Thunderbolt display connected to 3 devices?

Is it possible to connect a Mac Mini, Mac Pro and a Macbook Air to a single Thunderbolt display? The Mini and Pro are permanently connected while the Air is occasionally connected.

My wife has a brand new 27" LED display on her older model Mac mini (pre-Thunderbird) and I have a relaltively new 27" TB display on my late model Mac mini. They both cost the same. As far as being a display, there is nothing to choose between them and any limitations we have encountered are due to the display card technology used in the two Mac minis, and not the displays. The sole advantage of the TB display, that I can see, is in the additional data hubs (Gigabit ethernet, USB 2, and Firewire 800) and the single cable connection between the computer and the Mac.
When I gaze into a crystal ball, I see a long future for the Thunderbird interface and moving the TB display to future Mac minis or Mac Pros. The same crystal ball also shows the mini DisplayPort slowly dying out or being supplanted by the far more capable Thunderbird (or whatever the PC vendors elect to call it when they get around to adopting it). Further, since you have a Mac Pro, I assume you are a power user and the new Mac Pro looks very interesting so I would guess you are likely to move up in the foreseeable future. However, it is only fair to note my crystal ball is scratched, dirty, and some of the smoke has leaked out so it is notoriously hard to read and I may be reading the future incorrectly.
Only you can decide what you want to do, but if I were in your shoes I would either go into the nearest Apple store and talk to someone there, or go to the Online Apple Store, click on the "Chat" button and ask if the Thunderbird display will work as a display only through a mini DisplayPort connection. If the answer is yes then I would place a bet on the future and buy the Thunderbird display even though I could not currently use all that it offers. Alternatively I might consider buying a less expensive (cheap) third pary display and an appropriate $35 mini DisplayPort adaptor on the theory that by the time I was ready to buy a new Mac Pro Apple would have an even better 27" Thunderbird display.
Message was edited by: Joe Bailey

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IMac and Thunderbolt display connectivity

Hello everybody,
Several days ago I've bought new Thunderbold 27' display and connected it as a second screen to my iMac. Video works fine but I've just discovered that all ports of that display are not functioning, i.e. USB ports are not working, and I can't see its camera and speakers from my iMac.
Is it possible somehow to get it working? Especially USB would be very helpful.
Thank you.

http://support.apple.com/kb/DL1451
I found this update on apple - but can't use it as I have 10.7.3 version of osX.
My data for thunderbolt display:
Thunderbolt Display:
Vendor Name:          Apple, Inc.
Device Name:          Thunderbolt Display
Vendor ID:          0x1
Device ID:          0x8002
Device Revision:          0x1
UID:          0x0001000100170ED0
Firmware Version:          22.2
Port:
Status:          Connected
Link Status:          2/1
Port Micro Firmware Version:          0.0.21
Cable Micro Firmware Version:          0.1.18
Port:
Status:          No devices connected
Link Status:          7
Super Port Micro Firmware Version:          0.0.21
Which version of firmare do you have?
Thank you

HT5219 Which keys to I need to switch my macbook air display to an external thunderbolt display connected via mini port?

Which keys to I need to switch my macbook air display to an external thunderbolt display connected via mini port?

Which keys to I need to switch my macbook air display to an external thunderbolt display connected via mini port?
If you just bought the external Thunderbolt Display, you may be able to return it for the LED Display.

