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Comment by dev_tty01 | Hacker News Reader

Sorry you are having issues, but I have found the support for multiple monitors to be great all the way back to a Mac IIci I got in 1989. At the moment I am running a 16" M1 MB Pro with an LG 5K over Thunderbolt. It finds the monitor and puts my spaces back to the right monitors every time I plug it in. It sleeps and wakes from sleep with no issues.

I have had Macs for over 30 years and never experienced these kinds of issues and have used laptops with external monitors (except for some random issues while running beta system software). I have to believe there is something about your software environment that is different. I hope you find the issue, but I can tell you from a large office full of Macs and my own personal experience that your situation is not typical. Good luck.

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Thanks for your anecdote. I'm trying to isolate variables with little success

Is your monitor 60hz, or a higher refresh rate?

27" LG Ultrafine 5k running at 60 Hz. The connection is Thunderbolt 3, direct to the 16" M1 16MB Pro, no dock. The monitor has a USB 3.1 hub built in and that has also been well behaved. This is the latest rev of the LG Ultrafine, the 27MD5KL. It has been flawless. Their first couple of versions had some issues. See the following for more info on those versions:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/371124/difference-...

I have also used this laptop with lots of generic HDMI displays plugged in directly to the HDMI port. No issues. I have had mixed success with no name USB-C to HDMI adaptors. Some of those have problems. I throw those away or send them back.

I am using Bartender and BetterSnapTool. Nothing else third party that messes with windows or spaces. Hope it works out for you.

I will add that I have this same monitor and have used it with no problems with the last 3 MacBook Pro revisions, a MacBook Air from 2018, a Mac mini that’s over a decade old (with an hdmi adapter) and an iPad Pro.

More anecdata: Same monitor. I use the cable that came in the box.

I've had it fail to detect the monitor approximately 1% of the time I plug it in -- it seems to happen once every 3 months or so. This is fixed by pulling the cable out and plugging it back in.

Other than that, I habitually unplug the monitor before putting the laptop away in the evening because the built-in charger makes the fans spin up on my macbook pro.

On my desk I have 6 of these same LG 5K monitors sibling comments are talking about, 2 to a 2019 MBP16, and 4 to a Mac Studio.

On the MBP, I need one TB3 cable to each side of the MBP, not both to the same side. MBP screen is active as well, so it’s driving all three.

On the Mac Studio, I run 4 x TB3 cables into the back. Occasionally (once a week?) the four monitors sometimes seem to wake out of order. I tap touch ID twice to off-and-on-again them, second time’s a charm.

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