Apple made its popularApple Thunderbolt Displayfrom 2011 to 2016 – we still get inquiry about using the display eight twelvemonth after it was give up . Even though the Thunderbolt Display used an older Thunderbolt standard , it remained compatible with Thunderbolt 3 when that new standard was released , as well as with the even fresher Thunderbolt 4 .
The Apple Thunderbolt Display put up a Thunderbolt 2 data connection via a doodly-squat that is identical in appearance to Mini DisplayPort . Thunderbolt 3 requires USB - C , a touchstone that can connect devices and computing equipment using Thunderbolt 3/4 , USB 3.1 and after , and USB4 . USB - C is a specification for ports , jacks , and cable ; bolt of lightning and USB ’s numerate standards define what flows over those connections . ( There were some tweaky elements of using Mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 2 when Apple transitioned from the former to the latter , but none of that is relevant with USB - C or Thunderbolt 3/4 . )
If you want to habituate a Thunderbolt Display , most people rely on Apple ’s Thunderbolt 2 to 3 adapter , for which Apple still charges a whopping $ 49 . This adapter has a USB - C diddley on one ending , and you could only get the display to workif it ’s plug away into a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 porton your Mac or an external Thunderbolt dock .
Apple’s Thunderbolt 2 to 3 display has a Thunderbolt 2 port in the main body, which looks identical to Mini DisplayPort, and a USB-C jack on the other end, which only works when plugged into a Thunderbolt 3/4 port.
Apple ’s bolt of lightning 2 to 3 display has a Thunderbolt 2 port in the main body , which front identical to Mini DisplayPort , and a USB - C jack on the other ending , which only works when plugged into a Thunderbolt 3/4 port .
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stop up it into a USB 3.x / USB4 port on an external sorrel or a USB 3.x / USB4 - only port on certain Macs ( like the lower - last Mac Studio models ’ front two ports ) and the display does n’t work .
Apple’s Thunderbolt 2 to 3 display has a Thunderbolt 2 port in the main body, which looks identical to Mini DisplayPort, and a USB-C jack on the other end, which only works when plugged into a Thunderbolt 3/4 port.
The reason is tangled . The exhibit relies on DisplayPort data derive from the computing machine to show the screen . However , even though USB 3.x / USB4 funding passing through DisplayPort data , the hardware on the Apple Thunderbolt Display ca n’t understand that — it only has a chip that can accept thunderclap - encoded information , including the method by which DisplayPort is wrapped up for Thunderbolt .
It ’s one of the remaining compositor’s case where USB - C frustrates an average drug user with a mix of old and new train . The tattletale is the lightning deadbolt symbolic representation on Apple ’s transcriber : there ’s a Thunderbolt lightning thunderbolt on both the input side ( for Thunderbolt 2 ) and yield ( for Thunderbolt 3/4 ) . The USB logotype is entirely different and absent .
Learn more about connect older Apple display to a Mac .
This Mac 911 article is in response to a question submitted by Macworld reader Mike .
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