Mac Mini + 3x Apple Thunderbolt Displays?

Can you connect 3 Apple Thunderbolt displays with a single Mac mini?

Or for example can I use 2 apple thunderbolt displays + 1 HDMI display (for total 3)?
Yes for the mid 2011 Mac Mini with AMD graphics. See footnote 3:
"Mac mini with AMD graphics can support an HDMI compatible device on its HDMI port when using two Thunderbolt displays."
Or use something like USB to display adaptors in order to have 3 displays total?
Yes, but with resolution and performance limitations.
<http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/VIDU2DVIA/>
My ultimate objective is for 3 displays (e.g. 3 apple thunderbolt displays).
Would appreciate any assistance / recommendations on the best way to achieve this.
There is one Mac that can handle more than two Thunderbolt displays.
<http://www.apple.com/mac-pro/>

Similar Messages

How do i connect my new mac mini to the thunderbolt display

how do i connect my new mac mini to the thunderbolt displa, It arrives tomorrow?

It has a built-in Thunderbolt cable, see here: http://www.apple.com/displays/specs.html
So assuming your mini has a thunderbolt port (you said it's new so I assume it does), you'd just plug the display's thunderbolt cable into the mini's Thunderbolt port.

Thunderbolt Mac Mini with 2 Thunderbolt Displays

Hi,
Is it possible to connect 2 Apple Thunderbolt Displays to the new Thunderbolt Mac Mini, through daisy chain?
Thanks!

Here's from the Apple support doc's:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4885
They specifically list that the higher end graphics on the Mac Mini's can not only handle (2) TB displays, but also use the HDMI port as well...

New Mac Mini and Apple Cinema Display

I have just upgraded my Mac (G5 PowerMac) to a new Mac Mini. I am still using my Apple Cinema display - but I cannot not play all the purchased movies that I have on iTunes now...????

Greg,
Are these movies HD? If they are, you might be having a problem with HDCP which is copy protection that won't let you view movies if all of your equipment is not HDCP compliant, which probably is your Cinema display. I also have a late 2012 Mac mini with an older Apple 20" Cinema display and cannot watch HD itunes movies. You will have to watch in standard definition. Of course you might have a different problem, but your question seemed similar with my situation. What is strange is that you were able to watch from your G5 Powermac. Maybe the power PC chip allowed viewing as opposed to intel chips, which I think intel created HDCP. Somebody on these boards probably has better answers then me ;-)
Rob

Newest Mac Pro: Displays How will 4K be displayed? : 4K 3840x2160 UHD 4096x2550 Where as: 27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display=2660x1440

How will 4K be displayed? :
4K 3840x2160
UHD 4096x2550
Where as:
27-inch Apple Thunderbolt Display=2660x1440

