Q: Thunderbolt Display turns off randomly

John - can I ask where you got the cable from?  I can't find an Apple retailer that even acknowledges they can be bought seperately.

Chris

You can connect a thunderbolt cable from the Thunderbolt port on the TB Display to the Mac- any standard TB cable for example:

http://eshop.macsales.com/Search/?Ntk=Primary&Ns=P_Popularity%7c1&Ne=5000&N=1001 13&N2=100113&Ntt=thunderbolt

instead of using the built in TB cable. So - if the built in cable is the failure, this is a work around option.

It's lovely to find that the right answer has already been provided by OWC Larry

Just a quick update. To the ongoing saga! Took the monitor to apple and after a week of swapping different parts they got the display to work with a new all in one cable and LCD panel! I don't think its worth spending £600 for only 90days guarantee. A new dell equivalent is (albeit w/o thunderbolt) is far less!

They've put it back to its flickery self, so now I'm looking for an LCD to do the repairs myself! Anyone know where to source them from?

Cribbing - the book yard sell them. Simple repair too apparently.

http://www.thebookyard.com/product.php?products_id=9048

I have a Mac Mini and just purchased two thunderbolt displays because the HDMI TV I had hooked up would intermitantly flicker. Imagine my excitement when my thunderbolts started flickering.

Current thunderbolt daisychain Hookup:

MAC Mini > LaCie Drive> TBD1>TBD2 (All using built in TB Cable except from MAC>LaCie)

Both Flicker intermitantly. seems like it happens more when I have more open. but TBD1 seems to be the only one that Blacks out completely. The only way to get it back is to unplug power from it for 10 seconds then plug it back in.

I have purchased a 2m StarTech Thunderbolt cable and have unplugged the TB monitor's multi-cable from all devices.  So far so good, no screen black outs.  I don't think I am imagining it, but I think my display is smoother and faster for video and games too.  Perhaps the multi cable has been causing other problems that I wasn't picking up on.  Fingers crossed that this is the end of the saga.

Interesting News.

My TBD's are daisy chained together and then into my ONE TB connection on my mac.

I am working with phone tech support today. after doing some troubleshooting, I find that whichever of my TWO thunderbolt displays is plugged into the Mac Mini, will be the one that goes black. The second screen in the daisy chain of Thunderbolt connections STAY ON.

My TBD no longer radomly turns off when I use a regular TB cable into my TBD1, and plug TBD1 built in cable into TBD2.

Still getting an occational flicker on both screens.

After trying everyting and all the posts I could find, there was a quite easy solution for the problem. By just uesing an aditional Thunderbolt cable which was pluged in into the back of the monitor everythig was fine. My Thunderbolt monitor works just the way it has to work....

What you did is not a fix-it is a bandaid.  It may work for you, but it does not "fix" the problem.  It is merely a workaround.  I'm going to try replacing the internal all in one cable and I will post back.

Ok. Some weird stuff. Double checked and re-tested all of this.

">" designates a connection

Mac Mini 64GB Ram>(using built in TB cable)>TB Display 1>Daisychained to>TB Display 2 = Flickering and TB Display 1 shuts off after 10 minutes.

Mac Mini 64 GB Ram>(Using standard TB Cable)>TB Display1>Daisychained to> TB Display 2 = Flickering and Monitors stay on.

Mac Mini 8GB Ram(I took Ram out)>(Using Standard TB cable>TB Display 1>Daisychained to > TB Display 2 = NO ISSUES

I decided my Memory must have been faulty, so:

Mac Mini with NEW 64GB Ram> Using Built in cable> TB Display 1> Daisychained to > TB Display 2 = NO ISSUES for the past hour

I will update the forum if I get another flicker. But so far, I think its fixed.

I've personally spent about 400 miles of driving back and forth to my closest Apple Store, hours and hours of time, and multiple repairs on this issue.  I then replaced all of my hardware!  Add that to the various threads on this topic that total over about 500,000 views, and it's clear there's an issue here.  I'll try to keep this post pithy, with the facts here at the top.

This problem started with a 1.5 year old 15" Retina MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt Display.  I now have a brand new Apple Thunderbolt Display AND brand new 15" MacBook Pro - AND HAVE THE SAME FLICKERING PROBLEM!

Steps Taken

1. Many, many phone calls to AppleCare.  No clear "yes we've seen this before and know how to fix" type of response.
2. Many visits to the closest repair facility to me, which is the Genius Bar at an Apple Retail store.  Again, I worked with about a half a dozen people there, and no one reported "yes, we've seen this and know how to fix this.".
3. After replacing the LED panel, I drove 40 miles back home, plugged in the display, and it was totally dead.
4. After driving BACK to the Apple Store, they told me they would have to try another repair.  As I was leaving, the Manager asked me if I was okay, I explained my issue, and in an awesome show of understanding, he replaced my display right there.
5. I took a brand new Thunderbolt Display home, and I STILL had the flicker problem.
6. In a second act of desperation, I bought a BRAND NEW 15" Retina MacBook Pro!!  (going to sell my 2012 model to a friend)

After ALL of this, I'm sitting here with 100% new Apple hardware and the display still flickers!  This is maddening.  I've made no OS X setting changes.  Everything is 100% factory default new, and my Thunderbolt Display has flickered about 20 times, and is now totally dark.  (as I've typed this) Other Notes

• A very basic setup.  Just my 15" MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt Display.  I keep the Mac lid open and use both screens in extended mode.
• My MacBook Pro resolution is set to "scaled" at the "looks like 1680 x 1050" option.  But I've tried the recommended option as well.
• I've replaced the MagSafe connector.  (I've read some posts that a bad connector was the theoretical culprit)
• Display flickers and goes dark, but the USB ports still work.  (I have a wired Apple USB keyboard plugged into it.)
• The display resolution settings are factory default.
• I've tried adjusting brightness settings, spaces settings, and arrangement settings.  Nothing works.
• I've tried Apple's recommended SMC reset and PMU reset procedures.  No changes.
• This all started when I upgraded to Mavericks.  I really think this could be the issue.

Anyone have any other thoughts??!?!?  Am I missing something?!?!?

Replacing the Ram in my Mac fixed it for me. I replaced it with 16GB DDR3 Vengeance Corsair RAM. 1600MHz. From Best Buy.

I share your pain. I tried a LOT of different things myself. Luckily I havent had to go through as much as you though. Knock on wood.

Tim, I had pretty much the same problem.

My display died a couple months out of warranty. After bringing it to Apple, they confidently replaced the power supply saying that it was all fixed, however, after bringing it home, it died right away. Brought it back so they could test it with my 15" Retina MBP and they concluded that the LED Panel was dead. They said it'd be $800+ to replace the part.

I called a certified repair center to see if buying the LED screen alone and replacing the part myself was an option, but I was told to "cut my losses."

I did find a temporary solution, though, but I'm not sure if anyone covered by AppleCare should do this because it might void warranty, not sure.

Keep in mind that all the USB, Thunderbolt, Firewire connections and the speakers, webcam, and microphone were working, it was only the LED panel that was dead. I opened the display and disconnected all the wiring. I then plugged everything back in and it worked for about 48 hours without any problems whatsoever! It did end up shutting off again, but I did the same thing, and the display is in working order.

So when Apple tells me that the panel is dead, but I can get it to work for an extended period of time, I'm a bit skeptical.

Anyways, good luck everyone with this problem.