IMac 27" with Thunderbolt Display connected, Boot Camp Problem

Hi everyone.
Let me start off by saying that I'm using a late 2012 iMac 27", 3.4 GHz i7, 680MX, 32 GB RAM, 1 TB Fusion, with a Thunderbolt Display connected.
I installed Windows 8 via Boot Camp, and it works just fine. Here comes my problem:
I have dual screens and I play Minecraft. Minecraft's full screen is basically crap, and therefore I disabled the iMac display. I used Windows-button+P to use only the secondary display. This turns the iMac display off entirely, and leaves the Thunderbolt Display on. Note: This is not possible in Mac OS X. Then I played a little Minecraft. When I was done, i wanted the main iMac display to come on again. I then used Windows-button+P again, to turn both displays on. Then bam, totally looked like the iMac display was broken. See the images below, to see how it looks:
1) http://cl.ly/image/1p2e3c1Z1z1C
2) http://cl.ly/image/2g0n1M1Y0t0g
3) http://cl.ly/image/2Q2P1c1J220d
4) http://cl.ly/image/113b3K2O1Z43
5) http://cl.ly/image/1q2v1s1n3w1f
This image-retention-like stuff stays there, even if I reboot into Mac OS X, and then it eventually disappears. I can reproduce this, by doing the same thing again, (windows-button+p) but only in Windows, because that you cannot turn of the main display in Mac OS X. Maybe this is the reason why you can't?
Anyone can tell me what I can do? I guess I could try reinstalling, but it seems more like a hardware issue, than a software issue.
Thank you for your time, and thanks in advance.
Another note: I'll try doing the opposite, and see if it happens on the Thunderbolt Display as well. (Windows-button+P, and then only using the main display)
//ifraaank

Ok, I am marking this as "answered", as I have solved it myself, while I still have no clue what lead to the problem in the first place.
I've been on the phone with Apple Care today, and they were as clueless as I was and had never heard of this before.
After we tried the usual stuff (unplugging all wires, PRAM Reset, SMC Reset), to no avail, I was told it could well be a hardware problem and that I should have the iMac examined at the Genius Bar, so an appointment was made.
I'll cancel that one though, as I was able to cure it by myself for now (and carrying around a 27" iMac in Munich's busy downtown pedestrian zone is not really fun).
This is what I did (and I'm so happy I tried):
In Display Settings, I switched the external display back to landscape mode and selected "mirror displays".
Then I rebooted, and voilà, the problem was gone (Apple logo on white background was showing).
I switched it back to 90 degrees rotation and no mirroring, and it's still all ok.
I booted Windows 7 in Bootcamp, then back to Snow Leopard, and it's all still fine.
I can still only wonder what messed this up in the first place, but for now I'm happy.

High CPU load after waking with Thunderbolt Display connected

I have a Mid-2013 MacBook Air 13" with Apple Thunderbolt Display connected. I use this setup mostly in a clamshell mode. Recently I've updated to OS X Mavericks. After that I've noticed that one of the cores is occupied by kernel_task to 100% after waking up from sleep. I've managed to isolate that to Apple Thunderbolt Display connected, without display there is a short CPU spike, but it comes down to normal levels in a couple of seconds.
I've tried resetting SMC to no success. MacBook doesn't enter Safe Mode either (progress bar goes up to approx. 30% and it goes to reboot). Probably it's because of the Thunderbolt Display, I'm not really sure.
That's not really a problem as this load doen't seem to impact CPU temp (fans are not spinning faster) and more of a activity monitor display glitch (?).
Does anyone here encounter this?

Hey Max,
I also have one CPU core on my Air'13 to run 100% after a wake-up for about 1 minute (kernel_task).
It is annoyingly like this after I upgraded to Maverics. Notice, I don't have a Thunderbolt monitor, just a laptop, no periphery.

Thunderbolt Display Connection to a DVI Port video card

Hi everyone, Im a snob to when it comes to computers and I'm kind of interested to find out if it's possible to connect my 27" thunderbolt display to my DVI port video card of my computer with this device: http://store.apple.com/us/product/H5236ZM/A?fnode=MTY1NDA5OQ&mco=MjI1Njk4Njg&s=t opSellers. Tthanks in advance for any info that I can get guys.

No. That will work only with Mini DisplayPort displays, not Thunderbolt. Also that particular model is single-link DVI, so is for the 24" display.

Apple Thunderbolt Display-Connection confusion!

