Q: Female Mini Display Port Adapter - Connect Monitor to Non Mini Display Port

Gene, I'm still unclear on what you think we should be holding out for? Just because a connector gets made, I don't see how that is going to help people with older, DVI equipped Macs to drive the new DisplayPort equipped Cinema?

A DVI port cannot output DisplayPort protocol. Period. So there is no way a simple cable is going to get the job done. It's going to require something much more elaborate. Picture the $99 Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-link DVI Adapter and you will have a clearer understanding of what will be needed, namely a large box with a power supply and active electronics inside the box. I don't think Circuit Assembly is committing to anything like that. They just make cables.

Whether Apple is going to make that type of translator, I imagine that if they planned to, it would already be available.

I guess it was my impression since there are numerous cables available that convert from DVI to mini-DVI or VGA or mini-Display Port to DVI and so forth (see Circuit Assembly's web site) that there would not be additional electronics required. Why not give them a call and ask the question? They have represented to me that their cable(s) will allow the use of the new Cinema Display. Let me know if you decide to call - and any resulting info. Thanks.

I to am dissatisfied customer.

Why in not there somewhere on the info about the 24 inch display, that this will not work with macbooks which do not have a mini display ports? Also the support people are clueless about this problem. It took three calls before I got one which admitted it will not work.(I had one hang up on me as I tried to explain to her what she was telling me would not work!)

This is very unlike Apple and has put a very sour taste in me, I have been a huge apple fan in the past. I will think twice before purchasing or recommending an apple product to anyone!

I hope somebody within apple realizes how much a screwup this is.

HI my issue is related to this thread, but what I can't do is actually plug the 2 24" Apple LED monitors into my new Mac-Pro, simply because the cable is way too short. I have like some of you looked at different ways of coming up with and extension cable, but it all seems to stop at the point where you need to have a Female Mini Display Port connector. Monoprice, CPU Stuff and other are working on this issues and some companies hope to have at least and extension cable available within the next few days.
I have use Apples ever since they put out the Apple 1 Yup I'm getting a bit older. I have been through a lot of the stupid things that Apple has done but this is a really serious one, probably as bad as the AADC connector issue. The good news is that Dell is planning on using the Mini Display port on their systems so there should be a ton of adapters Etc in a few weeks.

So hang in there folks are working on fixing this incredibly stupid Boo Boo
Stuart

Stuart:
Check the site for
http://estore.circuitassembly.com/products/Mini-Displayport-Female-to-Displaypor t-Male-Adapter-Cable.html
Circuit Assembly anticipates having this cable 7/1 with numerous other variations right behind it. Naturally, they're having some issues with the cable I need (female mini display to plug in full sized DVI for my 06/07 MacBook Pro), but anticipate getting them resolved shortly.
They've been VERY nice on the phone and appear to be working hard on this solution.
Stay tuned.

When you get right down to it, and it is something I really don't understand is, why can't I get hold of a simple female connector, if I could do that I could easily get a male to male extension cut off one end and connect the female connector to it, They must exist the Video cards have something really close to what I need right inside them, it is just a waste to have to buy a card so I can take the connector out of it, so that I can extend the cable on a monitor, something that is usually pretty easy to do.

I was wondering if there was some way to extend using different types of cable or just cutting into the Apple cable and splicing in the extra cable I need. I have so many cables adabter etc here it is unreal and I can pretty much make anything I want to, I find myself stuck all because I can't get a female connector. I would have though Apple would have realized that anyone working in a Pro Environment, is going to have their CPU's in either a cold room, or as in my case well away from the Recording part of the studio, also in the Cold room. Most of the people that I know of who buy the High end Apple equipment are all Pro, Semi Pro or really serious Appleheads, I know I am all three, but to be unable to use Apple's latest monitor with their latest computer is really way off base. I really pity anyone who want to integrate the monitor into an older system how about AADC to Mini Display port. I have still got 2 of those monitors and they work just fine in he audio rooms, they have gone off a little too much for the 3D work and the Photography, but even after all these years they are still viable monitors.

I tell you to have to wait a month for a female connector Phew!
Stuart

Hi Gene, if I could just add a few inches to the display cable, I would be home free.

I was wondering if you had any ideas if a Mini Display Port cable, could be plugged into an HDMI or similar cable and then reverted back with another adapter to give me that extra length.

All I really need is that short distance, and I can guarantee that quite a few people who ever faithful to Apple, have bought this monitor (God I have 2 of the beasts) and can't hook up to it because of short cables.

I am sure if I took the cable to pieces and tried to splice some extra cable in, I would lose the warranty, but I guess I could live with that, trouble is nowadays, they have that special wire that is pretty much unsolder-able, and god knows what effect there is going to be at that data rate with an electronic kink in the cable.
Is it really too much to ask for say a 6' cable and adapters and extensions manufactured before you sell these monitors. There is absolutely no detail regarding the cable length in the sales patter, just the usual Dimensions Power Etc.

You are right and now that Apple has released the rights to manufacture cables with the MDP connectors, we should be seeing more things around for them soon. I guess I will simply have to wait before I can fully integrate the systems into my general environment, at least I do have enough space to sit the CPU right next to the monitors, although it was a drag having to buy 2 separate PCI cards for the monitors, Apple used to do way better than this and it always went to **** in a hand-basket when Uncle Steve was not around, I sure hope he ends up OK.

