Cannot connect macbook air M2 to apple thunderbolt display

This is what helped me in connecting  14-inch M2 Max MacBook Pro with 27 inch Apple Thunderbolt Display ( early 2015 model).

• Apple thunder bolt cable - Apple Thunderbolt Cable (2.0 m) - White - Apple) One end connected to thunderbolt2 port behind the Monitor and other end to Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple
• Other side of the thunderbolt3-thunderbolt2 adapter connected to usb-c port on the laptop.

Adapter and cable together cost around $90. I am still a fan of Thunderbolt Display.

I had this exact same issue. Here’s what got it working for me. I shut down the MacBook. Unplugged everything, including power to the Thunderbolt Display, disconnected the adaptors and everything. After a minute or two, plugged the display back into power, started up the MacBook and logged in. Connected the thunderbolt cable plus adaptor (same one you have). Upon doing that I was prompted with a dialog box asking whether to trust the thunderbolt device. Accepting this did the trick. Seems like it’s some kind of security glitch, and once approving the display, all is working again. Hope this helps!

If you have a “Thunderbolt Display” that does not have a FireWire 800 port, that is not a Thunderbolt Display. Most likely it is a 27” LED Cinema Display that requires Mini DisplayPort input.

The TB 3-to-2 adapter will NOT present a plain DisplayPort signal on its TB2 side, and is the WRONG adapter to use with a Mini DisplayPort display or adapter. For those, you want a USB-C to Mini DisplayPort adapter or adapter cable instead.

If you can find a model number on that display, we can check to see which one it is … but the fact that things don’t work for you now and that you say the display has only USB ports is a very strong clue.

I had a problem getting a TB display to work with a MacBook PRO 2023 16-Inch M2 MAX using a TB3-TB2 adapter and connecting to the TB Display built in cable. Did not work. Just bought a TB2-TB2 cable and connected to the adapter and now it works. Thanks for the tip. Hated the though having to shelve my TB display.

There have been issues connecting the Thunderbolt display using the built in cable. The fix seems to be buying a Thunderbolt2 cable and connecting the display to the open Thunderbolt port in the rear of the display.

Hi yanasp,

Thanks for coming to Apple Support Communities for help today.

That adapter should work as long at it is plugged into a Thunderbolt 2 port on the display.

If the issue continues, we'd recommend contacting Apple Support for a deeper dive.

You can reach them at this link: Contact - Official Apple Support.

Have a fantastic day!

mcon111 wrote:

Does anyone have a fix for the same issue, but with a Thunderbolt Display that only has the 3 USB2 ports + the multi-port cable? Seems strange as seems to work fine on M1 MacBook with the dongle.

There was a 27-inch Apple LED Cinema Display (model A1316) that had three USB 2.0 ports. It connected to a Mac using Mini DisplayPort. If you attached that display directly to the TB2 side of the Apple TB3-to-2 adapter, you wouldn't get any signal, as that adapter only translates Thunderbolt protocol. For a direct connection to a modern Mac, you want a USB-C to Mini DisplayPort adapter or adapter cable.

The Thunderbolt Display had 3 USB 2.0 ports, a Firewire 800 port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port … and had to be hooked up to a Thunderbolt port, not to a Mini DisplayPort on a pre-Thunderbolt Mac.

The M2 Mac Mini supports two displays, total. They can both be Thunderbolt Displays.

The M2 MacBook Air supports two displays, total. The built-in display is one of them. It supports.a single external display, which can be a Thunderbolt Display.

The limits on external displays are spelled out in the specifications section of each model’s description on the Apple site - where you can check them before purchase.

ThinkAfter wrote:

Sorry for confusion.

It is A1407, Thunderbolt Display, comes with three USB, one Firewire 800 and one Gigabit ethernet port. Currently I have a Macbook pro 15.4 mid 2015 connected and I have been using the ports on the TB with no issues.

I just ordered M2 MacBook Air 15 to replace my old Macbook pro.

I need to know if the cables that is mentioned above, TB3 to TB2 and the Apple Thunderbolt cable would allow me to connect to the M2 and use the Gigabit and the 3 USBs on the TB display? I love the TB display and would like to continue to use it.

