bazaarone

Q: Major problems with Thunderbolt display & MB Air

Since I received my Thunderbolt display yesterday and hooked it up to my 2011 MB Air,  I've had nothing but problems.

 

Software update is fully up to date, including the TB Display firmware.

 

I'm experiencing three major issues:

1. About half the time when I connect the display, my connected USB devices are non-functional. Unplugging and reconnecting the devices does not fix it.

2. Also, about half the time when I disconnect the display, the MB Air does not reconfigure the monitor layout. Putting it to sleep and/or disconnecting / reconnecting monitors does not fix this. I have to hard restart my laptop.

3. When connected through the TB Display, my Mac will infrequently not recognize key up events from my USB keyboard, causing keys to repeat until I hit them again. For an idea of frequency, it has happened 4 times so far thus far while writing this post.

 

Also a couple of minor niggles:

1. The default color calibration is WAY different from the MB Air's screen. It's most obvious with yellows which have a severe green tint on the TB display. For example, note windows in Mail appear very slightly orange on my MB Air (as expected given the color value), while on the TB display it is florescent yellow with a slight greenish tint.

2. The sound is a lot poorer than I had hoped. I wasn't expecting anything really amazing, but with the "built in subwoofer" I expected noticeably better bass than my MB Air's built in speakers provide.

 

The minor issues can either be minimized (with color calibration and equalizer) or ignored, but the major issues make this display completely unusable for me. Is this just a defective unit, or are these widespread issues?

 

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

PS. Total instances of keys getting stuck while writing this post: ~9. Seems to only be space and delete that get stuck so far.

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.1)

Posted on Sep 21, 2011 8:19 PM

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Q: Major problems with Thunderbolt display & MB Air

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  • by DavidR57,

    DavidR57 DavidR57 Feb 12, 2012 7:10 PM in response to urbicande
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 12, 2012 7:10 PM in response to urbicande

    Just in case anyone else is having my basic issue: MBAir connected to TB display works with lid open but won't wake from a USB Apple keyboard connected to the TB Display. It seems that it will only wake if I have the power cord (part of the dual TB cable from the display) attached to the MBAir.

  • by cahir,

    cahir cahir Feb 12, 2012 7:19 PM in response to cahir
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 12, 2012 7:19 PM in response to cahir

    I called apple support (or more correctly set up a time for them to call me, worked really well, no wait time), and have somewhat of a solution.

     

    Turns out counter to what I would assume for years of using laptops, the TB cords should be connected to the MBA when it is awake and open. If the TB is connected when it's asleep, the display works, but none of the peripherals (USB, Facetime camera, etc) work for me. Has worked every time for me now.

     

    This does seem counter to Apple's own marketing in my opinion as a docking station, since when I return to my desk with the laptop closed to "dock" it I would assume I would just plug in the cords and wake it up, but that is exactly what doesn't work.

     

    According to the tech, when the laptop wakes up, it doesn't go through the all checks it would when a TB is plugged in when it's awake. Can't speak to the technical details, but experience does seem to support the method.

     

    Hope this helps someone else.

  • by toto65,

    toto65 toto65 Feb 15, 2012 11:09 AM in response to bazaarone
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 15, 2012 11:09 AM in response to bazaarone

    Il problema lo abbiamo anche qui in italia monitor thunderbolt da 1000 euro non funzionanti lampeggiano nero e non vengono sostituiti nonostante abbia 15 gg di vita credo non sia una buona politica di apple e si fa presto a perdere un buon cliente ,grazie apple

  • by fredfromfrankfurt am main,

    fredfromfrankfurt am main fredfromfrankfurt am main Feb 22, 2012 3:41 AM in response to bazaarone
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 3:41 AM in response to bazaarone

    Hi,

     

    just briefly „my TBD-story“:

     

    • First TBD with sporadically dropouts of LAN- and USB-ports after waking up of MBA (closed display); ofcourse with latest firmware and updates
    • two calls with Apple Support Line (SMC-reset and so on): without success
    • try to repair at Apple Service Center (changing power supply AND Logic board): without success
    • further call with Apple Support Line: after telling „my TBD-history“ I was directed to an Apple Manager: result: TBD will be changed into a new one
    • Second TBD: runs as expected from the beginning without any errors (since two days) :-)))

     

    Hope this can help somebody of you...

     

    CU

    Fred

  • by urbicande,

    urbicande urbicande Feb 22, 2012 10:40 AM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 10:40 AM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main

    Hi, could you confirm in a few days that everything is still working for you?

     

    Some people have seen this problem reappearing after a couple of days.

