Thunderbolt Display has no backwards compatibility?

Apparently Apple's Thunderbolt Displays have absolutely zero backwards compatibility with any devices other than 2011 Macs. Doesn't this seem completely absurd to anyone else?

When was the last time you saw a computer display or a new TV that only had an HDMI plug? Even then, those HDMI plugs can be converted into just about anything with a simple accessory.

Maybe I'm the idiot?

What's going on here?

The Apple displays have always been a bit of a niche product: only Mac users buy them and even most Mac users tend to go for a cheaper 3rd party monitor brand.

So Apple probably assumes that most buyers will purchase one to go with their new thunderbolt-capable Macs.

Besides, some of the features (gigabit ethernet) can't work over DVI or USB, so they could only offer a subset to non-thunderbolt Macs.

Having said all that: I have one at work for my 13" MBA and it is gorgeous. And plugging in just 2 cables to get everything connected is great.

It works great on my Macbook Pro, no doubt. It's an excellent display.

The point still stands though that every display or TV that exists, other than this TB monitor, almost certainly is compatible with HDMI, DVI, etc etc.

In fact, when I purchased this display I assumed that it would be compatible with anything that I was going to throw at it, likely with the purchase of some kind of adapter. Much like you assume that you are going to get a bun with your hamburger.

I don't know. I'm just ridiculously turned off by the idea of spending $1000 + Apple Care to only be able connect to one device.

I don't understand your comment. Thunderbolt is in fact backward compatible with nearly every kind of video, audio and data connection *ever invented* in the computer age, but it does require adapters (if you need something beyond the FW 800 port, the three USB 2.0 ports and the Gigabit Ethernet ports it actually comes with).

Apple simply (and correctly) observed that people who buy a new Cinema Display generally want to hook it up to a new or very recent Mac (thus the matching styling). New Macs have Thunderbolt. Recent Macs have MiniDisplayPort, which is compatible with TB. Where's the issue?

chas_m said:

I don't understand your comment. Thunderbolt is in fact backward compatible with nearly every kind of video, audio and data connection *ever invented* in the computer age

Click to expand...

That's not the issue the OP is having though:

- If you have a thunderbolt port on your mac, you can get an adapter to turn that into a firewire port
- If you have a firewire port on your mac, there's no adapter to make it work with a thunderbolt device

So while you can connect a mini-displayport display to a thunderbolt-equipped Mac, you cannot connect a thunderbolt display to a mini-displayport equipped Mac.

So the thunderbolt display is actually limited to thunderbolt-equipped Macs. But it would have been fairly trivial for Apple to add a regular mini-displayport input as well, making it compatible with far more Macs.

Yeah, I got that, but ... well it's a bit bloody obvious isn't it?

Yeah, it might have been nice IF ... but they didn't, and that's made clear on the website and the box.