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Sorry if this is old hat, but what the hell were apple thinking??
- Thread starter fluidedge
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This is very old hat.
Did apple allow people to use it for free as well?
Depends on your definition of free.
If you purchased an apple monitor with your Mac, yes it was "free". But if you wanted to use that monitor on another computer with say.. DVI, then you're buying an expensive little dongled heat brick.
If you purchased an apple monitor with your Mac, yes it was "free". But if you wanted to use that monitor on another computer with say.. DVI, then you're buying an expensive little dongled heat brick.
I think DVI variants are here to stay for a long time yet. DisplayPort
is three years old already and it's not catching on yet still. It was put
forth by VESA a "standards association" (!!!) The video signal is not
compatible with DVI or HDMI so it's going to be a very hard sell even
though it can pass through.
MiniDisplayPort is Apple ONLY and will probably always be Apple ONLY
just like Apple-Talk and their first attempts at an ethernet connection:
______AAUI == Joke
Apple's MDP was announced only 6 months ago. I doubt seriously any
other manufacturer will adopt MDP (ever!) and I believe it will always
be supported at the adaptor level. It's too limited in it's abilities compared
to DP or DVI, etc.
Fo the talking points and discussion see the wiki talk page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mini_DisplayPort
is three years old already and it's not catching on yet still. It was put
forth by VESA a "standards association" (!!!) The video signal is not
compatible with DVI or HDMI so it's going to be a very hard sell even
though it can pass through.
MiniDisplayPort is Apple ONLY and will probably always be Apple ONLY
just like Apple-Talk and their first attempts at an ethernet connection:
______AAUI == Joke
Apple's MDP was announced only 6 months ago. I doubt seriously any
other manufacturer will adopt MDP (ever!) and I believe it will always
be supported at the adaptor level. It's too limited in it's abilities compared
to DP or DVI, etc.
Fo the talking points and discussion see the wiki talk page here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Mini_DisplayPort
I meant licensing to other manufactures so they can incorporate it into their own devices? They are doing that this go around with mDP
There it is.
Oh yeah, and how many video cards out there come with DP or MDP??
.......thought so.
Other than video card manufacturers and 3rd party adapter manufacturers..
I don't think so.
Mini DisplayPort allows Apple to use the same connector across all of their products. Regular DisplayPort is too big for the Macbook Air.
Mini DisplayPort is a standard, included within the new DisplayPort spec set forth by Vesa, meaning it is royalty free and anybody can use it. It is not proprietary. Just be glad that MDP is a standard unlike ADC.
Apple has always been absolutely merciless in dropping old ports. In 1998 they dropped every single port on their consumer machine that had been standard on all Macs for a decade, and replaced them with 2 USB ports. If you don't like the way Apple do this, then don't buy Apple gear.
Firewire 400 has been replaced by Firewire 800 and shortly, Firewire 3200. Firewire was dropped completely off the Unibody Macbook and Macbook Air, because the user base of those two products are the userbase least likely to care.
Mini DisplayPort is a standard, included within the new DisplayPort spec set forth by Vesa, meaning it is royalty free and anybody can use it. It is not proprietary. Just be glad that MDP is a standard unlike ADC.
Apple has always been absolutely merciless in dropping old ports. In 1998 they dropped every single port on their consumer machine that had been standard on all Macs for a decade, and replaced them with 2 USB ports. If you don't like the way Apple do this, then don't buy Apple gear.
Firewire 400 has been replaced by Firewire 800 and shortly, Firewire 3200. Firewire was dropped completely off the Unibody Macbook and Macbook Air, because the user base of those two products are the userbase least likely to care.
While today this is technically true it's a bit misleading phrased like that. It's Apple proprietary that just very recently has been included into the VESA standard. It will be part of the DisplayPort 1.2 spec which I'm not even sure has been published yet. I compared it to AAUI for a good reason. It's a derivative of AUI like MDP is of DP and it was accepted back into the IEEE 802.3-1990 CSMA/CD Standard just like MDP was accepted back into the VESA standard. Doesn't really matter though; Probably no one but Apple-centric vendors are going to use it or support it - just like AAUI.
Which is why its already starting to be used right? And yes, the standard was accepted, I beleive, a few months back.
Edit: It appears I was wrong with the ratification of the standard, its on schedule for mid year.
Circle logic. Apple should wait until monitors come to market before changing standards. But nobody is going to bring a monitor to market if no computer supports that connection. Someone has to make the first move.