OK, I have quite a lot to explain here so this is going to be a big post.
In September, I'll be going to University to study Computer Games Animation and as such over the past few months I've sorted out the computer I need for the course, or I thought I did anyway. I intended to buy a Mac Pro (the upcoming model, following the rumours of an early August update for 2011) and two Apple 27" Cinema Displays. Along with this, I was going to purchase the Atlona HD620 (on one side of the device there is an MDp output and HDMI output to put in your Mac and 360 into and the other side is another MDp output to your display) to connect my Xbox 360 to one of the displays (MDp). I was aware that the HD620 doesn't work with the 2011 iMac due to Thunderbolt and thus it was possible I would run into the same problem with the new Mac Pro and displays. I kept my plan however and decided I'd look into it when the time came.
....and then it did.
Yesterday as I'm sure you're aware, Apple went and released the new Thunderbolt Display which did away with MDp completely. I looked into the new displays and Thunderbolt and as I now understand it, Thunderbolt is backwards compatible with MDp but obviously, MDp can't be forward compatible with Thunderbolt. In other words you can insert a Thunderbolt input cable into a MDp output but you can't insert a MDp input cable into a Thunderbolt output (right?). This would make sense regarding the HD620 and the new iMac as the iMac only possesses a Thunderbolt output forcing you to input Mdp from the HD60 into the Thunderbolt and thus, doesn't work.
This however is not the case with the Thunderbolt display. As I'm sure you're also aware, the Thunderbolt display possesses an output AND the built-in Thunderbolt cable. Now I wonder if using the Thunderbolt cable into the MDp output on the HD620 would work? The HD620 would then be connected to the Mac Pro via the Apple Thunderbolt cable from the (highly presumed) Thunderbolt output on the Mac Pro into the MDp output on the other side of the device and I'm hoping this would work. I'm also wondering, despite using Thunderbolt cables between the Mac Pro and the display, even if this does work, would the MDp element on the HD620 cancel out the USB outputs, speakers, FaceTime camera and mic functionalities on the display?
I hope this makes some sense, I've been rattling my brain over this for months and as much as I love the new displays, it's a real pain that they've come out now and shaken my plans. I hope there are members here who know what they're talking about a lot more than I do on the subject, my understanding here could be completely mistaken. Infact the more I think about it and the more I learn, the less confident I become. If this isn't right, is there any way this set up could work?
Thank you.

