Q: Connect Thunderbolt Display to Mini DisplayPort?

But when they tell me their new oil is 10w30 and then only later after I've put 10w30 in do they clarify that their 10w30 is different than other 10w30... *then* it is their fault.

Has there been any recent developments that mean mini display ports can be connected to this monitor?

I see there still aren't any adaptor cables.

I was told by a sales person this would work.  I then took my HP laptop with display port to the Apple retailer to verify if it would work with the Apple Thunderbolt Display.  It does not work.

I'm surprised that Apple doesn't make a Thunderbolt KVM switch that would take inputs from VGA/DVI/HDMI/Display Port.  I have a MacBook Pro with Thunderbolt that works with the Thunderbolt Display but I'm not buying separate displays for my computers.  This is very disapointing to me.  I was all ready to purchase the beautiful Apple Thunderbolt Display, now I'm getting something else that will work with both of my computers.

Apple always moves ahead with little regard for making legacy adapters

I too was disappointed to learn this - I wish I would have bought the led display.  I ended up buying a thunderbolt hub anyway to drive a second monitor and could have used the monitor in many more ways.

Seems I should have read the posts before running out and buying a new thunderbolt display to plug into my late 2009 27 inch iMac with ATI Radeon HD 4850 512 MB .  Screen is totally blank.  Could not find any adaptors on line either.  I guess this means need to by a new iMac?

You can NOT run your thunderbolt display with a displayport. The monitor never turns on.

The reply ticketed like ok in the original question is incorrect and can lead to confusion.

Yes, you can attach the interface and perhaps video signal is transmitting, but as the screen does not switch on, your monitor is useless.

I bought this screen and it has been a great error.

I concur. The "correct" answer here is wrong.

I too should have read this before I ordered the thunderbolt display. I can confirm that it does not work with my 2010 21.5' iMac with firewire 800. I searched online and found no connector. Will return this one later. I actually like the monitor very much.

Please change the "correct answer," as it is clearly wrong.

I made a huge mistake purchasing the Thunderbolt Display.  It's beautiful and works great with a Thunderbolt-equipped Mac, but that's it.  There's zero compatibility, even backwards with DisplayPort, a technology that uses the same video protocol and connector form factor... even with MacBooks released after the fact!  It's unfortunate, because the potential was so great for this display... but producing a high end monitor today that doesn't support any common video standards even via adaptor?  Absurd and outrageous.

For a while (2005-2010), Apple was moving towards MORE compatibility and utility and I was one of their biggest evangelists, but it's like they decided that philosophy was for the birds and what people really want is expensive silicon that contains as little function as possible.  Jobs gets such a bad rap regarding this, but under his direction Apple's devices were more connectable than ever and open standards flourished in the Apple ecosystem.  Since his departure, our devices might as well be in a glass box.

Thunderbolt is awesome.  I love it.  But there's absolutely zero excuse for omitting a theoretically compatible technology from a so-called "professional" monitor.  It's just assumed (rightfully) that a modern display will support more than one device.

/rant

Looking forward hopefully, with the release of USB Type-C, we will see Thunderbolt as a standard output in GPUs and I can start to get some use out of this display, again.  I'm still a Mac guy, but I've been building PCs for gaming, server functionality, and other workhorse applications for over 10 years.  This ordeal has certainly taught me to do extra research before buying any Apple product, as normally standard functionalities can no longer be assumed and their absence is often revealed after the fact with little fanfare.