Users of certain ultrawide and super-ultrawide external monitors are reporting that some resolutions are not available when used with an Apple Silicon M1 Mac, but Apple says a fix is coming.
Apple’s Apple Silicon M1-based Macs have changed the supported external monitors, but now an unknown number of users are reporting issues with limited resolution options.
Specifically, when so-called ultrawide or super-ultrawide displays are connected to the new M1 Macs, macOS Big Sur does not provide the option to use certain resolutions. Such monitors are built to display a range of resolutions, but those are simply not listed in the System preferences, Screen panel.
“Apple is aware of this issue,” the company said in a new support document, “and a fix is planned for a future macOS update.”
The problem was first noticed by MacRumors. Apple has not confirmed when a fix will be released, only adding that “this document will be updated as more information becomes available”.
It is also not yet clear how widespread the problem is, or whether it only affects certain brands of monitors. The new 13-inch MacBook Pro and the M1-based MacBook Air both support only one external monitor, instead of several in their previous Intel versions.
The new Mac mini has a similar limitation with only one external display allowed through DisplayPort. However, it is possible to run a second monitor on the Mac mini via HDMI.