DVI Adapter for LED Cinema Display Mini DisplayPort?

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Level 1

137 points

DVI Adapter for LED Cinema Display Mini DisplayPort?

Is there an adapter for use with the new LED Cinema display port? I expect the new Mini's to switch to the Mini DisplayPort, if there is a new Mini, but in the meantime ...

Now that everything is going black, glass and aluminum, when is Apple going to update:

1) Keyboards to black keys?
2) Mouse to black and/or aluminum?
3) Mini, AirPort Extreme, Time Capsule to black & aluminum?
4) Power Adapters, Airport Express, cables, etc. to black and/or aluminum?

Finally a unified product line/look!

MacBook Core Duo 2.0, Mac OS X (10.4.11), 2GB RAM/160GB 7200 HD

Posted on Oct 14, 2008 4:13 PM

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Answer 1

RacerX

Level 2

170 points

Oct 14, 2008 5:13 PM in response to Woodwyn

Was wondering that myself. You should probably ask the mods to move this topic to the LED Cinema Display forum as you would probably get more hits...

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Answer 2

Woodwyn Author

Level 1

137 points

Oct 14, 2008 9:57 PM in response to RacerX

Actually after thinking about it, the immediate solution is likely a short DVI extension cord combined with the Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter. I would prefer a small Apple adapter to ship with the display however, much in the same way as the DB-15 adapter shipped with the VGA version of the old LCD Studio Display, or at least make one for sale. Guess Apple is leaving this up to third parties as usual.

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Answer 3

Oct 15, 2008 7:28 AM in response to Woodwyn

Woodwyn wrote:
Actually after thinking about it, the immediate solution is likely a short DVI extension cord combined with the Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter. I would prefer a small Apple adapter to ship with the display however, much in the same way as the DB-15 adapter shipped with the VGA version of the old LCD Studio Display, or at least make one for sale. Guess Apple is leaving this up to third parties as usual.

The Apple Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter would not work in this case as it is a male (Mini DisplayPort) to female (DVI) adapter. The new 24" Cinema Display has a non-removable cable ending in a male (Mini DisplayPort). As a male plug will not connect to a male plug it will not work.

I am sure soon enough various third-parties like Gefen, Griffin, and Belkin will come up with suitable adapters which do have the right genders. It is somewhat disappointing Apple have not done this themselves as I am sure plenty of Mac Pro owners are also salivating over this new display.

Arguably, Apple are repeating the same mistake they made with the ACD (Apple Cinema Display) connector and making it much harder and more expensive to use their displays with non Apple computers. That is they should have stuck with a standard DisplayPort connector rather than the esoteric Mini DisplayPort.

I equally hope someone comes up with Mini DisplayPort to (big) DisplayPort adapters as well.

On a totally different topic, I was also surprised and disappointed Apple did not switch to 16:9 displays for these new products (they are all still 16:10). The rest of the industry has already started switching to 16:9 displays and the clear trend is that 16:10 is on its way out. Still, the black border of these Apple displays does very conveniently hide the blank pixels (when playing a 16:9 video).

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Answer 4

BSteely

Level 5

7,643 points

Oct 15, 2008 9:35 PM in response to Woodwyn

The current Mac mini can only drive DVI or VGA displays from it's DVI output. DisplayPort is a completely different interface and signal type, therefore there can be no simple adapter to connect a mini to the new LED Cinema Display.

Apple may come up with a large, active, brick-style adapter that converts DVI to DisplayPort, but don't hold your breath. Most likely Apple will start converting the whole model line-up of Macs and monitors to DisplayPort. In fact, they have already said as much publicly.

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Answer 5

Woodwyn Author

Level 1

137 points

Oct 15, 2008 10:21 PM in response to BSteely

This makes sense. However, if Apple updates all of their displays in January, they will lose a lot of customers who have no intention of upgrading their Macs, but want the new monitors, particularly at a lower price point. So, whether Apple does it, or Belkin, I fully expect to see an adapter of some sort, possibly bus powered if that's an absolute requiremnet, thanks to the Mag-lock power cable.

My understanding is that the sound and iSight are disabled unless plugged into USB on the MacBook. So that may be a limitation if that is somehow enabled only on the hardware of the new MacBooks and not supported on any other Mac (kinda like the Superdrive that only works on one Air).

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Answer 6

Oct 16, 2008 3:53 AM in response to Woodwyn

Ay, I look forward to something clear from Apple concerning the new LED display's compatibility with pre-MDP macs. I expect there'll be a software/firmware update to cover the 'only on if usb connected' thing, but the DVI<-->MDP thing is more crucial - someone needs to produce a male DVI<-->female MDP adaptor, oh and it'll have to reach far enough to get round the other side of a macbook pro, as the DVI and magsafe are on opposite sides.

- padmavyuha

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Answer 7

Oct 21, 2008 6:09 PM in response to Woodwyn

DisplayPort computers can have (connector) adapters to DVI, VGA and HDMI, but not the other way around. It will require some additional hardware. Look it up on Wikipedia. DisplayPort signals require in theory less circuitry than DVI, and it's more direct.
I'm wondering if audio comes from the DisplayPort (Like in HDMI) or they're using the USB for audio; which is increasingly common.
alo, Apple (AFAIK, to date) has not licensed the MagSafe connector to any 3rd parties, so it would require separate power (or could be driven from the display's USB port).

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