Can my iMac support a 23" Cinema Display?

at the display's native resolution?

I got a great deal on a 30" Cinema Display which I absolutely love. The problem is my iMac (first gen. aluminum) can only support the display at half of it's native resolution. I'm currently using the display with my MBP, which is working, but it's much slower than the iMac.

My question is: If I sell the 30", will the iMac be able to support the 23" display at the full 1920x...... resolution?

thanks in advance.

Josh Behan

The first generation Aluminum iMac's have a max resolution of 1920 x 1200 for the external monitor...so the 23" display you mentioned should be fine.

I'm curious...I always wanted one of the Apple 30" display's. When you say you got a great deal on one...can you share what the great deal was?

Thanks,

- Nick

Sure, I bought it off someone on Fred Miranda Forum for $999. You can get one refurbished from Apple for $1299

The other option for me is to go with a G5 PowerPC, but I think I would be limiting myself there.

Now that I've seen/used the 30", I think I would miss the size

Josh Behan said:

Sure, I bought it off someone on Fred Miranda Forum for $999. You can get one refurbished from Apple for $1299

The other option for me is to go with a G5 PowerPC, but I think I would be limiting myself there.

Now that I've seen/used the 30", I think I would miss the size

Click to expand...

$999 is a pretty good price for a 30"er!

Yes...you pretty much have to go with a Powermac G5 or Mac Pro (with the proper video card), or an "Early 2009" or later Intel iMac in order to use that 30" Apple display at it's native resolution.

Thanks for sharing,

- Nick

It should, my old 06 MBP 2.0 CoreDuo ran my 23" just fine...I was told I could drive a 30" with my mbp too though, why would your newer iMac be less capable than my first gen MBP?

ZorroAMG said:

why would your newer iMac be less capable than my first gen MBP?

Click to expand...

Why...who knows why Apple designed it that way...but it's just the way it is. Actually let's remember that iMac's are not high end computers. The desktop hierarchy is...Mac-mini, iMac, Mac Pro. The MacBook Pro laptop from a "hierarchy" standpoint...is probably considered "higher end" than an iMac. So maybe that's why it was designed to run a higher resolution external monitor.


1st generation MBP has an external monitor max. resolution of 2560 x 1600 (enough for the 30" display):

Apple MacBook Pro "Core Duo" 2.0 15" Specs (MacBook Pro - MA464LL/A*) @ EveryMac.com

The 1st generation Aluminum iMac has an external monitor max. resolution of 1920 x 1200 (not enough to drive the 30" monitor at it's native resolution):

Apple iMac "Core 2 Duo" 2.4 24-Inch (Al) Specs (Mid-2007 - 24" - MA878LL) @ EveryMac.com

Hope this helps,

- Nick