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My 2014 13" Macbook Air has Thunderbolt 2!

L

linjac951

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 1, 2014
30
0
Hi Guys,
I can confirm 2014 Macbook Airs' have Thunderbolt 2. I just bought my Macbook from the Apple Store and looked in the User Guide to be surprised that it said Thunderbolt 2. I personally thought it was a typo until I removed my daisy chain linkup of my 2 Dell U2412H's from my HD6850 of my Desktop and connected it to my Macbook. Then, I saw both my screens mirrored. I thought it was typical of my MBA to do that considering it was Thunderbolt 1. I went to the display options and to disable my second monitor because it was wasting electricity to find that I could extend the screens. I couldn't believe, it worked. Considering that this is only possible with DP 1.2 and Thunderbolt 2 is the only controller capable of DP 1.2 at the moment, I can conclude that this 2014 MBA has Thunderbolt 2. THANK YOU APPLE! Now I can offload my work to my MBA. By the way, I have the i7-4650u model.

Will be posting proof in a week or two. Waiting to get my 3rd Dell U2412H :).
 
sammich said:
DP 1.1 can drive two 1080p displays.
Click to expand...

DP1.1 can drive "Two Thunderbolt Displays" not "Two Displayport Daisy Chained Displays". Also, U2412H requires DP1.2 to Daisy Chain the monitors taking advantage of the MST Technology of DP1.2.
 
ctyrider said:
MBA 2014 still comes with Thunderbolt 1. Apple's specifications are very clear on that:



(https://www.apple.com/macbook-air/specs.html)
Click to expand...

I don't that matters for me because I loaded up ubuntu 14.04 and entered the command lspci in terminal make sure and it showed

PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt Controller [Falcon Ridge]

with the rest of my pci devices. I had to make sure that it was Thunderbolt 2 before I bought my 3rd Monitor
 
linjac951 said:
I don't that matters for me because I loaded up ubuntu 14.04 and entered the command lspci in terminal make sure and it showed

PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt Controller [Falcon Ridge]

with the rest of my pci devices. I had to make sure that it was Thunderbolt 2 before I bought my 3rd Monitor
Click to expand...

Sorry, you do not have Thunderbolt 2.
 
chrfr said:
Apple wouldn't keep a major new feature a secret if they'd changed it. The boards in the 2014 aren't any different than those in the 2013 Air.
Click to expand...

Well, I guess I am lucky to be able to Daisy Chain my 2 U2412H then
 
linjac951 said:
looked in the User Guide to be surprised that it said Thunderbolt 2
Click to expand...

Post an image of your MBA User Guide where it says "Thunderbolt 2". I just looked at my MBA User Guide - it doesn't have a word "Thunderbolt" anywhere.

linjac951 said:
I loaded up ubuntu 14.04 and entered the command lspci in terminal make sure and it showed

PCI bridge: Intel Corporation DSL5520 Thunderbolt Controller [Falcon Ridge]
Click to expand...

How did you load Ubuntu on an MBA? Apple Bootcamp doesn't support Linux. Post a screenshot with full output from 'lspci' command.
 
chrfr said:
Apple wouldn't keep a major new feature a secret if they'd changed it. The boards in the 2014 aren't any different than those in the 2013 Air.
Click to expand...

ctyrider said:
Post an image of your MBA User Guide where it says "Thunderbolt 2". I just looked at my MBA User Guide - it doesn't have a word "Thunderbolt" anywhere.



How did you load Ubuntu on an MBA? Apple Bootcamp doesn't support Linux. Post a screenshot with full output from 'lspci' command.
Click to expand...


I installed ubuntu 14.04 on an external drive, as well windows using waik (WindowsToGo). You don't need bootcamp to install other OS's. Bootcamp is only there because it is more of an assistant rather than requirement to install other OS's. Macbook's are no different from any other laptop. It is just installed with OS X. When I have time, Ill log into Ubuntu again and Ill copy and paste the whole terminal commands.

looks like this, but in english. I am not going open my box just to prove it to you. I already put away my box. Believe me or not believe me. I don't care, I didn't want to create a debate about this. I just wanted to announce it.

http://i.imgur.com/IsqpMHj.jpg
 
linjac951 said:
looks like this, but in english. I am not going open my box just to prove it to you. I already put away my box. Believe me or not believe me. I don't care, I didn't want to create a debate about this. I just wanted to announce it.
Click to expand...

