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I have the Mac Mini late 2014 and want to hook up 3 monitors in total.It works great with 2 displays (1x Thunderbolt + 1x HDMI). Once I add a third monitor to the second Thunderbolt port, just nothing happens. What can I do to get my third monitor working?
5 Answers
Apple's specs show that the late-2014 (which is still being sold today, October 2015) Mac Mini can support up to two displays using its HDMI and thunderbolt ports.
I've confirmed this by trying to plug in 3 monitors directly into the ports on the Mac Mini (two via thunderbolt, 1 via HDMI), with the same results as the OP...one of the monitors is not driven.
The following 3-monitor setup worked for me:
- Late 2014 Mac Mini with 8GB RAM (purchased Oct 2015)
- 3 monitors, each with 1920x1200 resolution
- Monitor 1: driven by Mac mini HDMI port (HDMI-to-HDMI cable)
- Monitor 2: driven by Mac Mini thunderbolt port (I used this thunderbolt-to-DVI cable)
- Monitor 3: driven via USB 3.0 adapter (I used this one from CableMatters and have had zero issues with flicker/performance, although I am not trying to play games or watch video on it...I use it for work).
Some notes:
- You can use a different USB adapter (there are several on the market) but make sure that it's Mac compatible. I previously tried one that had 'beta' Mac support and it was terrible.
- Thunderbolt-to-HDMI and Thunderbolt-to-DVI cables are really mini-displayport to DVI/HDMI cables....the Thunderbolt ports accept mini-displayport connectors.
- For the two natively driven monitors (#1 and #2 above) you can use any combination of HDMI<->HDMI/DVI or thunderbolt<->HDMI/DVI cables depending on what your monitor accepts.
This article might contain information on why this doesn't work.
First off, you're talking about a low-end machine which utilizes shared system memory for its graphics. I drive two Thunderbolt displays with my 2012 Mac Mini with 16GB of RAM and an SSD. The Mini uses a static amount of RAM for video, it does not adjust based on how much RAM is in the machine. As an aside, this is a good reason to max out the RAM on a machine with shared video.
You have a machine with shared video RAM totaling 1 GB, and you're trying to drive two 1440p displays and one 1080p display, a total of 5.76 MP of video output. It's worth noting, the iMac 5K is driving less pixels, and it requires a 2 GB dedicated video card.
You can do 1x hdmi1x hdmi to mini displayAnd 1x hdmi to hdmi-usb dongle
The Mac mini only supports two monitors unless you mess with the graphics, so using the usb dongle tricks it. Warning (eats ram)
This works for me: https://www.i-tech.com.au/products/146188_Wavlink_WL_UG35D6_USB_3_0_to_DVI.aspx
Note: in my experience, the more additional USB devices you have plugged in, the more likely your 3rd monitor is likely to not work (flicks on and off) due to, I assume, lack of power.
I use a thunderbolt 2 docking station which allows me to add 1 hdmi port and an additional thunderbolt port to add 2 monitors
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Major features
Size: The size of the display that you should buy depends on available desk space, your budget, and your preference. Many of my work colleagues prefer to use two smaller displays as opposed to a single large monitor. I prefer one large display—27-inches seems to be my sweet spot. A 24-inch display seems too small to use by itself, and when using two displays I don’t like the dead space between the bezels. Plus, I feel like I’m constantly trying to find the darn cursor when using two monitors. On the other hand, 30-inch screens can be a little overwhelming—I feel like I’m sitting in the front row of the movie theater and want to scoot back from the screen in order to see it all.
Resolution: Don’t assume that two displays that are different makes and models but are the same size will have the same resolution. You can find 27-inch displays with 2460 by 1440 or with 1920 by 1080 resolution, the same as most 23- and 24-inch displays.
I prefer high resolution screens; the low resolution screens tends to make everything appear too large and grainy for a desktop monitor, as you can see the pixel elements that make up the icons and text. Sure, I could go into the system settings, adjust the font size, and eventually get used to it, but lower resolution screens, like those 27-inch monitors with 1920 by 1080 resolution, seem better suited as a multifunction monitor primarily used to watch movies and TV shows and play games. Of course, low resolution, multifunction monitors can be desirable, especially in dorm rooms or small apartments where space is at a premium.
Wide or ultra-wide: Back when CRT displays dominated the desktop monitor landscape, most displays used a 4:3 aspect ratio, which is pretty close to square. Today, almost all displays use a wider, more cinematic 16:9 or 16:10 aspect ratio.
A new, wider aspect ratio, 21:9, has hit the market. We’ve reviewed several of these ultra-wide displays that allow you to have more document windows open side to side, but without the annoying bezels getting in the way. I really liked this wide aspect ratio and found myself using these monitors on my desktop long after the review had posted.
4K today: A resolution revolution is taking place in the desktop monitor market. Ultra high definition displays, also known as 4K displays, have come down in price and are now within the budgetary reach of many consumers. These UHD displays boast 3840 by 2160 pixels—4 times as many pixels as a 1080 HD monitor.
A lot of horsepower is needed to drive these UHD displays and Apple’s 4K support extends only to recent MacBook Pros and the new Mac Pros. OS X 10.9.3 dramatically improves the look of UHD monitors running in both native and scaled resolution modes, but many applications are still not optimized. At full resolution mode, icons and menu text are tiny. You can increase text size and icon size easily enough, but many times I found my aging eyes squinting at itty-bitty text. 4K support on PC graphics cards is more common and Windows 8.1 does a good job of displaying its icons, menus and other screen elements at reasonable sizes, regardless of the resolution setting.
Unfortunately, many of the affordable 4K displays that use cheaper components to keep the price down suffer from narrow viewing angles and muted colors.
Connection types: While many monitors still include an analog VGA connection, digital is the best way to connect your display. All LCD displays are digital and using a VGA connection requires a digital to analog conversion to transmit the signal over the cable and then a second conversion in the display. These conversions can cause noise and give an overall soft appearance.
Your best bet is to use a digital connection like DVI, HDMI or DisplayPort. For high resolution displays, you need to use dual link DVI. HDMI has become ubiquitous, used for TVs, gaming consoles, and desktop monitors. HDMI 1.4 only supports 4K resolutions at low refresh rates; the newer HDMI 2.0 is required to reach 60Hz. DisplayPort supports 4K, but this connection is not as common as HDMI.
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Take a look at your working environment. If you work with your back to a window or bright light source, you can either try and move your desk, or skip the glossy screen. Manufacturers have made progress towards making glossy screens with less glare, but they still reflect more than a matte, anti-glare screen. I prefer matte screens in my many-windowed workspace.
IPS: In-Plane Switching (IPS) changes how the liquid crystal molecules in an LCD display line up in the panel. Compared to twisted nematic (TN) LCDs, IPS panels have much wider viewing angles and offer better color reproduction. IPS-based monitors are also more expensive than TN-based monitors, so you’ll need to balance price with quality.
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If you’re like me, you’ll appreciate a display with a flexible, highly adjustable stand that can tilt forward and back, swivel side to side, and raise and lower a few inches to adapt to your needs. Some monitors can pivot from traditional landscape orientation into portrait mode. This can be helpful, depending on the type of work you do—for example, this guide is much longer than it is wide, so switching my display to portrait mode would allow me to see more of it at once.
Audio: Do you want a monitor with built-in speakers? An external set will most likely sound better, but having them integrated into the display can be convenient and helps reduce desktop clutter.
Some displays skip the integrated speakers, but offer audio in and out ports for headphone use. This can be helpful, especially when using a tower computer that sits under your desk. Having the headphone cable elevated can help you keep it out of the way from your keyboard and stretched beneath your desk.
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