That sounds right.
But also don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this is a good thing nor am I saying it's a bad thing. It just is what it is. It's going to cost users an extra $25 ~ $100 bucks tho and vendors who adopt both will have an added cost as well. But there's no emotional content or yearning in my drivel.
That sounds right.
But also don't get me wrong. I'm not saying this is a good thing nor am I saying it's a bad thing. It just is what it is. It's going to cost users an extra $25 ~ $100 bucks tho and vendors who adopt both will have an added cost as well. But there's no emotional content or yearning in my drivel.
Good thing for those who dont want to use mDP adaptors such as mDP-> HDMI are on the way for as little as $14.
Also:
http://i.gizmodo.com/5211589/cinemaview-promises-to-be-tempting-apple-cinema-display-alternative
I expect this is only the beginning. Once the DP 1.2 standard is ratified I fully expect 3rd parties to start using mDP more.
I assume this is it. Apple wants to unify its display ports across all lines. I think that makes sense. Plus, the Mac Pro comes with 1 DVI anyway. I mean if you own two displays, and if you're going to spend like $6000 on a desktop, are you really going to freak out about a $19 adapter? Monoprice will probably have one for $9 or something anyway.
MDP is better than some of the other ports they offered on laptops recently... My MacBook Air has a bizarre micro-DVI or something?! WTF?
Given that I absolutely love the 24" LED Cinema display, the key problem for me is that the 4870 only comes with 1 MDP port. I would really like to have two 24" LED ACD's and it seems rediculous that I need to buy another card to support that.
The 4870 option and other Apple graphics cards should have come in two flavors... one with dual MDP ports, and another with dual DVI ports. Then I think most people would be happy.
Given that I absolutely love the 24" LED Cinema display, the key problem for me is that the 4870 only comes with 1 MDP port. I would really like to have two 24" LED ACD's and it seems rediculous that I need to buy another card to support that.
The 4870 option and other Apple graphics cards should have come in two flavors... one with dual MDP ports, and another with dual DVI ports. Then I think most people would be happy.
This is the natural result of Apple not licensing clones. There will always be fewer choices (because Apple can't enable every variation that everyone wants), and a vocal minority will always insist their particular feature is vital and Apple is being "arrogant" (I'm not sure the people who use this term actually understand what "arrogant" means).
Whatever. I, for one, welcome my new Cupertino overlords.
Apple's not always ahead of the technology curve, but there are many many examples in the past of them eliminating a feature or technology and replacing it with something else to massive protests and howls, but where this form of bootstrapping resulted in the new technology taking off and becoming "the standard." Sometimes they blow it, sometimes they are, in hindsight, geniuses. The price, and the benefit, of buying into the Apple ecosystem.
Whatever. I, for one, welcome my new Cupertino overlords.
Apple's not always ahead of the technology curve, but there are many many examples in the past of them eliminating a feature or technology and replacing it with something else to massive protests and howls, but where this form of bootstrapping resulted in the new technology taking off and becoming "the standard." Sometimes they blow it, sometimes they are, in hindsight, geniuses. The price, and the benefit, of buying into the Apple ecosystem.
Monoprice has the converters nice and cheap.
MDP->DVI for $15.20
MDP->VGA for $18.85
MDP->HDMI for $14.25
It is an inconvenience at worst.
MDP->DVI for $15.20
MDP->VGA for $18.85
MDP->HDMI for $14.25
It is an inconvenience at worst.
I don't mind too much that Apple keeps changing flavors on their official Kool-Aid.
I just don't understand why I always need to buy a new pitcher to drink it from.
I just don't understand why I always need to buy a new pitcher to drink it from.
According to this: http://support.apple.com/kb/SP501 That's a Mini DisplayPort I guess just like we're talking about here.
Yes, it was either Mini DVI or Micro DVI.
It's on my Macbook 2.1 C2D and I know it was used on Intel iMacs for awhile.
It was easily adapted to regular DVI, and Apple included the adapter with iMacs, not sure about Macbooks.
It's on my Macbook 2.1 C2D and I know it was used on Intel iMacs for awhile.
It was easily adapted to regular DVI, and Apple included the adapter with iMacs, not sure about Macbooks.
So put it on the MacBook Air and use Not-Retarded DisplayPort on everything else. People know they're buying a compromised joke of a laptop when they buy the Air, so let them use an adapter. Don't punish everyone else with a stupid connector when they want to buy a reasonable computer.