VGA Source/DVI Source to Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)

Hi guys.. I tried searching this topic on here but I never had any luck..

I know that Apple doesn't make this adapter but I was wondering if anyone knew if anyone else produced it.......

I have an older mac book pro (with the dvi port to hook up to an external monitor) and I want to hook it up to my room mates Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)... My Mac Book Pro works great for me and I do not feel that I need to upgrade at this time.. Anyone know how I can hook this up???

Thanks.

I'm not sure that you can go in that direction - but maybe someone here knows better. You can go the other direction - T-bolt to dvi. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3211414?start=0&tstart=0 This thread seems to support that position - although there's still some room for doubt.

As Brian stated, you can not go that way. Read through the link he provided which will give you further insight. There seems to be some disparity from Apple in that they are "supposedly" coming out with an adapter that will allow what you wish. However, another report says otherwise.

With the price of Thunderbolt adapters soaring around the $100 mark, I'm not sure it's a good idea anyway.

Anyone else getting tired of Apple always switching things like this so your existing hardware is never compatible with the new releases?

dieselskid said:

Anyone else getting tired of Apple always switching things like this so your existing hardware is never compatible with the new releases?

Click to expand...

How far back do you want to go? Apple has been doing this pretty much since 1984! So it's really Apple's "normal" way of evolution or advancement (and not something new or different). Out with the old...in with the new!

Of course I've been effected by this MANY times..and most of the time not happy about it. But if Apple didn't innovate in this manner...they probably wouldn't be the company they are today!

- Nick

dieselskid said:

Anyone else getting tired of Apple always switching things like this so your existing hardware is never compatible with the new releases?

Click to expand...

It's not as if there aren't plenty of perfectly good displays on the market that will work fine with DVI or VGA or DisplayPort.

The only unique feature of the Thunderbolt display is that it provides USB and FireWire breakout for computers with Thunderbolt. If your computer doesn't have Thunderbolt, you would just be buying an expensive display.

I have a 27" iMac at home, and I really wanted to be able to hook my work PC up and use the monitor. Unfortunately due to this major limitation I cannot, and now I'm forced to get a second monitor to hook up to my laptop. This is a major pain in the butt for me.

I had always stayed away from Apple due to things like this, but I decided to give them a try this time around, and it bit me in the butt... I'd be perfectly willing to drop $100 on an adapter that would work - a waste of money, yes, but at least I could use the beautiful iMac display for work instead of cramming another monitor onto my desk.

terryo said:

I have a 27" iMac at home, and I really wanted to be able to hook my work PC up and use the monitor. Unfortunately due to this major limitation I cannot, and now I'm forced to get a second monitor to hook up to my laptop. This is a major pain in the butt for me.

I had always stayed away from Apple due to things like this, but I decided to give them a try this time around, and it bit me in the butt... I'd be perfectly willing to drop $100 on an adapter that would work - a waste of money, yes, but at least I could use the beautiful iMac display for work instead of cramming another monitor onto my desk.

Click to expand...

It's funny in a sad way, I have the exact same situation. I'm typing this on my 27" iMac 2011. Next to me is my personal 2010 MacBook Pro 13" and my work Dell D630. Neither laptop has a Thunderbolt port.

So - I cannot use my 27" iMac display. There is in fact a confirmed report \ article on ArsTechnica where a miniDP Cinema display works via Thunderbolt - when connected downstream of a Pegasus Thunderbolt RAID array. So, it can work, they just haven't released anything for it yet.

What is doubly frustrating to me is that I just went all out Mac late last year. I picked up the MacBook Pro, then the iMac earlier this year.

The reasoning primarily being 'it just works' (along with a host of other reasons).

Now, it no longer 'just works'. In fact, it's hard to figure out what can or will work in the future with regards to TB. In the meantime, I'm missing out on real performance gains I could have had via USB 3.0 Plus, I'm loathe to open up my iMac and put in an SSD - so I'm booting off an external SSD via FW 800. If I had a 2010 iMac, i could have an eSata adapter put on it by OWC. No such doodads for this model.

I feel like I bought an Edsel.