Any advantage to using a TB4 port for display verses HDMI?

[Jeff Wahaus]

I'm wondering if there are any advantages to using my Mac's TB4 port for driving a display verses using the built-in HDMI port?

I can certainly think of one disadvantage, that being it would use up one of my TB4 ports and leave the HDMI port empty.

I'm using a M1 Mac Mini.

 

[Samuel Jessop]

I'm using a M1 Mac Mini.

Absolutely none, but this detail is important.

I have my monitor connected to a USB-C port on my 14 inch MBP, but only because it means the cables all exit the same size and that allows for better desk management.

With your use case the HDMI port should be ideal, and the TB4 port far exceeds the bandwidth of HDMI 2.0 and would potentially be a waste of a whole Thunderbolt bus, where you have one bus per port.

 

[JPAlbert]

So long as the HDMI connection works and does everything you need it to do, I'd just use it.

That leaves an extra USBc port "free"...

 

[Tom_N]

I'm wondering if there are any advantages to using my Mac's TB4 port for driving a display verses using the built-in HDMI port?

If your display has 5K or 6K resolution, a TB3 port is the only choice. If you have a 4K monitor with 10-bit color, the HDMI 2.0 port could drive it, but you might be limited to a 30 Hz refresh rate.

Otherwise I would think you could use whichever port is more convenient.

 

[Jeff Wahaus]

I'm wondering if there are any advantages to using my Mac's TB4 port for driving a display verses using the built-in HDMI port?

If your display has 5K or 6K resolution, a TB3 port is the only choice. If you have a 4K monitor with 10-bit color, the HDMI 2.0 port could drive it, but you might be limited to a 30 Hz refresh rate.

Otherwise I would think you could use whichever port is more convenient.

I just got a portable 16" 4K monitor for my Mac Mini, I haven't tried it yet but if the Mac type C port can supply enough power I can use only 1 cable to drive the display instead of having 2 cables (type c power adapter + HDMI). I'm not very hopeful that I'll be able to do this since the type C ports are limited to 900mA but it's worth a try since I'm typically only using one of these ports currently. The monitor's supplied power adapter is rated for 3A.

I've found that 4K resolution on a 16" monitor is completely overkill, the interface becomes so tiny you need a magnifying glass to read the text. For some reason this monitor doesn't support QHD which I was using for my 27" 4K monitor. I expect even QHD would be too much for a monitor this small, however.

 

[Tom_N]

I've found that 4K resolution on a 16" monitor is completely overkill, the interface becomes so tiny you need a magnifying glass to read the text. For some reason this monitor doesn't support QHD which I was using for my 27" 4K monitor. I expect even QHD would be too much for a monitor this small, however.

If you run that 16" 3840x2160 monitor in Retina "like 1920x1080 pixel" mode, text is going to be only 2/3rd as wide, and 2/3rd as tall, as it would be an a 24" 1920x1080 pixel monitor – the same size as text on a 32" 3840x2160 monitor running in native mode.