That image has to be doctored. What is your source of it??

Here's the page from official Apple's user guide for 2014 MBA 11" (source: http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/1000/MA1670/en_US/mb_air-11-inch-early2014_qs.pdf)

mba-11-manual_zpseff262b2.jpg


Are you seriously expecting anyone to believe your MBA magically comes with Thunderbolt 2, while all Apple's published documentation points otherwise? This is absurd.

EDIT: here's a thread, that mentions this typo in French manual, that has since been corrected. There is no Thunderbolt 2 in MBA 2014. https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1730380/
 
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Whatever, I don't care what you think, I am Happy with my Apple macbook. This means i don't have to purchase a ****** laggy usb to hdmi converter. That is all I care about. I could care less what you think. I am just happy to daisy chain my dells'. My source is my damn user guide.
 
There is some serious ignorance in this thread. Regardless of what Apple says, linjac951 is saying that the 2014 MBA actually does have TB2 as evidenced by listing the PCI devices in Linux which is worth noting as it means Apple is likely using TB2 because it's cheaper for them though they don't want to admit that the lower end MBA is TB2 compatible like the higher priced rMBPs.
 
Sneakz said:
There is some serious ignorance in this thread. Regardless of what Apple says, linjac951 is saying that the 2014 MBA actually does have TB2 as evidenced by listing the PCI devices in Linux
Click to expand...

linjac951 is a user with no posting history, who just joined MR today to make this post. He provided no real evidence of his claims, other than a link to a previously uncovered French user guide, which was concluded to be a typo. So forgive me for being a tad incredulous about his claims, which run contrary to everything else published on the Internet about the MBA 2014!

Sneakz said:
Apple is likely using TB2 because it's cheaper for them though they don't want to admit that the lower end MBA is TB2 compatible like the higher priced rMBPs.
Click to expand...

So let me get this straight.. Apple is intentionally lying about the hardware specs of the latest MBA, because they want us to believe in some artificial differentiation from the higher end MBP? Thank you Sneakz for uncovering this great conspiracy! :rolleyes:
 
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linjac951 said:
Hi Guys,
I can confirm 2014 Macbook Airs' have Thunderbolt 2. I just bought my Macbook from the Apple Store and looked in the User Guide to be surprised that it said Thunderbolt 2. I personally thought it was a typo until I removed my daisy chain linkup of my 2 Dell U2412H's from my HD6850 of my Desktop and connected it to my Macbook. Then, I saw both my screens mirrored. I thought it was typical of my MBA to do that considering it was Thunderbolt 1. I went to the display options and to disable my second monitor because it was wasting electricity to find that I could extend the screens. I couldn't believe, it worked. Considering that this is only possible with DP 1.2 and Thunderbolt 2 is the only controller capable of DP 1.2 at the moment, I can conclude that this 2014 MBA has Thunderbolt 2. THANK YOU APPLE! Now I can offload my work to my MBA. By the way, I have the i7-4650u model.

Will be posting proof in a week or two. Waiting to get my 3rd Dell U2412H :).
Click to expand...

Could you tell me what "About this mac" shows pls? (2013 mid or 2014 early)

Thanks in advance.
 

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Sneakz said:
There is some serious ignorance in this thread. Regardless of what Apple says, linjac951 is saying that the 2014 MBA actually does have TB2 as evidenced by listing the PCI devices in Linux which is worth noting as it means Apple is likely using TB2 because it's cheaper for them though they don't want to admit that the lower end MBA is TB2 compatible like the higher priced rMBPs.
Click to expand...

I don't think they would intentionally not update it. I think they are waiting to announce it officially in wwdc or possibly forgot to update it. Another one is that maybe be they were trying to update the thunderbolts to thunderbolt 2 and I may be the many of the few who have it, but I'm sure they realized its too costly and they can't replace the old macbook airs boards. Like the way they sampled samsung and sandisk ssds.
 
linjac951 said:
I don't think they would intentionally not update it. I think they are waiting to announce it officially in wwdc or possibly forgot to update it. Another one is that maybe be they were trying to update the thunderbolts to thunderbolt 2 and I may be the many of the few who have it, but I'm sure they realized its too costly and they can't replace the old macbook airs boards. Like the way they sampled samsung and sandisk ssds.
Click to expand...