Thank you,

The Apple TB 3-to-2 adapter should be the adapter that you need to connect the display to a 15" M2 MacBook Air. Its description explicitly mentions the Apple Thunderbolt Display and (under Compatibility) the 15" M2 MacBook Air.

Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple

I believe that you will be able to use the three USB 2.0 ports, the FireWire 800 port, and the Gigabit Ethernet port. However, the display will not provide charging power to your Mac:

1. The display does not provide power to laptops through its Thunderbolt connection, but through a MagSafe one.
2. Your 15" MacBook Air uses a later version of MagSafe (MagSafe 3). From what I'm reading, there probably are not any adapters to go to MagSafe 3 from earlier versions.

So you'll need to make separate provisions (e.g., the charging cable and power brick that came with your laptop) for that.

JohnMcCracken wrote:

In the question, he said MacBook Air but you answered with a story about the MacBook Pro. There are differences between the two in dealing with external monitors, I believe.

The following Apple Silicon notebooks can drive one external display:

• M1 and M2 MacBook Airs (all models)
• 13" M1 and M2 MacBook Pros (all models)
• 14" M3 MacBook Pros with the base M3 chip. (Ones with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips can drive more displays.)

The M3 MacBook Airs can only drive one external display with the lid open. Closing the lid lets you drive another display. In that scenario, I believe you cannot run the second display at any resolution higher than non-Retina (i.e. native) 5K or Retina "like 2560 x 1440".

The 14" M3 MacBook Pros (with the base M3 chip) will reportedly be getting a software patch to let them pull the same "lid closed" trick as the M3 MacBook Airs. But there is no announced date for the release of the patch.

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you for sharing this information. There is so much conflicting info avail out there. I understand a lot of it is due to the differences between the Cinema Display and the Thunderbolt Display. But this was the solution to being able to get my 2 perfectly good (and good-looking) 2015 Thunderbolt displays to work with my new M2 MacBook Pro. I was actually able to use the adapter to connect the TB display's TB cord to the TB4 on the laptop, but the additional cable is good to have on hand if the display's cord is a bit worn. As frustrating as it may be to spend about 200.00 on cords, it is better than 3600.00 for 2 new Studio Displays Thank you again for spelling it out so simply.

MELoft wrote:

Thank you - Thank you - Thank you for sharing this information. There is so much conflicting info avail out there. I understand a lot of it is due to the differences between the Cinema Display and the Thunderbolt Display. But this was the solution to being able to get my 2 perfectly good (and good-looking) 2015 Thunderbolt displays to work with my new M2 MacBook Pro. I was actually able to use the adapter to connect the TB display's TB cord to the TB4 on the laptop, but the additional cable is good to have on hand if the display's cord is a bit worn. As frustrating as it may be to spend about 200.00 on cords, it is better than 3600.00 for 2 new Studio Displays Thank you again for spelling it out so simply.

The Thunderbolt Display has USB 2.0, Firewire 800, and Gigabit Ethernet hub ports. But its resolution is 2560 x 1440 pixels. You can get 2560 x 1440 pixel monitors with near-100% coverage of sRGB for about $315 – $350, and USB-C to Mini DisplayPort adapter cables (if not included) for maybe $15 – $20.

Sorry for confusion.

It is A1407, Thunderbolt Display, comes with three USB, one Firewire 800 and one Gigabit ethernet port. Currently I have a Macbook pro 15.4 mid 2015 connected and I have been using the ports on the TB with no issues.

I just ordered M2 MacBook Air 15 to replace my old Macbook pro.

I need to know if the cables that is mentioned above, TB3 to TB2 and the Apple Thunderbolt cable would allow me to connect to the M2 and use the Gigabit and the 3 USBs on the TB display? I love the TB display and would like to continue to use it.

Thank you,

Thank you. interestingly, my 2012 thunderbolt display does work with the existing hardwired thunderbolt 2 cable with my 14" macbook pro m2, but it drops the signal about once a day. unplugging and plugging it back in fixes it. But I will try this solution you suggest, I have a cable matters TB 2 cable.

i cant seem to find thunderbolt cable for sale anywhere

i bought another apple thunderbolt display and it work for a couple of months on my new MacBook Air M2 15" then stopped but it still works with my old MacBook air 2012

any suggestions?