4k is the generic term for resolutions that have a horizontal number of pixels around 4000. The two most common resolutions are Ultra Hi-Def (UHD) and Cinema 4K (C4K). The first is 3840x2160 and is exactly four times the resolution of "Full HD", or 1080p. The second is 4096x2160 and is one of the "standard" resolutions used in digital cinema projection.
The HDMI 1.4 standard supports both of these, but only at certain refresh rates. UHD, being the consumer version, is supported at 24Hz, 25Hz, and 30Hz; C4K is only defined for 24Hz since most of the material is going to be film-sourced. (This implies that 25/30Hz will include TV material at half their original rates of 50/60Hz.) Over HDMI, all four of these timing formats run at the same clock rate (297MHz, ignoring the fractional versions). This is the highest clock used in this version of HDMI, although the standard allows up to 340MHz. (There may be PC timing formats between 297-340...)
Using generic terms, we call these modes "UHD30" to imply resolution and refresh rate, and if a TV supports UHD30 it will always support UHD24 (although it is not a rule, merely a reflection of reality). A TV can only support C4K24 in 1.4, but it doesn't have to. There are many TVs that will support UHD24 or UHD24-30, but not C4K at all. So the practical limit of HDMI 1.4 is "up to 4k30."
HDMI 2.0, which the Mac Pro does not have [yet], provides dot clocks up to 600MHz (although above 340MHz, they are all divided by 4) and allows "up to 4k60" for pixel encodings of RGB444, YCC444, and YCC422. The new standard also allows 4k50/60 to use YCC420, which sacrifices some color information (known as 'uses chroma subsampling') but allows the data to be transferred at the same rate as 4k30. While "fine" for video--since it was probably delivered over BD/DVD or streaming at YCC420 to begin with--it is not fine for you computer's output.
I just got a 4k TV because I was tired of my dual 1920x1200 DisplayPort monitors after coming from the original 30" Cinema display of 2560x1600. Specifically, I used to enjoy >1080 pixels tall. But here's the problem with the 4k TV: while it has HDMI 2.0 inputs, the MacPro has only HDMI 1.4 so the output is limited to "up to 4k30". Moving the mouse is laggy and not smooth as it would be if the display were 60Hz. Furthermore, the MacPro is not offering me a choice between UHD or C4K--both of which the TV supports--and is instead defaulting to the largest resolution of C4K. This means the refresh is only 24Hz. And that's why I'm in the forums today--to see if there's a way to get my output to be UHD, but at 30Hz.
In a couple months, several companies will be selling DP-to-HDMI2 dongles that will support 4k60. So I am holding my breath until then.
Now, to specifically and accurately answer your question: Out the current MacPro's HDMI 1.4 port, you will get the highest resolution your TV (called the Sink) will support. If your TV has C4K24, then that is what will show up. If your TV does NOT have that, but has UHD24-30, you SHOULD get UHD30. If your TV ONLY has UHD24, then that's what you will get. If you get a TV, the chances are really, really good that the panel will have 3840 pixels across and 2160 lines down. In this case, you want the Mac to output that resolution and put the TV into pixel-for-pixel mode so every input datum is mapped to a single display element. Since most displays overscan, the Full mode will expand the incoming data from 2-5% which can eliminated the crispness (and also cut off the extremes of the Desktop). Also, if you are outputting C4K (like I am) AND you have switched to P4P mode, the horizontal dimension is shrunk by 6.6%.
If any of this is unclear, just reply. But I will say that this 40" TV is really useful, and once it is running at 60Hz...bellisima!

Mac mini 2011 to displayport display

How do I connect the new Mac mini 2011 (thunderbolt port) to an displayport display?
What kind of cable do I need?

Somewhere else I found a hint to use a mini displayport to displayport cable and plug the mini displayport end into the thunderbolt port because of backward compatibility.
It is my understanding that is correct.
From the Mac mini page;
http://www.apple.com/macmini/design.html
Many ports. Major possibilities.
Built-in Thunderbolt technology lets you daisy-chain up to six Thunderbolt peripherals, including the new Apple Thunderbolt Display, to a single port. It also supports Mini DisplayPort peripherals you might already have, including the Apple LED Cinema Display. The HDMI port lets you connect Mac mini to your HDTV with a single cable. And a built-in SDXC card slot makes speedy work of transferring photos and videos from your digital cameras.

TS4080 apple thunderbolt display image on display intermittently goes dark, does not wake from sleep after clicking mouse or keyboard, but there is "bonk" sound after clicking mouse or pressing keys. Rebooting by pressing the power button resolves issue.

My apple thunderbolt display (which I purchased 1.5 years ago; OS 10.7.5 Mac Mini) intermittently goes dark, does not wake from sleep after clicking mouse or keyboard, but there is "bonk" sound after clicking mouse or pressing keys, so am thinking it is a hardware problem with the display. Rebooting by pressing the power button turns the screen back on, but the same phenomenon has occurred several times. Could this be a software issue, or do I need to have my display repaired? Your feedback would be appreciated.

Hi ED, tough to tell, but it does sound like it's waking with the bonk, just not displaying.
Long shot but...
I wonder if it's a variation of this, of which I've seen many different symptoms...
Resolution
Move the mouse or trackpad cursor over the center area of the login window so you can see the user icons. Click on the icon of the user that you would like to login as, type in the user's password, and press Return.
If the login window is configured to show only the name and password fields, type in the user's name and password into the fields, and press Return (even if you cannot see the rest of the login window).
Additional Information
This issue will not occur if the display is not sleeping when the account is logged out. Use the steps below to confirm that the account is not configured to log out automatically while the display is sleeping:
1. Open System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. Click the padlock to unlock the preference pane and enter your admin password. Click the Advanced button at the bottom, then see if the option "Log out after N minutes of inactivity" (where N is the number of minutes) is enabled.
2. Open System Preferences > Energy Saver and configure Display Sleep to occur after the account is logged out, by dragging the slider to a number of minutes that is greater than N was set to in the previous step.
Important: If automatic log out is not needed, disable "Log out after Nminutes of inactivity" in System Preferences > Security & Privacy > General. This will also prevent the issue.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4135?viewlocale=en_US

Apple thunderbolt display can work with a macbook pro 2009?

