In my experience with the unusual external display setup using the M4 chip, there are several drawbacks compared to the M1 Pro, despite some advantages. The 32:9 ultrawide display (G95SC) is correctly recognized, and it can support VRR at 240Hz, a feat not possible with the M1 Pro, which maxed out at 120Hz. However, this setup introduces new complications.
One major issue is the slow and occasionally failed wakeup function. Each time I toggle HDR or VRR, the display disconnects and disappears from the settings menu, forcing the MacBook Air to struggle before reconnecting. This issue is problematic for clamshell mode; since I am using a Thunderbolt dock with DisplayPort, the monitor sometimes takes an excessively long time to wake.
In some instances, it fails to wake up altogether and reverts to sleep mode. This issue did not occur with other monitors, leading me to question whether it’s a problem with the G95SC or macOS. The M1 Pro had no such issues running in 120Hz mode.
Additionally, when attempting to use dual monitors, the Thunderbolt dock could drive two displays (5120×1440@120Hz and 3840×2160@144Hz) simultaneously with the M1 Pro. However, the M4 struggles when connected to the 32:9 monitor at 240Hz and fails to support another display, even if I reduce the refresh rate to 120Hz or connect a second monitor to a different Thunderbolt port. It’s worth noting that the setup still works fine with two standard 16:9 144Hz monitors.
As for alternatives, the DP1.4 to HDMI2.1 adapter, which didn’t work with my M1 Pro setup, performs almost flawlessly with the M4 at 5120×1440@240Hz without any lag. Unfortunately, the colors appear oversaturated, regardless of the color profile used.
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