I'm in the same predicament. I'm making a series of purchase decisions, and unfortunately some are on hold until I can arrive to a solid conclusion. To give you some insight, I had the MacBook air with the MDp and just switched to a MacBook Air with the Thunderbolt primarily because I have a iMac 27" w/ Thunderbolt at the office i wanted to use as a external monitor.
With that said, I'm still waiting to decide on what to buy for the home to extend the MacBook Air as I have four choices:
- Cinema Display 27" w/ Mini DisplayPort
- Thunderbolt Display 27"
- iMac 27" with Thunderbolt (similar to office) (used in target display mode from time to time)
- iMac 27" with Mini DisplayPort (used in target display mode from time to time)
The burning question is, how do you plan to use the display and then determine if compatibility exists in those methods. In my case, I plan to use the display from OSX as well as Windows via Bootcamp. It turns out, through relentless research with a visit to the Apple store and purchases, I arrived to the colusions here:
http://mike952.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/thunderbold-and-minidisplay-mac-compatib ility-101/
It seems Mini DisplayPort works all around, meaning I can reboot and the display works even prior to the OSX loading, in BootCamp, etc. This lends credulence that the DisplayPort monitor will work with any DisplayPort device be it an XBox 360 or your latest cable box, whatever.
With thunderbolt, it seems as though the two end points need to be thunderbolt as they need to negotiate with each other and agree on how to transfer the video stream. This is validated somewhat with my bootcamp partition on my iMac 27" at work. When I boot into bootcamp, I cannot get the iMac27" to work in target display mode via the thunderbolt to thunderbolt with either mini displayport or thunderbolt cables. This is also documented on Apple support. However, Bootcamp does work fine with an iMac27" with Mini displayport and the thunderbolt MacBook via a mini display port cable (not a thunderbolt cable).
So the conclusion I've arrived thus far is the Cinema Display w/ Mini DisplayPort plug is more compatible with Mini Display or ThunderBolt sources (equally) however, it require the use of an additional USB connector to activate the isight camera and usb ports on the back while the Thunderbolt display, nice to have one plug enable all the features such as USB, isight camera, etc. however may not work with external displayport devices without some future adaptor or firmware updates with
With the iMac 27" thunderbolt, the devices need to be synchronized via thunderbolt in order to achieve the target display mode (meaning, they need to be on, macbook needs to be open to use the Command + F2) and there after you can close the MacBook to use the iMac 27" as the monitor.
With the newly released ThunderBolt display, and this is where I'm curious and wish Apple will step in and answer so I can make my purchase decision now, the question is will this display auto-synchronize with thunderbolt source (a requirement for it to work seamlessly when plugged in) and if so, this means their must be some software/hardware running in the monitor to accomplish this. Is this sync still broken when booting to BootCamp?
In other words, will BootCamp work with the thunderbolt display despite it not working with the iMac27" in target display mode?
As a software engineer, I'm inclined to say there are a few possible solutions here:
- firmware option to use thunderbolt port as a mini displayport and operating systems see it as so allowing for interoperability skipping the thunderbolt negotiation step
- bootcamp update allowing Windows to work with thunderbolt port similar to mac, allowing for negotation and the invokation of Command + F2 on iMac 27" and presumably auto negotiation and display iwth the Thunderbolt Display 27"
- some inteligent thunderbolt powered adapter which, when plugged in, tricks any device into seeing a mini displayport monitor and allowing it to function as so be it the iMac 27" in target dispaly mode OR the Thunderbolt display operating simply as a former cinema display. Whoever comes up with this adapter will be a millionair over night.

IMac won't start with Thunderbolt Display connected after firmware update

After updating my thunderbolt display firmware to version 1.2 this morning via the App Store, my mid-2014 iMac won't start up with the external display connected. I can get the iMac to start up only by disconnecting the display's thunderbolt connector. After the iMac comes up, I can reconnect the display and everything appears to function normally. I've tried several restarts and the iMac won't start up with the display connected. Anyone else experience this?

Hello rameta,
It may help to reset your Mac's SMC and PRAM.
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Reset your computer’s PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
Cheers,
Allen

Thunderbolt display-connected keyboard fails to wake MacBook Pro

I'm having intermittent problems with my keyboard when I use my rMacBook Pro in clamshell mode attached to an Apple Thunderbolt Display. With increasing frequency, when I sleep the Mac, close it and attach it to the display, I cannot wake up the computer using the Apple keyboard that is attached (USB) to the display. Unplugging and repluggin the keyboard does nothing.
I can wake up the computer with a Bluetooth keyboard & login (screensaver), and the Bluetooth keyboard continues to work fine. Nut the wired keyboard never works.
However, if I simply restart the Mac, the display-connected keyboard always begins working again.
I belive this rules out a hardware problem, but I'm open to suggestions. (It's happened repeatedly—maybe ten times over the last several months. But with increasing frequency.)
I can post console logs if that would help.
Any ideas?

Clinton,
Thanks for your interest in my question. I actually own a 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display, which works with other Retina Display Macbook Pro, but not mine anymore... That's why I suppose the problem comes from my laptop's thunderbolt ports.
Any clue?
Thanks very much in advance.
Dominic

Can thunderbolt display connect to Win7 pc via adapter?

Needing a second large monitor compatible with my two systems: Macbook Pro w Bootcamp Win7 64-bit and HP Win7 64-bit workstation. Can this display connect to my PC workstation via adapter? Can it mirror an existing flat screen? The existing flatscreen monitor mirrors the Macbook Pro just fine, except for resolution differences.