Apple thunderbolt display can work with a macbook pro 2009 (mini display port? The image passes through the mini display port to the monitor, but the connections (Firewire, USB, ethernet) do not work. Can you confirm?

I'd love to get confirmation if this is the case too. I was all ready to buy the new iMac until I found I couldn't use it as an external monitor for my DisplayPort-based MacBook Pro. And then I was all ready to buy the new display.
I really hope Apple hasn't restricted this to purely Thunderbolt-equipped Macs. I know I'll end up upgrading my MacBook at some point but I can't do so just yet, and this means I'll have to go for some third-party display, camera, speakers etc for the new Mac Mini which is crazy.
James

Hi, I just got an Apple Thunderbolt Display. How can I connect it to my sony vaio pc? Thanks

Hi, I just got an Apple Thunderbolt Display. How can I connect it to my sony vaio pc? At Apple Store they gave me a Mini Display Port to VGA Adapter, but monitor doesnt display any image. Thanks for your help!

no, your computer needs to have thunderbolt technology. does it?
if not, no adapter can make a thunderbolt display work on a non-thunderbolt computer.
someone was likely confused since miniDP will FIT into a TB socket but is only compatible one way, ie a mDP display can work on a TB machine, but a TB display cannot work on a mDP machine

Mac Mini (mid-2011) dual display with extended desktop

Can Mac Mini (mid-2011) dual display different picture on HDMI TV and DVI monitor. I can only get it to mirror and not display different programs or extended desktop. Can i "extend" instead of "mirror"? and how

Hi David it should...
Display Support:
Dual Displays
Resolution Support:
1920x1200*
Details:
*This model simultaneously supports 1920x1200 on an HDMI display or a DVI display using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter and 2560x1600 on a Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort display or even a VGA display (with an optional Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, which is compatible with the Thunderbolt port).
2nd Display Support:
Dual/Mirroring*
2nd Max. Resolution:
2560x1600*
Details:
*This model simultaneously supports 1920x1200 on an HDMI or a DVI display (using the included HDMI-to-DVI adapter) and 2560x1600 on a Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort display or even a VGA display (with an optional Mini DisplayPort-to-VGA adapter, which is compatible with the Thunderbolt port).
Are you using splitter maybe?

Is it possible to connect a MacBook Pro (prev model 2009, 2.26ghz) to an Apple Thunderbolt display: will the cable fit?

Is it possible to connect a MacBook Pro (prev model 2009, 2.26ghz) to an Apple Thunderbolt display: will the cable fit?

Sorry it won't work. It will fit but the laptop can't communicate with it. Please see many of the other threads here, specifically this one just above your post, that is discussing this exact question.
Apple's specs for the ThunderBolt display state that it needs a ThunderBolt-enabled computer. Your laptop has a mini-display port connection so it is not compatible with the new displays.

Windows 7 and Apple Thunderbolt Display

I'm having difficulties getting the 27" Apple Thunderbolt to work reliably with my 13.3 MPPr using Win7 and Bootcamp. All the Bootcamp drivers are the latest, and the display works just fine using OSX 10.8. When booting into Win7, the external display is dark, but audio, USB, and ethernet seem to work just fine..just no video. Has anyone found a work around for this.. It's getting really frustrating.

