Apple Cinema Display 30’’ with M1 Apple Silicon Mac

I have a 30-inch Apple Cinema Display connected to an OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock with a Dual-Link DVI to Mini DisplayPort adapter. I’ve been using that adapter and the dock since 2016 to run the 30-inch Cinema Display with a MacBook Pro (it’s the first-generation of the MacBook Pros with Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports). This setup has worked great. I recently ordered an M1 Mac Mini and a Pro Display XDR to upgrade. The M1 Mini arrived today. The XDR display is still about six weeks out, but I thought I’d go ahead and set up the Mini and just use it with the 30-inch Cinema Display until the XDR display arrives. I assumed I’d just be able to unplug the Thunderbolt 3 cable from the MacBook Pro and plug it into the Mini, and it would work fine on the 30-inch Cinema Display. It does not. The best resolution the M1 Mini will produce on the Cinema Display is 1280x800. It looks awful and is essentially unusable. The MacBook Pro has no trouble running the Cinema Display at 2560x1600 with the exact same adapters, cables, dock, display, etc.

I just discovered this a couple of hours ago, so I’m not sure if there’s a fix yet. I spent some time Googling and hunting around to see if there are some settings I can use to fix the problem. It doesn’t look promising, but I guess it’s possible. It looks like other people have had luck with different iterations of the Cinema Display using a Mini DisplayPort to USB-C dongle that appears to be available on Amazon for about $35. I guess that might work with my 30-inch Cinema Display, but I’m not sure why it would be an effective solution if my OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock is not. (The distinguishing feature creating problems in my case, and what I assume would be your case, might be the presence of the additional Dual-Link DVI to Mini DisplayPort adapter that you need in order for the 30-inch Cinema Display to work with a Mini DisplayPort connection at all. The people who had success with the $35 dongle might have been using newer Cinema Displays that have Mini DisplayPort connections to begin with, rather than Dual-Link DVI like the old 30-inch Cinema Display.)

As for me, I’m not going to spend much more time (and certainly not more money) trying to solve the problem. I’ll just keep using the MacBook Pro until the XDR display arrives (which I understand will work with the new M1 Mini but NOT the MacBook Pro, haha). Based on my experience today, if I were you, I would NOT be confident you’ll be able to get your 30-inch Cinema Display to work with an M1 Mini. Part of me wants to complain, but then I remind myself I’ve gotten sixteen years of absolutely outstanding performance out of the 30-inch Cinema Display, which is more than I can say about pretty much any other piece of computer hardware I’ve owned.

I hope this is helpful, and good luck!

After all that, the people above who described the “hidden” resolutions in Big Sur are right. Holding down the Option key while clicking on “scaled” in the display options allows you to select 2560x1600 resolution, so there you have it. The M1 Mini and the 30-inch Cinema Display are working together beautifully now. Everything I said above is wrong!

While some of the responses here are able to get the job done, through my own experimentation I have found a way of getting the 30" display to work, at full resolution with a single adapter found here at Microcenter. https://www.microcenter.com/product/624097/ezquest-inc-usb-c-to-dual-link-dvi-adapter

Id wager you could use just about any adapter to do it, as long as you make sure it is a DUAL LINK DVI adapter. However many people (including myself) thought that this wouldn't work because under normal circumstances the resolution caps out at 1280 x 800 when you first connect it despite the packaging saying it as designed for the 30" display and supports the full resolution of it. However, it is a simple matter to then follow this guide here: https://osxdaily.com/2015/08/27/show-all-display-resolutions-external-screen-mac/ and that will allow you to crank up the display all the way to the full 2560 x 1600 resolution. It even remembers your settings when you reconnect the display so its a one and done thing. Whats funny though is that "About this Mac" will still report the display running at 1280 x 800 but you can tell just by looking at it that it is not.

Did the whole thing on an M1 MBP.

UPDATE FOR BRIGTHNESS CONTROL !

Finally now is everything working.

To make the brightness control work, in my environment, the magic combination is:

• The latest Big Sur (mine is 15.5.2),
• CalDigit Dock to connect the CinemaDisplay as in the quoted post
• Latest https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases/tag/v3.0.0-rc1 to control the Monitor Brightness

With MonitorControl it is finally possible control the Hardware value also via Apple keyboard like before. The only issue encountered was that the brightness did not reach the maximum level using the precompiled binary.

This can be solved by downloading the sources, changing the DDC_HARD_MAX_LIMIT parameter from 100 to 250 and recompiling with xcode.

Taro-71 wrote:

Got my mac mini M1 working with 30" Dual DVI beside a 4K Samsung U28E590 (HDMI)

Cinema Display:

Resolution: 2560 x 1600 @ 60.00Hz

U28E590

Resolution: 5120 x 2880 (5K/UHD+ - Ultra High Definition Plus)

Aspect:   2560 x 1440 @ 60.00Hz

Cinema Display is connected through the original Apple Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link Adapter (MB571Z/A) and the CalDigit TS3 Plus Dock (https://www.apple.com/shop/product/HMX12ZM/A/caldigit-ts3-plus-dock) with a small DisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort standard adapter in the middle (I got mine from an nVidia GFX card, I think this is not critical).

