB4 host ports can optionally support USB4 40 Gbps transfers.
• USB4 host ports can optionally support Thunderbolt Alt Mode. While the USB4 specification is based upon Thunderbolt 3, it is also possible to implement Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5.
• Thunderbolt 3 support does not automatically imply USB4 support. There are many Intel Macs that support Thunderbolt 3, but that predate USB4.
• Thunderbolt 4 came after Thunderbolt 3 and USB4, and Intel has attempted to use the Thunderbolt 4 specs and certification requirements to force cleanups, in the way of making once-optional features mandatory on equipment that is Thunderbolt-4-certified.

This works if your monitor has two USB ports:

1. plug portable monitor into a charger so it can get power.
2. Then plug it using a second cable into the M4 (thunderbolt) so it can get signal.

Mine kept saying "no signal" when I guess it really meant "help no power!"

you can use simple tool built into your Mac to check whether the available and desired power are adequate:

option > [top choice on the Apple menu] System Information

Please post your report

I’ve got a similar problem, but with a M2 pro Mac mini vs a M4 pro Mac mini

Same monitors, same cables. (Thunderbolt 4 cables) Works fine with the M2 pro, Mac mini powers both monitors, but M4 pro Mac mini won’t even power one of them. 

Same problem. I had a Macbook Pro M2 Pro, used with my portable display, worked flawlessly. Got this Macbook Pro M4 Pro now, and with same display cable and same portably display, it doesn't work. Portable display states "No Signal".

Rather that fruitlessly post what cable and portable display I am using, likely shouldn't matter: it worked with my M2 Pro MBP, so I feel via backwards combatibility should work with this new M4 Pro MBP.

lindowmac wrote:

Rather that fruitlessly post what cable and portable display I am using, likely shouldn't matter: it worked with my M2 Pro MBP, so I feel via backwards combatibility should work with this new M4 Pro MBP.

Maybe the problem is that the portable monitor is being overly demanding of bus power – and that while the M2 Pro MBP was generous with handing out extra bus power, that doesn't necessarily mean that anything is wrong with the M4 Pro MBP.

Since you haven't been able to get any reports from the computer about how much power the external monitor wants to suck out of the MBP, and since you haven't told us which external monitor it is (which might lead us to specifications or manuals for that monitor, on the Web), we don't know what it's trying to do.

All we know is that you seem to want the MBP to power an external display about which there are no specifics. That's not much of a basis for troubleshooting.

My feeling is that you should assume that an external display needs its own power source (whether that is wall power, or a battery of its own) until proven that its demands are within what a notebook is willing to supply.

DougB851 wrote:

Grant I recently purchased a MB Pro 16 M4 with a Max chip. I was under the belief that Thunderbolt 5 was a standard for this configuration. However, the hardware listed on the machine delivered shows all three ports as Thunderbolt 4. Went to Apple Store to look and all of their M4 Max and Pro units also showed Thunderbolt 4.

Have you seen this elsewhere? Has anyone purchased a machine that shows a Thunderbolt 5 in the hardware overview?

Please advise. Thank you.

M4 Pro and M4 Max

• Three Thunderbolt 5 (USB-C) ports with support for:
• Charging
• DisplayPort
• Thunderbolt 5 (up to 120Gb/s)
• Thunderbolt 4 (up to 40Gb/s)
• USB 4 (up to 40Gb/s)

MagSafe 3

Thunderbolt 5

3.5 mm headphone jack

SDXC

Thunderbolt 5

HDMI

source:

MacBook Pro - Tech Specs - Apple

NB> ThunderBolt 5, as I mentioned above, is NO DIFFERENT from earlier versions of Thunderbolt. ThunderBolt-5 can ONLY provide faster speeds when talking to other genuine ThunderBolt-5 devices, of which there are essentially NONE at this writing.

Thank you. And understood about current lack of TB5 accessories. I have pre-order an external TB5 hard drive from OWC.

My disappoint is that there is nowhere in the machine’s hardware overview to see what Thunderbolt ports are installed. Similar to memory or core count. Only place is see is the read speed of 120gbs.

Now that we know it's a TB5 port compatibility issue, does anyone know which portable monitors (other than the one linked by calirap, which is only 16 inches and also unavailable now) actually work unplugged from auxiliary power with TB5? How can we be sure when we're shopping for a new monitor? Any recommendations would be appreciated. If you find one on line, 18" or bigger, please post. Thank you.