Sequoia 15.6 periodic display blackout on Mac Mini M1

I'd had these experiences months ago and switched HDMI cables to ensure stability. Since I updated to 15.6 every now and then I get 3-4 second blackouts on my Asus MX27UC, 4K display. I restart if it occurs which seems to remedy the problem but curious if others with a Mac Mini are experiencing this..Not a big deal one way or the other since everything else works well. Thanks

Posted on Aug 17, 2025 03:17 PM

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28 replies

Aug 18, 2025 02:05 AM in response to jontalk1

jontalk1 wrote:

I'd had these experiences months ago and switched HDMI cables to ensure stability. Since I updated to 15.6 every now and then I get 3-4 second blackouts on my Asus MX27UC, 4K display. I restart if it occurs which seems to remedy the problem but curious if others with a Mac Mini are experiencing this..Not a big deal one way or the other since everything else works well. Thanks

M4 Mac Mini with an Asus VP 278 Display, Sequoia 15.0 through to and including 15.6 and all in between


Connected directly from HDMI female port on machine to display


Used to use the Supplied HDMI Cable from Asus which was about 6 feet - 2 meters


Display would Blick In and Blick Out and Blick In again


Replace with a High Quality HDMI cable that is about 3 feet - 1 meter


In my setup problem solve


On the older M2 Mac Mini also Sequoia 15.6, used for Live Streaming shows to UHD TV in living room


Also replaced with a High Quality HDMI cable that is about 3 feet - 1 meter


Though if all else fails, yes run the Etrecheck application ( @BDAqua ) and post the full report


Aug 19, 2025 02:15 AM in response to jontalk1

jontalk1 wrote:

The cable isn't Asus, the display is..As stated originally, I replaced the older one with a shorter new one..the infrequency of these 2 second blackouts tells me its unlikely its a cable

By the nature of that last statement, is one inferring this issue is in Sequoia 15.6 itself or possible in M1 Mac Mini ?


One thing I omitted to mention earlier


When I purchased the M4 unit and as part of the Trade Process, I use the M1 machine to defray the costs of the M4


At that time, M1 was running Sequoia 15.1 or there about


The cable had been replaced and using the current cables on the M2 and M4


The wink out and on ceased , so from that it would be reasonable to conclude, the M1 was not affected by the winking issue


Yes, it is possible that 15.6 on the M1 is affected but not likely.


If you what to hold off with the Etrecheck application and wait for a possible Sequoia 15.7 to arrive


That is your choice


Though, it is doubtful, at this very very late stage in development of Sequoia there would be any major fixes related to this specific issue



Aug 22, 2025 01:22 AM in response to jontalk1

I am very pleased to see my colleague @ BDAqua pick up your question again


The M1 Mac Mini appears to have to tiny 256 GB drive


Which is fine for light usages


It also appears, to compensate for your needs, you also have an external drive.


Where it seems there is also a Volumes/Data


The denotation with a Mount Point of Volume/Data is important


What is that about and could the winking issue be somehow related to this ?


It is fine to keep ones Data on an external drive due to Space Limitations but does extend the possibilities of additional issue link was is currently happening ( Blink In and Out )


disk0 - APPLE SSD AP0256Q 251.00 GB (Solid State - TRIM: Yes) 


disk3s1 - Macintosh HD - Data [APFS Virtual drive]


  Mount point: /System/Volumes/Data


    Encrypted


    Used: 70.24 GB


    Size: 245.11 GB


    Free: 154.85 GB


    Available: 182.34 GB


 disk6s2 - Data


    Filesystem: Journaled HFS+


    Mount point: /Volumes/Data


    Owners enabled: No


    Used: 664 MB


    Size: 499.91 GB


    Free: 499.25 GB

Aug 23, 2025 01:55 PM in response to jontalk1

Not sure if this is related but I use a LG monitor with a M4 mini running the latest Sequoia for the past month. I have my display set to sleep after about 15 minutes. when I wake it, it isn't unusual for it to come on, then 2 seconds later turn off, only to come on again about 3 seconds after that and stay on. Maybe once every 2 days I will get a message saying that there is a HDMI signal problem. I then have to turn the display off and back on and that clears up the issue. I am using the cable supplied with the display and it is fairly. The fact that turning the display off and back on again clears up the issue for a few days suggests it isn't the cable.

Aug 23, 2025 02:10 PM in response to Limnos

thanks for the feedback etc..I suspect the launch daemon plists he mentioned were left over from when I ran a scan using the free version. When I open finder>go>go to folder and enter the two launch daemon lines neither of them show up. Regardless, the fact that this blinking issue isn't a regular occurrence, I'm not going to get nuts about it, LOL

Sequoia 15.6 periodic display blackout on Mac Mini M1

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