Dell external monitor connection issues with MacBook Pro

Issue

My Dell monitor is flickering off and on at the default display resolution but works on lower resolutions.

Environment

  • UO-managed MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro processor
  • Dell display monitor
  • Dell dock (for Ethernet, power, and display (through DisplayPort, USB-C) connectivity)

Description

When I connected my monitor to my MacBook Pro laptop, the display would not persist in the highest resolution. When I lowered the resolution, while it would work, the display was not running optimally. One of my colleagues tested it on their Windows laptop and had no problems at all. What do I do?

Resolution

The issue was caused by a conflict between macOS display settings and the Dell monitor. Here are the steps that were taken to fix the issue.

On the MacBook Pro

  1. Go into System Preferences
  2. Go to the Displays setting
  3. Scroll down to the Refresh Rate and change the value to 60 Hertz.
  4. Go to the True Tone setting and turn it off.
  5. Go to the Night Shift setting and turn it off.

On the Dell monitor

Note: These changes are made on the monitor menu, not through the computer.

Go to the monitor settings and select the Others option

  1. Go to the DDC/CI setting and set it to Off.
  2. Go to the LCD Conditioning setting and set it to Off.
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