Mac mini M4 screen go black randomly

I got a new Mac Mini M4 in January, and it behaved normally until I upgraded the system to 15.3.2, after which the momentary black screen issue began. I am having a hard time believing that it ran for months without any problem and started blacking randomly because of a hardware issue. My old Dell monitor is connected to the HDMI port on the Mini via a conversion cable to the DVI port on the monitor.

My M2 with a Philips 27" screen does it occasionally.

It will go black suddenly, I will click the mouse 2 or 3 times and it will return to normal.

Have you got a second monitor attached but not in use?

I'm 99.99% sure it's not a connection issue.

It may be a red herring but I think it started with Sequoia . . .

I have the exact same problem as the OP. Black screen while using it for 2-3 seconds - usually happens after waking from sleep or if the machine has been on for a few hours. Have clicked 'prevent automatic sleeping when the display is off' to see if it helps, to no avail.

Started after I upgraded from Sequoia 15.1 to 15.3/4 in the last two weeks.

Using DP1.4 connection to a Dell UW4025 (latest firmware). Mac Mini M4 Pro with 24GB.

Hopefully, Apple will do a fix.

Update:

I turned off the Mac Mini M4, unplugged all cables including the mains plugs and rebooted.

Touch wood, I have not had the black screen come up for four days now. Same OS and same monitor firmware. Weird.

Same issue here. Typically within 2 minutes of waking from sleep the monitor will not display an image for a few seconds and then resume with the image. I'm using an Acer ED273U Abmiipx 27" 1500R Curved WQHD 2560 x 1440 Monitor. I know there is no issue with monitor or cables because this same setup has worked for over a year with a Windows PC which doesn't have this strange issue. I've tried taking the refresh rate down from 75hz to 60hz and it does not resolve. Same issue on 15.3 when I got it last week and with 15.4.1 after updating.

I also occasionally have the known issue where the USB ports will not recognize external devices when waking from sleep. Unplugging and plugging in the cable fixes that issue.

Also new Mac Mini M4, had for about 2 weeks. Screen been randomly going black for 2-3 seconds during the day intermittently today. Asus 27" PA27JCV display (5k). USB-C connection from back of MacMini. The monitor also serves as a hub.

I will try a cold reboot and reseat cables, but nothing has changed and things are secure. First week or so it was fine.

For all who are experiencing this problem with their Mac Mini please give Apple detailed feedback via Mac Mini Feedback.  

I have the same issue. Plus, occasionally, when waking up the Mac the monitor wakes up but the screen remains black. Only way to get it working is to unplug and plug the HDMI cable.

Can you please advise me I am a novice with the cables, having the same issue -- is it usb c thunderbolt on both ends and exactly where do you plug it in on the Mac m4 and the Dell U2724D?

But it's truly weird how I've gone almost 2 weeks now and not had one single blackout.

As they say: do🪢 🔭 a 🎁 🐎 in the 😮

Something I had to first look up because I keep forgetting what the color space is called.

Supposedly, you can choose between RGB and YCbCr color formats for HDMI output, with YCbCr being the default for HDMI connections. How do you choose? Good question, as I've never looked it up.

That's the main difference. HDMI on the mini can handle up to a 4K, 60Hz output. Plenty of bandwidth for a good monitor. But it's the color space that's important here. Computer monitors expect RGB data. When you use HDMI, RGB has to be converted to YCbCr (TV color) before being sent to the monitor. Not that the very few milliseconds per frame it takes to do this is anything you'd notice.

It's also why HDMI to DisplayPort, or HDMI to USB-C cables sometimes don't work. The computer and monitor are then both confused. Are you trying to get RGB, or YCbCr color? Which again, is something better quality monitors can handle, but is also still not a preferred choice.

I am dealing with same issue as written below HOWEVER, I have been on phone with Apple and Dell Support and NO ONE seems to be able to offer a fix for this problem (Dell U2724D) Mac mini M4 16 mb Ram, 250mb SSD, 2 TB External. Sequoia 15.2-15.4.1. Is anyone at support working on this problem, my solid black screen will go away for an hour or two then back with a vengeance -- it's not even predictable! I have tried every single solution offered me - I have $100+ in new cables (troubleshooting!) and nothing works. Apple Support PLEASE GET ON THIS!

Same issue for me. I have 2 monitors, both Dell 24" connected via HDMI. One connected directly the M4 Mac Mini the other connected to an external Thunderbolt 3 Dock. The one connected to the dock never has the 3 second blackout issue, the one connected directly to the mac does. Very random, very annoying.

Happened again today. Again during disk activity with an external USB hard drive (spinning up from sleep, I believe).

FYI: only the one display, USB-C high quality cable (swapped out with another just to be sure). The hard drive(s) are attached via a different USB-C port to a separate USB hub.

I'm 99% sure this is not a cable issue now.

I get blackouts on my Lenovo rarely, maybe once a day. But the MSI blacks out dozens of times a day to the point it's unusable. Which is a shame because it's a really nice 32" gaming 4K monitor. I tried all refresh rates, no difference. MSI tech support said they don't even list the Mini's on their compatibility list because they are so problematic with their monitors.