Apple Thunderbolt Display requires native Thunderbolt, not just USB-C

Apple made its popular Apple Thunderbolt Display from 2011 to 2016. We still get questions about using the display eight years after it was discontinued. Even though the Thunderbolt Display used an older Thunderbolt standard, it remained compatible with Thunderbolt 3 when that newer standard was released, as well as the even newer Thunderbolt 4.

The Apple Thunderbolt Display offered a Thunderbolt 2 data connection through a socket identical in appearance to the Mini DisplayPort. Thunderbolt 3 requires USB-C, a standard that can connect devices and computers using Thunderbolt 3/4, USB 3.1 and later, and USB4. USB-C is a specification for ports, jacks and cables; The numbered Thunderbolt and USB standards define what travels over these connections. (There were some changes to the use of Mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt 2 when Apple switched from the former to the latter, but none of that is relevant with USB-C or Thunderbolt 3/4.)

If you want to use 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 jack on one end and you can only operate the display if plugged into a Thunderbolt 3 or 4 port on your Mac or on an external Thunderbolt dock.

Foundry

Foundry

Foundry

Plug it into a USB 3.x/USB4 port on an external dock or into a USB 3.x/USB4 port only on some Macs (like the two front ports on lower-end Mac Studio models) and the screen does not work. .

The reason is complicated. The display relies on DisplayPort data coming from the computer to display the screen. However, even though USB 3.x/USB4 supports DisplayPort data transfer, the Apple Thunderbolt display hardware cannot interpret it: it only has one chip that can accept the encoded information in Thunderbolt, including the method by which DisplayPort is encapsulated. ready for Thunderbolt.

This is one of the last cases where USB-C frustrates an average user with a mix of older and newer equipment. The light is the lightning bolt symbol on the Apple adapter: there is a Thunderbolt lightning bolt on the input (for Thunderbolt 2) and output (for Thunderbolt 3/4) sides. The USB logo is totally different and missing.

Learn more about connecting old Apple displays to a Mac.

This Mac 911 article answers a question submitted by igamesnews reader Mike.

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