Apple Thunderbolt Display: Multi Monitor Daisy Chaining Support

Apple Thunderbolt display compatibility. Daisy chaining: yes. But not for Mini DisplayPort. + Some Mac supports 3 external displays.

Apple Thunderbolt Display Support Document KB

Apple released a new knowledge base document about the now shipping Apple 27″ Thunderbolt Display and Mac support of multiple external monitors. Macrumors reports.

Apple Thunderbolt: How Many Supported Displays

The documents describes that select models of Apple computers cna run up to 2 Thunderbolt displays and up to total of 3 displays. Summary:

• MacBook Air: 1 Thunderbolt Display
• MacBook Pro: 2 Thunderbolt Displays, 13″ internal display will turn black with second TB display
• iMac: 2 Thunderbolt Displays, either port or daisy chain
• Mac Mini: 2 Thunderbolt Displays, HDMI can connect to another display for total of 3 external displays on this Mac

Note Apple mentions Late 2011 iMac. ObamaPacman will talk about this in the next article.

Mini DisplayPort Display, Thunderbolt Daisy Chain

Mini DisplayPort display can not be chained to TB displays.

There is of course some internet outrage about the lack of Mini DisplayPort chaining. But keep in mind, a computer can only attach only one Mini DisplayPort display, so nothing is changed with Thunderbolt. Apple did not “take away” any feature.

ObamaPacman lists potential options:

• Sell old display and upgrade to daisy chain multiple displays with Thunderbolt port now
• Write to Apple feedback, and see whether support could be added via firmware upgrade
• Wait for upcoming Thunderbolt docks, which may or may not support Mini DisplayPort display

Tips: Apple Thunderbolt Display

Apple provides Thunderbolt Display performance tip when connecting fast storage devices:

For best performance while using Thunderbolt storage devices, connect the Thunderbolt display to the computer’s Thunderbolt port first.

Related Posts

1. Retina Display MacBook Pro Runs 4 Displays
2. Apple Introduces Sandy Bridge MacBook Air, Mac Mini, & Cinema Display with Thunderbolt
3. Sonnet Ships Thunderbolt PCIe Card / ExpressCard Adapters from $149
4. Apple Leaked Late 2011 Thunderbolt iMac?
5. LaCie Released Thunderbolt Little Big Disk HD + SSD Portable RAID

Tags: Apple, iMac, Mac, Mac Mini, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Thunderbolt

This entry was posted on Friday, September 16th, 2011 at 3:19 pm and is filed under Mac. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.