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timidhermit

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 6, 2011
372
3
I have an old Apple LED Cinema Display that has a Mini DisplayPort cable to connect to a Mac.

I am in mid of getting a great deal on an used Apple Mac Pro 2013 (trashcan model) which has Thunderbolt 2 ports.

Can you simply plug the Mini DisplayPort cable from my Cinema Display directly to the Thunderbolt 2 port on the Mac Pro 2013 without an adapter? Will you get both video (including iSight) and audio? Will this work for a dual display setup using TWO Cinema Display with Mini DisplayPort cable?

I am completely confused from what I read online. A previous thread on this forum said initially they are backward compatible but a later post in that same thread said it does not work:


This also completely contradicted to what is said in this article that they are incompatible despite using the same-sized physical connector:


Can anyone who has this combo Mac setup clarify the issue?
 

timidhermit

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 6, 2011
372
3
No access to both display and the Mac Pro yet. Thus the question to gauge what is already known.
 

Kaspin

macrumors regular
Jan 15, 2015
100
44
The article you linked that says it doesn't work, is talking about computers with thunderbolt 3 (usb-c) using the TB3 to TB2 adapter.

The 2013 Mac Pro will work with no problem. You do need to plugin the usb connection to get iSight & audio.
 

avro707

macrumors 68020
Dec 13, 2010
2,262
1,653
Just plugin the cable and the USB and it works. I have both.

Apple LED Cinema Display 27" (purchased 2010) with November 2014 production Mac Pro 6,1 2.7ghz 12 core, 64gb, 1TB, dual D700.
 

dwig

macrumors 6502a
Jan 4, 2015
907
449
Key West FL
The article you linked that says it doesn't work, is talking about computers with thunderbolt 3 (usb-c) using the TB3 to TB2 adapter.

The 2013 Mac Pro will work with no problem. You do need to plugin the usb connection to get iSight & audio.
... the USB connection is also needed to access the Display controls for color and brightness.
 
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