Thunderbolt display with PC

[hazelw]

Can I use the built in cable on the thunderbolt display to connect my Macbook pro, and then connect my PC to the other thunderbolt port with a mini display port cable? If so, can I switch between inputs and/or will the display detect which one is active if only one is on?

 

[jcpenn]

interesting, it might not work.
thunderbolt should detect which connection is up, and put another port in daisychained mode. I am guessing it's similar to firewire ports. You could only use one port to connect to the host at the given time.

 

[skorpien]

I think the Thunderbolt port on the display is one way only. I doubt you'd be able to connect any device to the port even if the other cable was disconnected. Purely speculation though.

 

[Ashok0]

I think the Thunderbolt port on the display is one way only. I doubt you'd be able to connect any device to the port even if the other cable was disconnected. Purely speculation though.

Yeah, this is 100% correct sadly. It is currently IMPOSSIBLE to use a Thunderbolt display with a PC, unless AMD or nVidia release a Thunderbolt video card. Kanex is also working on a mDP to Thunderbolt adapter, but there is no ETA when it comes out.

 

[DJiGGs]

isnt thunderbolt and miniDP the same thing.??

Cant you hook up an miniDP to HDMI cable and then connect to ur comp through hdmi?

 

[CylonGlitch]

isnt thunderbolt and miniDP the same thing.??

Cant you hook up an miniDP to HDMI cable and then connect to ur comp through hdmi?

That's a big negative there. The thunderbolt users the miniDP for signaling but they are not compatible with one another. Thus a miniDP will not drive a thunderbolt interface. If you plug in a miniDP cable in, the mac will drive it like any other display, but you won't have the thunderbolt features. You have to plug in the thunderbolt cable to get the advanced features.

Think of Thunderbolt like USB4; you can plug in more then just displays. It is very high speed with enough bandwidth to drive a display, hard drives, and other things all at once. The DP can only drive a display.

 

[hazelw]

That's a big negative there. The thunderbolt users the miniDP for signaling but they are not compatible with one another. Thus a miniDP will not drive a thunderbolt interface. If you plug in a miniDP cable in, the mac will drive it like any other display, but you won't have the thunderbolt features. You have to plug in the thunderbolt cable to get the advanced features.

Think of Thunderbolt like USB4; you can plug in more then just displays. It is very high speed with enough bandwidth to drive a display, hard drives, and other things all at once. The DP can only drive a display.

You seem to saying that your think a minidisplay port will work with a Thunderbolt dispaly except for advanced features. I don't believe this is true. You must have a thunderbolt Mac to drive a Thunderbolt display.

 

[thejadedmonkey]

That's a big negative there. The thunderbolt users the miniDP for signaling but they are not compatible with one another. Thus a miniDP will not drive a thunderbolt interface. If you plug in a miniDP cable in, the mac will drive it like any other display, but you won't have the thunderbolt features. You have to plug in the thunderbolt cable to get the advanced features.

Think of Thunderbolt like USB4; you can plug in more then just displays. It is very high speed with enough bandwidth to drive a display, hard drives, and other things all at once. The DP can only drive a display.

Erm, that's not true at all either. Thunderbolt isn't anything like "USB4". If you plug a USB4 device into a USB 1.1 port, it will still work, just... very slowly. If you plug a thunderbolt device into a displayport, it just won't work. Likewise, plugging a displayport device into a thunderbolt port will cause the thunderbolt port to behave like a displayport.