LED Cinema display won't detect on new Macbook (Ventura) but will on older OS

Hello charletterose,

What exact model is your MacBook Pro? You can find that under the Apple menu > About This Mac. It looks like you have an M2 Mac, but we just want to confirm. This is important to know as, per Connect a display, TV, or projector to Mac - Apple Support, "Connect an Apple LED Cinema Display: Plug the display’s cable directly into the Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt 2 port on your Mac. For newer Mac computers, use a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Mini DisplayPort adapter to connect the display to your Mac."

So we need to determine the model to know if an adapter may be necessary.

Thanks!

I'm having the same issue with an LED Cinema Display into a Mac M1 Max on Sonoma. It was working fine before it updated to Sonoma. I am using the Apple thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter, knowing that the LED Cinema Display outputs mini display port and there being no dedicated adapter for that.

Can I assume that this is now dead i.e. just doesn't work in Sonoma?

Nlymberis wrote:

I'm having the same issue with an LED Cinema Display into a Mac M1 Max on Sonoma. It was working fine before it updated to Sonoma. I am using the Apple thunderbolt 2 to thunderbolt 3 adapter, knowing that the LED Cinema Display outputs mini display port and there being no dedicated adapter for that.

If this is a 27" Apple Thunderbolt Display (model A1407) then you would need to use the Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter. That display expects a Thunderbolt signal and not a plain DisplayPort one.

If this is a 27" LED Cinema Display (model A1316), the Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter is the wrong adapter to use. That adapter only translates Thunderbolt. It does not know how to make the Thunderbolt 2 side pretend to be a DisplayPort. So there's no way that a 27" LED Cinema Display (or any other display or adapter that needed DisplayPort input) would work with it (*). (As Apple spells out in the description on the Apple Store site.)

(*) Unless, perhaps, you had a Thunderbolt 1/2 dock or other device situated between the Thunderbolt 2 side of the adapter, and the regular display. Then that device, seeing that it was at the end of the Thunderbolt part of the chain, might unwrap a Thunderbolt-encapsulated DisplayPort signal into a plain DisplayPort one.

For a 27" LED Cinema Display, you would want a USB-C (DisplayPort) to Mini DisplayPort adapter. Apple doesn't sell any Apple-branded ones, and they might not even have third-party ones in their online store,, but there are a lot of these adapters on Amazon.

Can I assume that this is now dead i.e. just doesn't work in Sonoma?

Sounds more like a case of "wrong adapter."

Besides the model number, there are other ways to tell the displays apart, so you can pick the right adapter.

• The 27" LED Cinema Display connects to a computer via Mini DisplayPort, USB 2.0, and MagSafe (for charging an old notebook with a MagSafe 1 port). The Thunderbolt Display does not have a USB uplink as Thunderbolt 1 provides both the video and the data connections.
• The Thunderbolt Display has a Firewire 800 port and a Gigabit Ethernet port. The LED Cinema Display doesn't.

If by some chance, this is a Thunderbolt Display, and you're using the TB 3-to-2 adapter with it, and it is still dead, you could try running a Thunderbolt 1/2 cable from the TB2 side of the adapter to the TB daisy-chaining port that is on the TB Display. Sometimes the permanently-attached TB cable goes bad, and running a cable into the other TB port is a workaround for that problem.

Just to confirm, I have both the LED Cinema Display and the Thunderbolt display at my office - being checked today!

For the LED Cinema Display I have also tried using it with dedicated MDP to USB-C which was working prior to the OS change but now is not.

I've also tried it with MDP -> DP + DP -> HDMI which is how I was using it with PC's and previously worked through the HDMI port of my mac but now what happens is in the 'Displays' settings it flickers on/off recognising the display, not recognising it, recognising it, not recognising it etc.

I've now read lots of articles saying Sonoma is alot less forgiving with signal errors or some such?

In any case - I've ordered a different non-apple monitor that will hopefully work through HDMI - but still pretty disappointing as enjoy the Apple Monitors but frustrating that they don't look at their product back catalog and ensure backwards compatability.

For instance LED Cinema Display can be made to work with PCs as mentioned above, but you can't do that with the Thunderbolt Display. The studio display they seem to have relented on, but seriously, is just annoying and the reason I'll be moving away from their monitors from now on.

Nlymberis wrote:

Just to confirm, I have both the LED Cinema Display and the Thunderbolt display at my office - being checked today!

For the LED Cinema Display I have also tried using it with dedicated MDP to USB-C which was working prior to the OS change but now is not.

I've also tried it with MDP -> DP + DP -> HDMI which is how I was using it with PC's and previously worked through the HDMI port of my mac but now what happens is in the 'Displays' settings it flickers on/off recognising the display, not recognising it, recognising it, not recognising it etc.

I've now read lots of articles saying Sonoma is alot less forgiving with signal errors or some such?

Grant Bennet-Alder has posted often in these forums, saying something to the effect that recent versions of macOS check for transmission errors, and may reduce resolution or cut the signal if they see them. One thing that can apparently result in more transmission errors (and in these results) is using a long cable.

I don't know how Sonoma compares in this regards to previous versions of macOS.

In any case - I've ordered a different non-apple monitor that will hopefully work through HDMI - but still pretty disappointing as enjoy the Apple Monitors but frustrating that they don't look at their product back catalog and ensure backwards compatability.

A lot of other people in these forums seem to have had success with getting LED Cinema Displays to work when using the correct type of adapter(USB-C to Mini DisplayPort).

Maybe there's something with your particular adapter, or the total cable length (including adapter + the built-in cable of the LED Cinema Display) is a bit too long? Might be worth investigating that.

For instance LED Cinema Display can be made to work with PCs as mentioned above, but you can't do that with the Thunderbolt Display. The studio display they seem to have relented on, but seriously, is just annoying and the reason I'll be moving away from their monitors from now on.

Apple never designed the 27" Thunderbolt Display (that you have) or the 27" 5K Studio Display (current model) to work with anything other than Macs. If I'm not mistaken, neither have external menu controls – on both, you make adjustments via software on the computer; and Apple only provides drivers for Macs (as part of macOS).

I think there may have been some other monitor out there that had the same "software adjustments only" design - but that included Windows drivers only, locking out Mac and Linux users. It's been a while, so I do not remember the name of the monitor vendor or the monitor model. I just have a vague recollection of having come across the description of at least one such monitor.

FYI, when Thunderbolt first came out, Wintel PC vendors could have adopted it, but most chose not to do so – or to adopt it to a very limited extent. That was on them. It was after USB-C came out that PC vendors began to get more serious about supporting Thunderbolt.