This is interesting because the original manual Apple posted online referenced Thunderbolt 2 like yours (there was a thread about this a few weeks back) and there was another thread where someone tried the daisychain with a 2013(?) model and they couldn't get it to work. Seems like a smoke/fire type of situation.

You're also the first I recall seeing with an i7 model where system info says Early 2014.

With a 3rd display I think you would be over the bandwidth of a TB1 connection so that would be a good test to check, also if you have any sort of TB storage you could see what xfer rates you're getting.

Just out of curiosity, are you getting USB data transfer over your DP connection?
 
kwijbo said:
This is interesting because the original manual Apple posted online referenced Thunderbolt 2 like yours (there was a thread about this a few weeks back) and there was another thread where someone tried the daisychain with a 2013(?) model and they couldn't get it to work. Seems like a smoke/fire type of situation.

You're also the first I recall seeing with an i7 model where system info says Early 2014.

With a 3rd display I think you would be over the bandwidth of a TB1 connection so that would be a good test to check, also if you have any sort of TB storage you could see what xfer rates you're getting.

Just out of curiosity, are you getting USB data transfer over your DP connection?
Click to expand...

I would love to test the TB Storage, but I don't have any at the moment. I have only usb 3.0 externals because its most versatile amongst other OSs. if Thunderbolt was as common as USB, I would get TB Storage, but at the moment, Ill stick to USB. I hope my 3rd monitor works too ;). If not, I still will chain it to my desktop. Its not a total loss.
But i prefer to use my laptop considering it uses much less power. My killawatt says idle it takes 8W and While I'm using it for work around 20-25W whereas my desktop idles at 140W and 200W while working. CPU performance is comparable between the two. Kudos to Intel. BTW my desktop is only 4.5 years old. What intel can do in 4+years is amazing. Got to love Moores law.
 
Good to see Apple slowly updating their laptops to be consistent with each other.

Hopefully, this means rMBA isn't far off.
 
linjac951 said:
Shows early 2014
Click to expand...

Combined with these two threads,

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1730380/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1736994/

I could imagine why the manual was changed intentionally, to avoid confusion.

Maybe they used two different logic boards to assemble 2014 MBA. The old one, (2013 mid in "about this mac") got thunderbolt 1 (But the other one might have thunderbolt 2?). Just wild guess.

The only question now is, how to buy a customized version with 2014 early in "about this mac".
 
Chatran said:
Combined with these two threads,

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1730380/

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1736994/

I could imagine why the manual was changed intentionally, to avoid confusion.

Maybe they used two different logic boards to assemble 2014 MBA. The old one, (2013 mid in "about this mac") got thunderbolt 1 (But the other one might have thunderbolt 2?). Just wild guess.

The only question now is, how to buy a customized version with 2014 early in "about this mac".
Click to expand...

That makes a lot of sense. Thats probably whats going on. Mine was built in china and was shipped directly to my door. I was probably the lucky ones. Got it in less than 5 days since ordering ;).

I really hate Apple in terms in consistent hardware. They keep sampling products. Sometimes its a good thing because they are phasing out the thunderbolt 1 ports, but SSDs are definitely disappointing. I had a Samsung for my 2012 version writes were at 450mb/s now with this supposedly faster pcie based, it dropped, because I have the sandisk. Annoys the **** out of me. Read speeds went up only 200mb/s but i lost 125mb/s in write speeds. It was a give or take thing. Samsung is much more reliable too. I had this computer for a month and the ssd life dropped 1%. I had the 2012 model for almost 2 years and it only dropped 6%. Not only that, I had a Samsung screen on my 2012 model and now I have the LG model, which is noticeably crappier. I have to tweak the contrast to make it equivalent to my Samsung Screen. Due to their quarrel with Samsung they are making crappier unreliable products. This not only affects the air line but the pro lines as well. Apple needs to get their **** together. They can't keep pulling fast ones on people before most people begin to notice.
 
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My model number on my box is weird too. it is z0nz0001u instead of the usual one that starts with md...ll/a

Also, for those who wanted a picture, there you go. geez.
 

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