     

    They also gave me the option to replace the screen but I wanted to be sure their new TBD production would actually fix that problem before going to the Apple store.

  • by fredfromfrankfurt am main,

    fredfromfrankfurt am main fredfromfrankfurt am main Feb 22, 2012 1:24 PM in response to urbicande
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 1:24 PM in response to urbicande

    Hi,

     

    yes I can give a short report of the situation after 1 week, 2 weeks and so on, if you´re interested.

    Hope to have the same good situation for the next years ;-)

     

    If I remember right I´ve had the problems with the first TBD from the very first days.

     

    CU

    Fred

  • by urbicande,

    urbicande urbicande Feb 22, 2012 1:39 PM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 1:39 PM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main

    Thanks, I've had the situation when it was ok for a couple of days and then it got out of control again until I rebooted the Air.

     

    Also would you mind to tell us when was your new TBD manufactured by looking at the serial number?

  • by fredfromfrankfurt am main,

    fredfromfrankfurt am main fredfromfrankfurt am main Feb 22, 2012 3:35 PM in response to urbicande
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 3:35 PM in response to urbicande

    Don´t know how to identify the manufacturing date from the serial-number.

     

    CU

    Fred

  • by urbicande,

    urbicande urbicande Feb 22, 2012 7:14 PM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 22, 2012 7:14 PM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main

    Your serial number indicates a production date on week 6 2012. It could be that apple fixed the problem in the latest batch. I'm gonna try to have mine replaced too. What's the firmware version of your screen ?

  • by Smudge,

    Smudge Smudge Feb 22, 2012 7:19 PM in response to urbicande
    Level 1 (124 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 22, 2012 7:19 PM in response to urbicande

    How can you decode the production date from the serial?  I'm about to buy one of these displays and would like to check this before the purchase.  Thanks

  • by fredfromfrankfurt am main,

    fredfromfrankfurt am main fredfromfrankfurt am main Feb 23, 2012 12:13 AM in response to urbicande
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2012 12:13 AM in response to urbicande

    To be complete ;-))

     

    Herstellername:          Apple, Inc.

      Gerätename:          Thunderbolt Display

      Hersteller-ID:          0x1

      Geräte-ID:          0x8002

      Geräterevision:          0x1

      UID:          0x00010001003AAD30

      Firmware-Version:          22,2

      Port:

      Status:          Angeschlossen

      Verbindungsstatus:          2

      Port-Mikrocontroller-Firmware-Version:          0.0.21

      Kabel-Mikrocontroller-Firmware-Version:          0.1.18

      Port:

      Status:          Keine Geräte angeschlossen

      Verbindungsstatus:          7

      Super Port Micro-Firmwareversion:          0.0.21

  • by urbicande,

    urbicande urbicande Feb 23, 2012 4:32 AM in response to Smudge
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 23, 2012 4:32 AM in response to Smudge

    I usually use this website:

    http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html/

     

    I has always been reliable.

  • by manuelfrommayaguez,

    manuelfrommayaguez manuelfrommayaguez Feb 25, 2012 1:59 AM in response to bazaarone
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Feb 25, 2012 1:59 AM in response to bazaarone

    My TBD behaved more or less ok until it stopped working 5 weeks after purchase. I brought it to an apple service center. It was the first TBD monitor in their hands, so they have some delays getting it to work. Some 6 weeks later (late january) I got it back.

     

    Two weeks ago my MBA stopped working. The technician changed logic and io boards, and I got a working MBA yesterday.

     

    For 20-30 minutes the MBA worked well with the TBD, but when I put it into sleep mode I felt a "short circuit" noise and, near the MBA, a weak ozone smell (typical on an electrostatic discharge). Now both the MBA and the TBD are back in the shop.

     

    I have worked on and used electronic hardware for over 30 years. Based on my own problems and those described in this forum, the TBD is the worse piece of equipment I have seen in the market. The problems people are describing here may be normal on an early beta development version of a product, but are simply not acceptable in a final version.

  • by fredfromfrankfurt am main,

    fredfromfrankfurt am main fredfromfrankfurt am main Feb 27, 2012 11:50 AM in response to urbicande
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 27, 2012 11:50 AM in response to urbicande

    Status report: second TBD since 1 week: everything (USB & ethernet ports at TBD-back) is fine :-)))

  • by urbicande,

    urbicande urbicande Feb 27, 2012 12:02 PM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 27, 2012 12:02 PM in response to fredfromfrankfurt am main

    does it mean you can simply plug the computer back *lid closed* and everything has been working fine?

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