Thunderbolt ports and displays: Frequently asked questions (FAQ)
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT5219
https://www.apple.com/thunderbolt/
rMBP, Bootcamp off thunderbolt drive - MORE COMPLETE SOLUTION
http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1414769
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4232557
Boot Camp: FireWire devices may affect Windows 7 responsiveness if connected to an Apple Thunderbolt display
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4190
This looks promising:
http://www.macwindows.com/bootcamp5.html
Thunderbolt problems with Windows 8
TIP: Fix for Thunderbolt problem with Windows 8 in Boot Camp
Boot Camp users who updated Windows 7 to Windows 8 may find that a Mac booted with Windows 8 does not recognize Thunderbolt . According to a new Apple tech article, the problem is an incompatibility with the Windows 8 Fast Boot feature (also called Fast Startup). The workaround is to disable Fast Boot using the Windows Control Panel.
Here's how:
In Windows 8, open the Control Panel. (You can move the mouse to the upper-right corner to activate the Charms bar, click the Settings icon, and then select Control Panel.)
Select Hardware and Sound.
Under Power Options, choose Change What the Power Buttons Do.
Under Shutdown Settings, uncheck the Turn On Fast Startup. Checkbox.
Click Save and then restart the Mac back into Windows.
After restart, Windows 8 will recognize Thunderbolt devices attached to the Mac.

HT5219 Apple thunderbolt display blacks out and blinks

Hi,
I have a macbook pro (2.5GHz Intel core i7, 16GB RAM and 10.8.5) for which I use Apple Thunderbolt display as my extended monitor and almost everyday after connecting my external monitor for 3 or 4 hours, Apple thunderbolt display blacks out and starts blinking or displaying weird colors on every blink.
To stop it from doing that, I have to disconnect and reconnect my thunderbolt display.
Is this is universal problem or something wrong with my macbook pro ?

I've got two 27" Thunderbolt displays hooked up to my Mac Pro. Both displays blank out irregularly multiple times per hour.
I've exchanged one of the displays for a brand new display and the problem continues.
I've updated both displays using the firmware update a few months back and the problem continues.
I'm using separate Thunderbolt cables rather than the built-in cables and the problem continues.
Bullocks.

Mac Mini, Synology, Apple TV, iTunes - where to start

Hi Everyone,
I am new to the apple forum. To be honest I am new to the whole Apple thing, being a Windows bod I managed to resist the Apple gravy train for several years before giving in and falling inline.
Now I find myself with an iphone, ipod touch, ipad 2, mac mini and apple TV 4 although not all in use yet... This brings me to my question.
What is the best home setup for sharing?
let me set the scene.
3 years ago I modernised my house and put in cat5e structured cabling throughout, all back to a comm rack in the loft. at the time I set up a powerful quad core server. I used to run my own AD domain, Exchange server (don't ask). Now the server runs Windows 7 professional with 8 HDDs running raid 5 mainly running windows media centre and I was using my xbox 360s as extenders. The view was to use Xbox's around the house to access my media. Never quite got there and things have moved on again.
After running the big Windows beast 24x7 for about 18 months I wanted to scale down again, improve data resillience and provide a simple user interface for my other half.
So after doing some initial web trawling armed and dangerous with a very small amount of knowledge and realising that I already had an amount of Apple kit to contribute towards an iTunes based mulitroom solution. The red mist came down and with credit card in hand I did some retail therapy. Not the female handbag and shoes type but the proper male tech kind.
I already had
1 x ipod touch 64GB
1 x iphone 4 32GB
1 x ipad 2 64GB wifi
And to complement the set I now have;
1 x i5 2.7GHZ, 16GB RAM, 2TB HDD Mac mini (this is the latest version which I upgraded to 2 x 1TB internal drives)
1 x 4th gen apple TV
and non Apple kit
1 x Synology DS212+ with 8TB storage raid 0
1 x Onkyo TX-NR515 AV receiver
So now comes to the ask. How best to use all of this over my home wired network?
I'm thinking I will use iTunes, I want to have some form of data backup between the Synology and the Mac mini (I want to shut down my windows server)
I also want to be able to control it all from the ipad/ipod and push media (audio and video) around the house.
The mac mini is currently plugged into one of my TVs via the AV receiever and the thought was to use the apple TV in another room, and depending of how it goes buy another 1 or 2 for other rooms.
So I have all this kit and not sure where to start and I'm not a mac expert. I know I can't use the synology box on it's own as you need itunes for the apple TVs, I don't know whether to use the Synology or the local Mac storage for the primary itunes library and then to backup to the device is so how (time capsule thing).
I don't want itunes to organise my media as I don't like the way it shuffles files around, so thinking of keeping the media files in a folder structure I am familar with and pointing iTunes at that. I also have a large amount of video files that I will probably have to convert to be capatible with iTunes, but not sure of the best way to do this, if I need to at all.
Sorry for the long waffle. Would be interested in any views, suggestions, ideas or examples of your own set ups. In return, for what it is worth I will let you know how I get on.
many thanks for your input

