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rob2012102 Author

Level 1

5 points

Retina MBP can't use external 30" Dell display

I've connected my 30" Dell 3007WFP display to my Macbook Pro 15" Retina laptop with Apple's adapter for Thunderbolt to DVI-D Dual Link. The display is only receiving Single Link instead of Dual Link, limiting the resolution to 1280x800 instead of 2560x1600.

Has anyone else seen this problem? On the forums at macrumors.com, a few other people have reported this issue. One person there has reported that his adaptor (same model as I have) provided this display with Dual Link when connected to a Macbook Air but not when connected to the MBP Retina.

If that's true, then it sounds like there's a defect in the MBP Retina.

I'm trying to decide how to resolve this. At the least, should I return the adapter until Apple makes some kind of a statement about whether this can be fixed? I'm not holding my breath for it to be resolved anytime soon - if it even can be resolved. Perhaps it's a hardware problem.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.7.4), 15" Retina

Posted on Jun 17, 2012 4:42 PM

Top-ranking reply

rob2012102 Author

Level 1

5 points

Posted on Jun 17, 2012 4:46 PM

Re-reading my post, I meant to say that the adapter is from Mini Display Port to DVI-D Dual Link. I've got it plugged into a Thunderbolt port.

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31 replies

Feb 5, 2013 12:52 PM in response to JamesArtMills

They pulled that 'take it all to the store' stuff when I complained too, what helped a lot was that the display and DVI-D thingie worked fine at full res on my previous 2010 17" MBP. Really once that got through the level 1 "go away, you're bothing us" filters at Applecare a real engineer took about 5 seconds to look at the code (or ask someone who owns it) and realize this new 'feature' was in there and give a good answer. Its amazing there is all this *completely* undocumented stuff from such a well funded team -- you'd think every single control and option (and plist entry) would have an entry in a docs database before release given the high price and high expectations.

I recall when I had all my problems they kept asking if I had an up to date firmware on the expensive dual link dongle -- I think they had lots of problems with that thing and had more than one version in the field. Hopefully your "genius" thought of this and tried with another adapter, laptop, and/or with a pre thunderbolt 30" Cinema at the store. Frustrating!

Retina MBP can't use external 30" Dell display