Your Win PC would need a Thunderbolt port. If it does not there is no adapter that will make it work.

Can I use an external Thunderbolt Display connected drive as my "content" drive?

I'm looking into updating my computer, and am considering a Retina MBP and a Thunderbolt display. What I want to know, is given that the rMBP is currently so limited in it's SSD capacity (at the low end), could I have all my music/photo/movie libraries stored on a big Thunderbolt drive that is plugged into the Thunderbolt Display? I realize that I'm only going to have access to these libraries while plugged in to the display, but I've got iTune Match running, so as far as music is concerned it's not an issue. I'm wondering if there are other ways that I can do the same thing with wireless network drives, Time Capsule, etc.? I'm not familiar with using external drives to do this. Until now, I've always preferred to have everything on one machine and back up to a Time Capsule. I'm looking for what people think is the best solution. Thanks.

I don't have a Thunderbolt RAID set-up yet but, yes, you could do what you're asking. I already store all my photos and most of my iTunes library on FireWire 800 drives. A Thunderbolt RAID would be just perfect (I have my eye on a few but just haven't made up my mind on whether to wait a year or so when the price goes down and continue to use my FW drives).
I'm not crazy about Retina display models right now. The GPU just doesn't seem to be able to handle all that's thrown at it, there are no third-party apps that I use that are Retina-ready, and, especially when you add the 768GB flash storage and 16GB of RAM, it's just too expensive. If you do get the RMBP, I suspect that you'll be using the ATD more than the 15" display - a friend of mine who plunked down the $4K+ for the full-featured RMBP calls it a 'piece of crap' and is looking for a buyer.
I have 3 FW800 drives that I use - a 1TB, a 2TB and an old 500GB that came out of my MBP. I'll soon be getting a 4TB RAID that's also FW800 (at less than half the price of a similar Thunderbolt model). But if you can afford the Thunderbolt external drives, go for it!
I also use my 2TB for my Time Machine backups. I will have two TM backups once I get my new 4TB.
Call back with any questions...
Clinton

I have two Thunderbolt Displays connected to my MacBook Pro, can I also use the built in MacScreen as a 3rd screen?

Thunderbolt Displays are daisy chained

It depends on what MacBook Pro and video card you have. What I have seen is this:
MacBook Pro with Retina display can drive four screens simultaneously
New MacBooks can manage many, many monitors

Can the thunderbolt display connect to my 13" 2010 MBP?

My specs (13" 2010) -
2.8Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo (Overclocked)
8GB RAM 1666Mhz
NVIDIA GeForce 320M 256MB
As it is the 2010 version, it doesn't have thunderbolt. But will the new Thunderbolt display function on my MBP? Thanks.

No.
Confusing Mini DisplayPort with Thunderbolt
Apple still sells the mini-displayport version of the 27" display.

Thunderbolt Display connected to a MacBook with retina will the display be retina as well?

Ditching my windows desktop and laptop. Want to use a MacBook Pro w / retina for portability and a Thunderbolt Display. Question, will the display be a retina view?

Thanks for the quick reply. It made me dive deeper into resolutions and pixels. Little did I know that distance from the screen had so much to do with the concept of retina imagining or that none of the retina displays are 100%. Now I'm going for battery life since the with and without retina are so close in percentages.

Fan on full speed, with thunderbolt display connected

Hi,
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Does it really consume so much power to run this thunderbolt display that the macbook needs to be at maximum all the time?
When I disconnect the macbook and run it stand alone, I don't have this problem.

You may likely have some other problem. Do this to start:
Open Activity Monitor in the Utilities folder. Select All Processes from the Processes dropdown menu. Click twice on the CPU% column header to display in descending order. If you find a process using a large amount of CPU time, then select the process and click on the Quit icon in the toolbar. Click on the Force Quit button to kill the process. See if that helps. Be sure to note the name of the runaway process so you can track down the cause of the problem.

Thunderbolt display connected to 3 devices?

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