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NickCerame

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 20, 2011
8
0
Anyone hear anything about a Cinema Display update? Maybe just to like an HD iSight and Thunderbolt ports?
 
Anyone hear anything about a Cinema Display update? Maybe just to like an HD iSight and Thunderbolt ports?

havent heard any rumors yet. hoping for 3usb with 2 thunderbolt.

and ofcourse everything over 1 TB cable back to the main device.

also expecting iSightHD

would be awesome :)
 
Hard Drive in Cinema display???

The obvious upgrades would be HD iSight camera and 2 thunderbolt ports (so you can daisy chain the display). However, I wouldn't be surprised if Apple incorporates some sort of hard drive or ssd storage into the cinema display. Since Thunderbolt can transmit both data and audio/video, it would be awesome if the display can also act as an external hard drive.
 
The question though is when is it going to be updated?

I cannot bring myself to buy the current one knowing there is likely going to be an update soon well hopefully, so i am just waiting it out.
 
I plan on picking on up pretty soon. I just didn't want it to be updated right after I buy the current model. I plan on using this monitor for awhile.
 
If they make it with thunderbolt, will it still work with non-thunderbolt mini display ports?
 
If they make it with thunderbolt, will it still work with non-thunderbolt mini display ports?

Yes that goes without saying. it would be mental if the displays only worked with thunderbolt based machines. it will just mean you wont be able to use the thunderbolt ports on the display.

hopefully we should see a revamp soon!

has anyone else heard anything else?
 
I'll go the other way on this.

Apple won't be refreshing the ACD any time soon. The current model works perfectly fine at the end of a Thunderbolt chain, and re-engineering the display to add Thunderbolt is unnecessary and expensive for Apple to do. Why do you need Thunderbolt ports on a display anyway? Chaining can be done through any external drives, prior to reaching the ACD.

Further, I've seen reports that a Thunderbolt port won't accept a DisplayPort input from anything but another Thunderbolt equipped machine (ie: the new iMacs will only accept input from another iMac or a current MBP, nothing else). As such, putting Thunderbolt on the ACD would stop it working with older Macs.

EDIT: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1149594/

The only thing I can see happening is a silent bump to FaceTime HD. Nothing else on the display will change - it'll still be a 27", 2560x1440 LG IPS panel, with 3 USB ports and a MagSafe charger.
 
hmm peskaa you do make a point, i might just not bother holding out anymore then and just purchase one.

I would. I purchased mine back in December and don't regret it at all.

As a further note, ACDs simply don't follow the update cycles like the rest of Apple's kit. They just get a bump randomly, without warning.

Take the 23"ers as examples. They were released in June 2004, and were discontinued in February 2009, so that's a run of five and a half years. In that time they didn't change, bar a single tiny bump to brightness [EDIT: As Transporteur says below, this was due to a new panel, but to the end user the only difference was a tiny increase in maximum brightness, and was probably only done because the panel manufacturer stopped making the original].

In contrast, the 24" LED model existed for less than two years (October 2008 to July 2010). It just goes to show that Apple can be totally unpredictable with displays, and if you play the waiting game it can be a very very long time.
 
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Take the 23"ers as examples. They were released in June 2004, and were discontinued in February 2009, so that's a run of five and a half years. In that time they didn't change, bar a single tiny bump to brightness.

They did get a completely new panel. Major upgrade if you ask me.
 
They did get a completely new panel. Major upgrade if you ask me.

Yes, but the panel was, to the end user, a bit brighter. Same resolution, same form factor. I had both the old and new 23"ers side by side on my desk for ages, and all I had to do to get them matching was knock one 'blip' of brightness off the newer one.

It's the same as Apple changing the LG panel to another identical panel in the 27"ers. No new functions, certainly not akin to new ports etc.
 
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Like the idea of an internal hdd :) i just hope it has some more hub like abilitys over thunderbolt. (atleast more then 3 usbs apple!)
 
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Like the idea of an internal hdd :) i just hope it has some more hub like abilitys over thunderbolt. (atleast more then 3 usbs apple!)

An internal HD? Seriously? So what happens when you want a bigger/smaller drive than the one Apple put in the display? Or it breaks? Plus the fact that'd just make an expensive display even more expensive by triple figures.