Great thread all! I have been wrestling with this very topic for several months now. I've read every thread I could find on the topic, asked questions etc but still have not come to a final decision. But I am getting close ... I think.
First, a little background. I am starting from primarily pc household and converting to an all Apple infrastructure. From the Apple world, we already have 2 iPhones and 3 iPads. New iPhone 5 on order and ... today at last Apple has announced the new iMacs. Exactly what I have been waiting for and so my intent is to purchase one each of the smaller and larger as they come out next month and the month after. My router is beginning to show signs of age and so I would also like to move to an Airport Extreme. The PC hard drive housing my iTunes library is nearly full and so I need to move the library to a new location, preferable an external, networkable location and I've been looking at the Synology 1812 for this purpose. So, in the end I have or would like to soon have:
3 iPads
3 iPhones
2 iMacs
1 AppleTV 3 with a plan to one or two more. If they would only add the Amazon Prime app and RF remote capabilities it would be nearly perfect.
2 PS3s and 1 XBox360 but I much prefer the ATV interface for media. PS3 remains the place for the Amazon app because ATV doesn't provide.
1 Airport Extreme
House is already wired and homerunned with Cat-6
Plan to add Synology 1812 with 3 or 4 3TB drives to start and use the Synology Hybrid Raid
Open items or questions for me:
1. Will I have any issues if I purchase the Synology, move the iTunes library from my current PC to it and then remove the PC from the picture once I have an iMac in place? I understand that Apple does not utilize the same hard drive formatting structure as pc but I am not sure this would matter for an external device accessed over a network.
2. What am I going to serve with? I like iTunes and I am used to it. I would like something that works well with the ATV and it does that. Plex seems to have potential but would then make ATV useless unless hckd. All of my music is in iTunes now, including ripped, iTunes purchased and Amazon purchased. I have put many tv shows and some films into it as well, utilizing Handbrake to do so when needed.
3. Synology for storage, backup, redundancy etc but from where do I want to manage media / serve from? I realize I can do it from one or even both of the iMacs. I had been thinking that I wanted a low power, always on solution that would negate the need to have an IMac always on, something similar to the HP MediaSmart Server I've been using at home for a number of years, albeit clunkily. This is where I thought the Mac Mini might come in (once I learned that the Synology iTunes server was really not a true iTunes server). Low power, always on, can be running iTunes on it etc. But this thread and aschmid's comments have me rethinking this. Maybe I won't be shutting down my iMac all that much and maybe it isn't difficult to wake it so that it can address serving duties.
4. How would I address the storage of home videos vs films and tv shows? I don't want iTunes managing home videos ... do I? Still want them sitting on the Synology - right? Did you all create a separate folder on the Synology for home videos? I know there is a default videos folder. there. And are you serving via iPhoto, Aperture or something else?
5. How about photos? I would like my photo library housed on the Synology as well. Is that served via iPhoto or Aperture to the ATV? How are the mutiple entry points addressed? Everyone in the family is taking pictures, videos etc and all of iCloud turned on. How do I insure that a clean copy of every picture and video taken with any iPhone, iPad, digital camera, digital camcorder etc all ends up centrally located and accessible on the Synology without it becoming too manual a process?
Sorry about the long windedness of this. I got on a bit of a roll once I began typing. This has been on my mind for some time and I am happy to have come across this thread.

Mac Mini and the Dell Display

Has anyone ever used the Mac Mini with a Dell Display? Specifically, the Dell SP2309W. If so, how well the two work together? Thanks in advance!
http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/products/Displays/productdetail.aspx?c=us&l=e n&s=dhs&cs=19&sku=320-7641

I bought one of these when they first came out. It's a nice monitor but the camera has been a bust. It just won't work reliably. Maybe the firmware has been improved since when I bought mine. But if you care about the camera and mic working, you should investigate further to make sure it's working better than it is on mine.

Mac Mini + 3x Apple Thunderbolt Displays?

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