How Many 27" Thunderbolt Displays Can Mac Mini M4 Support?

rkaufmann87 wrote:

Take a look at the Tech Specs page located at: Mac mini - Technical Specifications - Apple. Spend time and read the pages carefully so you fully get it! Hint, you will NOT get full resolution out of all of them!!!

The old 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display (model A1407) has a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels.

A Mac mini with a plain M4 chip supports:

• Up to three displays: Two displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt and one display with up to 5K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or 4K resolution at 60Hz over HDMI

A Mac mini with a M4 Pro chip supports:

• Up to three displays: Three displays with up to 6K resolution at 60Hz over Thunderbolt or HDMI

This seems to indicate that either can drive three 27" Thunderbolt Displays. Note that you can daisy-chain two Thunderbolt Displays but that you cannot daisy-chain three of them. The OP will need to buy at least two Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapters, and hang at least one of the displays off a different host port than the others.

555delight wrote:

I have been trying to understand that page but failing. When you say I won't get the full resolution from all of them, what resolution will they be at? These are only 2K monitors.

If you were asking about attaching three 27" Apple 5K Studio Displays, then

• You would not be able to daisy-chain the displays. The Studio Display has no provision for daisy-chaining, and it's not clear that you'd want to try running two displays off one dock, unless you had a M4 Pro Mac mini which supported Thunderbolt 5, and the dock was a Thunderbolt 5 dock.
• For a Mac mini with a plain M4 chip, the limit of "up to 5K resolution" for the third display might mean that you could not use any Retina scaling mode above Retina "looks like 2560x1440".

But you weren't. You were asking about attaching three 27" Apple Thunderbolt Displays, which have a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels, and look best when run at native resolution. Both the M4 and M4 Pro Mac minis should be capable of driving three such displays at full resolution – provided that these are your only displays.

“How Many 27" Thunderbolt Displays Can Mac Mini M4 Support? […]I have 2 of the TB2/3 adapters so I will be able to plug both of them into the Mini, but... if I daisy chain 2 of the 3 screens, will it still drive all 3 of them or will I run into a problem?[…]”

———-

For Reference:

1. Go Here: Connect to HDMI from your Mac - Apple Support
2. Scroll to: If your HDMI display isn't detected
3. As it Reads: Learn what to do if your Mac doesn't detect your HDTV, display, or other HDMI device after making the connection.

In addition to the spec's that rkaufmann87 posted, see > Connect a display to Mac mini - Apple Support

Also note the slight difference in Display support between the standard M4 model and the M4 Pro model.

TheLittles wrote:

“How Many 27" Thunderbolt Displays Can Mac Mini M4 Support? […]I have 2 of the TB2/3 adapters so I will be able to plug both of them into the Mini, but... if I daisy chain 2 of the 3 screens, will it still drive all 3 of them or will I run into a problem?[…]”

———-

For Reference:

Go Here: 1. Connect to HDMI from your Mac - Apple Support

Scroll to: 1. If your HDMI display isn't detected

As it Reads: Learn what to do1.  if your Mac doesn't detect your HDTV, display, or other HDMI device after making the connection.

The Thunderbolt Display requires Thunderbolt input. There are no adapters that will convert HDMI output from a Mac mini into a Thunderbolt signal for a monitor, and so the OP cannot use the Mac mini's HDMI port to connect any of the three Thunderbolt Displays.

Furthermore, attaching three Thunderbolt Displays to either a M4 Mac mini or a M4 Pro Mac mini will use up all of the Mac mini's display outputs. There will be no outputs left over to drive a fourth HDMI display, so the OP would leave the Mac mini's HDMI port unused.

3.

Take a look at the Tech Specs page located at: Mac mini - Technical Specifications - Apple. Spend time and read the pages carefully so you fully get it! Hint, you will NOT get full resolution out of all of them!!!