Thunderbolt doesn't need a hub. It chains, just like Firewire. A single port will give you up to six devices (so the iMacs can have twelve, MBP six).
 
I'll go the other way on this.

Apple won't be refreshing the ACD any time soon. The current model works perfectly fine at the end of a Thunderbolt chain, and re-engineering the display to add Thunderbolt is unnecessary and expensive for Apple to do. Why do you need Thunderbolt ports on a display anyway? Chaining can be done through any external drives, prior to reaching the ACD.

Further, I've seen reports that a Thunderbolt port won't accept a DisplayPort input from anything but another Thunderbolt equipped machine (ie: the new iMacs will only accept input from another iMac or a current MBP, nothing else). As such, putting Thunderbolt on the ACD would stop it working with older Macs.

EDIT: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1149594/

The only thing I can see happening is a silent bump to FaceTime HD. Nothing else on the display will change - it'll still be a 27", 2560x1440 LG IPS panel, with 3 USB ports and a MagSafe charger.

exactly my thoughts
 
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Like the idea of an internal hdd :) i just hope it has some more hub like abilitys over thunderbolt. (atleast more then 3 usbs apple!)

put a processor in it and a mother board and you have an imac ;)
 
Maybe a dumb question, but would it be possible to power a MBP through the thunderbolt port (if it got one) and use it as an external display? I know TB can transmit some power, but was wondering if it could be enough to power a MBP? would be sweet to just have TB cord attached to the montior to power it and use it as a display
 
Maybe a dumb question, but would it be possible to power a MBP through the thunderbolt port (if it got one) and use it as an external display? I know TB can transmit some power, but was wondering if it could be enough to power a MBP? would be sweet to just have TB cord attached to the montior to power it and use it as a display

Thunderbolt won't power an MBP, or any laptop. It'll still need MagSafe.
 
In contrast, the 24" LED model existed for less than two years (October 2008 to July 2010). It just goes to show that Apple can be totally unpredictable with displays, and if you play the waiting game it can be a very very long time.

Wise words.

The 24" was most likely replaced as the iMac changed late 2009 from 24" to 27", so the ACD made a similar leap.

The iMac 27" has just refreshed this month, so the chances of a different-sized ACD coming out are slim.
 
Wondering about this too. I'm guessing it's just gonna be a silent update for the HD iSight and nothing more, but how would it work with a MacBook pro that doesn't have an HD iSight?
 
Wondering about this too. I'm guessing it's just gonna be a silent update for the HD iSight and nothing more, but how would it work with a MacBook pro that doesn't have an HD iSight?

When you plug an ACD in to a system with an iSight already built in, it usually switches to use only the one camera in the ACD (from my experience anyway). So if there's an update to HD, it should let an older MBP use it.

Of course, until it happens, it's all conjecture.
 
Actually, I think a few people here underestimate the attractiveness of updating the Cinema Display. You forget that when Apple shifted to the 24" ACD they alienated anyone without a mini displayport. It's not unreasonable to think they might make another shift within the next year or so-- once they've transitioned all of their various Macs to Thunderbolt.

Assuming the next MacBook Air's have Thunderbolt, there's a substantial case for updating the ACD, especially if they can use that single Thunderbolt port, as others have suggested, to give me additional connectivity on my monitor (such as USB and Thunderbolt). That way I could have a lean portable but plenty more connectivity with only really having to dock it to power and display.

(Let me qualify my use of the word "substantial"-- 1) currently the ACD is already geared towards portable devices, as evidenced by the joke of a short cable my 24" display has. Not long enough to connect to a tower below my desk. 2) It's my opinion / guess that going forward, Apple will start transitioning to the MacBook Air as their mainstream portable line. Thunderbolt especially makes this realistic-- with enough bandwidth to allow it to be docked and used with high speed devices and such. I don't know if this means the MacBook Pro line would shrink, or if the Pro's would actually start adopting the SSD / optical drive-less form factor of the Air, but either way, I think thin, light, always-on Air-style laptops are what Apple will push. In that scenario, at absolutely makes sense to use Thunderbolt on the ACD-- the only question is how soon, in my mind.)

Plus, Apple only has one display they sell now, as opposed to the 3 different models they sold for so long (20, 23, 30). That's only one device to update, as opposed to three. Anyways, I'm not hurting for a new display, so I can afford to wait a while to see when this happens.
 
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