Thanks for the
http://estore.circuitassembly.com Info, I have informed my main supplier of the issues and they are not going to sell any of these monitors to anyone until they know they can be successfully used in a Studio Environment.

Stuat

Yes I've just bought the LED Monitor to connect it to my MacBook pro and to have a second monitor for the iMac I use for my JOB. I'm very disappointed too to know that I cannot connect it my iMac!! The information I found on the Apple website are really misleading:

+Compatible with Mini DisplayPort-enabled Mac notebooks and desktops, including MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac Pro, Mac mini, and iMac.+
http://www.apple.com/displays/specs.html

The display is beautiful but I really thinking to give it back

Stuart:
Received an email from Circuit Assembly directing me to this link.
<http://estore.circuitassembly.com/blog/are-you-making-a-mini-displayport-femal e-to-dvi-male-adapter-cable/>
It describes their work on a new PCB to handle the information transfer in both directions (MDP to DVI, etc.). Suggest you get signed up there for notification when ready. I haven't heard of others in development - at least not as specifically as these folks - where they've indicated that their product manager has already been to China regarding manufacture of these cables. Apparently (no surprise) it's the design of the PCB that has them stalled for the moment. ALso spoke with an Apple sales Rep who indicated that even Steve Jobs had indicated that Apple was working on the needed "backwards compatibility" - though no time frame has been indicated. Maybe next weeks WWDC will shed some light on the subject, but I think they usually have bigger fish to fry. If I hear anything further I'll post here. Thanks for your input.

HI Gene. that's really useful Info, so thanks a zill for that, I will get signed up for notification ASAP.

I did finally manage to get both the new Monitors working on the New Nehalem Macs and combined with the macs they make an incredible system. It's a pity I had to have 2 Graphics cards to do it I think I preferred the native card system, but maybe there will be more versatility this way..

At least I can get into building up the software side for now, but I really can't use them for long set up like this. none of the Music or Video gear can be relocated. It took a at least 3 Macs over the years to get everything setup so it all works together and I figured that these New Macs and Monitors would be icing on the cake.
I really should have known better, after all these years on computers, I still always have to jump for the latest and greatest, and then about a year later all the bugs are out and then I can't warrant buying the updated gear, as there is usually not enough overall improvements to warrant it..

Well it's a good job for folks like me that there are folks like you that seem to know just where to go to, to get the hard to find stuff. It really is better waiting but I can never resist.
I guess I have no choice this time, I have to wait no matter what.

Hi Gene,

It was a pleasure receiving that e-mail from you and thanks again for posting on our blog, the more feedback we get from customers when developing products the better we can tailor our the product to a greater array of needs.

As you mentioned I am currently in China working with our engineers on some of these products. To be quite honest, I am keeping an entire team of engineers quite busy with this line of products. We focus more on big customers like AMD, and Apple who use the mini displayport connectors in their PC's and video cards, but more recently I've been driving the company towards the consumer segment because I see a need here.

We're actually working on something this week in an attempt to solve the seemingly simple issue of extending the connection between the Apple Cinema Display (mini dp) and a mini displayport computer. Its not surprising that there are people out there that need to extend this beyond just 1 or 2 meters. We're thinking we may need to change the gauge of cable to 28 AWG based on our previous findings with Displayport. I tested a 5 meter cable today at 32 AWG on my macbook and couldn't get resolutions to work at 1440x900. We're having some issues with this though because buying a 30" display just to do testing is a bit expensive. We're actually working with a couple customers right now to test some 28 AWG prototype extension cables and we're looking forward to positive results.

The other issue that some people have been asking me about lately is connecting a mini displayport computer to the older Apple Cinema Displays with dual link dvi. We are thinking that we can create a cable to work with apples current dual link dvi adapter so that this would be possible.

In any case I just wanted to post here and let everyone know that Circuit Assembly is busy trying to solve a number of issues with mini displayport compatibility and we are always delighted to speak with customers one on one and get their opinions and find out what they need.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime: <customerservice@estore.circuitassembly.com>

Hi and thanks for the info in this posting. It certainly removes any possibility of my simply trying to expand my current cables, by splicing a longer piece inline with the installed cable.
I doubt it would work at the data rates required so this is very useful information.

Stuart

I'll definitely be picking one of these up to use with the LED display that I'll buy also. My one question though, besides the obvious video compatibility, is if the magsafe power port on the older MBP models is the same shape/size as the new models. Essentially, will the LED display power and charge the older model? Also, will the older model be able to use the display speakers and iSight? I don't see why it wouldn't. But perhaps there is different software on the new models that the older models don't have. Any thoughts?

Any update on progress?

Funny you should ask! We just tested a 15 foot long cable at 32 AWG and it worked flawlessly. We are going to try to have them available around July 1st at the same time as our other cable. We just received a request for several of these 15 foot long cables. We are still waiting on the 28 AWG mini displayport cables and we are going to test these at lengths between 10 and 20 meters to see how they perform.

If you're interested in these longer lengths please e-mail me directly so we can discuss a special order: customerservice@estore.circuitassembly.com