The Apple Thunderbolt Display is a 27-inch flat panel

computer monitor A computer monitor is an output device that displays information in pictorial or textual form. A discrete monitor comprises a visual display, support electronics, power supply, housing, electrical connectors, and external user controls. The ...

developed and sold by Apple Inc. from July 2011 to June 2016. Originally priced at $999, it replaced the 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display. New to the Thunderbolt Display was the switch from Mini DisplayPort and USB to a single Thunderbolt connector for data and DisplayPort. The Thunderbolt Display also added a

Gigabit Ethernet In computer networking, Gigabit Ethernet (GbE or 1 GigE) is the term applied to transmitting Ethernet frames at a rate of a gigabit per second. The most popular variant, 1000BASE-T, is defined by the IEEE 802.3ab standard. It came into use ...

port and

FireWire 800 IEEE 1394 is an interface standard for a serial bus for high-speed communications and isochronous real-time data transfer. It was developed in the late 1980s and early 1990s by Apple in cooperation with a number of companies, primarily Sony an ...

port. Macs released before 2011 without Thunderbolt, the 2012

Mac Pro Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals that are designed, developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of ...

and the single USB-C Retina MacBook are incompatible with the Thunderbolt Display without use of additional adaptors. The Thunderbolt Display was discontinued in June 2016, and replaced by LG UltraFine displays developed with LG on the consumer end, while the Pro Display XDR succeeded it in 2019 as Apple's professional display. In 2022, the

Apple Studio Display The Apple Studio Display (stylized and marketed as Studio Display) is a 27-inch flat panel computer monitor developed and sold by Apple Inc. It was announced on March 8, 2022, alongside the Mac Studio desktop, and was released on March 18, 2022 ...

was released as the first Apple-branded consumer display since its discontinuation. __TOC__

Overview

Like its predecessor, the 27-inch LED Cinema Display, the resolution is 2560×1440 pixels in a 16:9 aspect ratio. It was made with aluminum and glass, having a similar appearance to the contemporary ranges of

iMac iMac is a family of all-in-one Mac desktop computers designed and built by Apple Inc. It has been the primary part of Apple's consumer desktop offerings since its debut in August 1998, and has evolved through seven distinct forms. In it ...

and MacBook Pro unibody designs. The display featured a built-in 720p FaceTime HD camera (replacing the

iSight iSight is a brand name used by Apple Inc. to refer to cameras on various devices. The name was originally used for the external iSight webcam, which retailed for US$149, connected to a computer via a FireWire cable, and came with a set of moun ...

in the previous model), microphone, and stereo speaker system with subwoofer (2.1 channel). An

octopus cable A breakout box is a piece of electrical test equipment used to support integration testing, expedite maintenance, and streamline the troubleshooting process at the system, subsystem, and component-level by simplifying the access to test signals. Br ...

with Thunderbolt and

MagSafe MagSafe is a series of proprietary magnetically attached power connectors developed by Apple Inc. for Mac laptops. MagSafe was introduced on January 10, 2006, in conjunction with the MacBook Pro, the first Intel-based Mac laptop, at the Mac ...

is permanently attached to the back of the display for data and charging MacBooks, respectively. On the rear of the display there is a Thunderbolt port, a

port, three USB 2.0 ports and a

port. The Thunderbolt port allows for the possibility of daisy chaining Thunderbolt Displays from a supported Mac, or connecting other devices that have Thunderbolt ports, such as external hard drives and video capture devices. In July 2012, Apple began including a MagSafe to MagSafe 2 adaptor in the box.

Discontinuation and successors

On June 23, 2016, Apple announced through a statement that it was discontinuing the Thunderbolt Display and would no longer produce stand-alone displays, saying, "There are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users." Apple subsequently worked with LG to design the Thunderbolt 3-enabled UltraFine line, consisting of 4K and 5K displays, which were the only displays sold by Apple from 2016 to 2019. In December 2019, Apple released the Pro Display XDR, the first Apple-branded display since the Thunderbolt Display's discontinuation. In March 2022, Apple released the

, the first Apple-branded consumer display since the Thunderbolt Display's discontinuation, which similarly includes integrated speakers and a webcam.

Backward and forward compatibility

The Thunderbolt Display drops compatibility with all previous standards, including VGA, DVI, and DisplayPort. It is not compatible with computers that do not have a Thunderbolt port, including pre-2011 Macs and the vast majority of desktop PCs. The 12-inch Retina MacBook and 2012

do not support Thunderbolt. Macs released after 2016 with Thunderbolt 3 and later, which uses a

USB-C USB-C (properly known as USB Type-C) is a 24-pin USB connector system with a rotationally symmetrical Electrical connector, connector. The designation C refers only to the connector's physical configuration or form factor and should not be co ...

connector, are compatible using Apple's Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter.

Using multiple displays

MacBook Pro

* Macbook Pro (2011): 2 Displays: Can daisy chain two Apple Thunderbolt Displays together to get two displays, but the laptop's LCD may turn off. * Macbook Pro (2012): 2+2 Displays: Can daisy chain two Apple Thunderbolt Displays, in addition to one HDMI display and the MacBook Pro's own display, for four displays total * MacBook Pro (Late 2016): Apple released a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter for enabling the Thunderbolt 3 ports of MacBook Pro (Late 2016) to connect to Thunderbolt 2 devices. * MacBook Pro (2017-2019) Using 2 of the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapters can run 4 Thunderbolt Displays in addition to the built in Retina Display for a total of 5. * MacBook Pro M1 Pro (2021) Using 1 of the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapters can run 2 Thunderbolt Displays in addition to the built in Retina Display for a total of 3. * MacBook Pro M1 Max (2021) Using 2 of the Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 Adapters can run 4 Thunderbolt Displays in addition to the built in Retina Display for a total of 5.

MacBook Air

* MacBook Air (Mid 2011): 1+1 Displays: Can use one Apple Thunderbolt display, in addition to the MacBook Air's own display. * MacBook Air (Mid 2012 to Mid 2017): 2+1 Displays: Can daisy chain two Apple Thunderbolt displays, in addition to the MacBook Air's own display. * MacBook Air (M1, 2020): 1+1 Displays: Can use one Apple Thunderbolt Display (with Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter), in addition to the MacBook Air's own display. Further displays have to rely on virtual display output like DisplayLink or Apple Sidecar.

Mac Pro

* Mac Pro (Late 2013): 6 Displays: Can run six Apple Thunderbolt Displays using six Thunderbolt ports.

Mac mini

* Mac mini (Mid 2011): 1 Display. 2 Displays daisy chained: AMD version * Mac mini (Late 2012): 2 Displays daisy chained. * Mac mini (Late 2014): 2 Displays. * Mac mini (2018): 2 Displays using TB3 to TB2 converter. * Mac mini (2020): 1 Display using TB3 to TB2 converter.

Technical specifications

References

External links

* – official site at

Apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple trees are cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus '' Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, where its wild ancest ...

Apple Thunderbolt Display
– 27-inch user manual at

{{Apple hardware since 1998 Apple Inc. monitors Apple Inc. peripherals