The image is good and no problem for now, the 2560 res. must to be choosen with the option key in the display preferences panel.

Firewire is not conncted by now and I cannot set the brightness from the keyboard or through the display preferences, it only works with the side monitor buttons and withouth the on screen feedback.

I am wondering if connecting the firewire I'll get back also that functions, can anyone confirm this?

Rafb, That was it. Big Sur was just hiding the resolutions from me. I didn't quite understand their instructions but I held "option" while clicking on "Scaled" and it then shows all the resolutions including the 2560 x 1600. Not sure why Apple feels compelled to hide these other resolutions. If you click "scaled", they really should show everything. Anyway, thanks for the pointer.

Works with the Club3D adapter when the adapter is plugged directly onto the Mac book air M1 (The club3D adapter doesn't work if plugged onto an USBc hub).

I have an M1 with a 30' Cinema Display, and a Club3D adapter.

30" Apple display with new Macmini M1. This immediately worked but the screen resolution was wrong and nothing better appeared in the list of options for this screen until I found the Apple article (see below) Now all perfect.

Using this https://de.uptab.com/usb-c-to-mini-displayport-adapter-4k-60hz-silver/?utm_campaign=pr_r&utm_source=https://www.uptab.com&utm_medium=wi_proxy&utm_content=en_US&utm_term=a

This did it for me... hhttps://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212027

with my 30" Apple display from 2008....whilst clicking on resolution in the system prefs "display" hold down the "option" key or "alt"

Dear all,

Having read the full thread, I'm still facing the same issue as all here and still missing the key answer of what exact spec the adaptor must be in order to successfully connect the 30" Apple Cinema Display with dual link DVI connection to the M1 mac mini.

Looking at common traits of working solutions, I think there are 2 viable solutions (I'll try to confirm the latter myself) :

- USB-C to dual link DVI adaptor (an active adaptor with chipset performing the conversion) like this one: https://www.amazon.com/CAC-1510-Adapter-Displays-3840x2160-2560x1600/dp/B08B7FSVTL Note the mention of HDCP Off and ALT MODE supported.

OR

- A USB-C to Mini Displayport adapter that supports ALT MODE connected to the Apple mini displayport to dual link DVI adapter (the well known discontinued active adapter)

Let it be clear that a thunderbolt 3 to thunderbolt 2 (TB2) adaptor (which Apple offers) will not work: TB2 is same connector as mini displayport, but completely different protocol.

I've tried using a USB-C to Mini Displayport adapter WITHOUT ALT MODE support and zero reaction from the display.

Hence my suspicion the ALT MODE spec of the adaptor is what you need to verify in what to buy.

Will update with more news.

Let's close this topic with a final answer!

PS: Strongly disappointed in Apple giving zero support on this question here, which could be easily answered by pointing out the right specs.

I was on the phone with apple for 1 hour and in the end was left with message that they don't support this legacy monitors anymore. So I went looking for a solution and found several.

I have been using this one for 1 month and works great, except for the sleep issue.

https://www.onlinemacwinkel.nl/hyperdrive-usb-c-pro-video-adapter.html

Not cheap but the image quality is better then this one cheap one. I have it too.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B076CY1KPR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This one for people without minidisplay port. I had it too and works also.

https://www.amazon.de/gp/product/B07QKM856C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It works best with a Thunderbolt 3 dock from OWC (macsales.com) because it need the mini display port and power from a USB.

OWCTB3D14PSG. I found it by watching this video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7__88gNekE. Run’s at full resolution with the option click. Will be trying to hook two of them up. They do have other ways but require to many adapters that cost 75-150 each. *They all are powered and that what makes it work. Good luck!

The OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock with mini Display support should do it. I have one connected to my M1, will dry a second dock this week to see if I can get two to work on it (have the MacBook Pro M1), the mini should support two of them with the dock.

Well I have a ACD 30" and it will ONLY work with Big Sur 11.1 using 2560x1600. Updated to 11.2 and screen went black after 5 seconds. 11.2.1 or 11.3 beta did not fix the problem. Reverted back to 11.1 and all is fine...any explanation for this!?

Yes, that is exactly the same hardware/adapters that I use. I know this may seem really strange, but when I first started there was no pattern I could identify that would make this work.

I use it daily and this is my routine:

When I first turn the mini on in the morning, the screen will be blank.

After a couple of seconds, remove and then replace the USB power to the Apple adapter from the rear of the mini. This tends to kick the monitor on and the login screen is displayed.

However, on another ACD 30" connected with the same adapter to a Windows PC, the "wake up" process is even harder and involves simply randomly disconnecting, waiting and then reconnecting the apple adapter from the sicotool, with 3-5 second pause in between. On the 3rd time, this normally works.

I use both the mini and the windows laptop each day for work, connected to separate ACD 30"s, and this is now a daily chore before I start - in reality only adding 20-30 seconds to my morning routine. Let me know how you go, Tom.

Successfully connected my 30" apple Cinema HD (A1083) to my Mac Mini M1 using a

USB Type C to DVI-I DUAL LINK from scan.co.uk.

Cost £42.97including delivery.

This works !

The OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock's mini display port in conjunction with the Apple dual link adapter works with my M1 MacBook Pro. So my guess is it will work on M1 MacMini as well.