MB's DisplayPort MST or SST functions

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23dmpot Author

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MB's DisplayPort MST or SST functions

Hi Apple Support Team and DisplayPort Technologists,

I'd like to confirm before I buy a MacBook Pro, whether the current MacBook Pro (13Inch)

only supports DisplayPort's SST (single-stream transport), or MST (multi-stream transport) only,

or does it support both?

And if possible could you refer me to ones that support DisplayPort SST only?

Or the ones that support DisplayPort MST only.

Thank you so much for your time and patience.

All the best,

Denver

MacBook Pro, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)

Posted on Mar 24, 2013 10:46 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

mende1

Level 10

93,538 points

Mar 24, 2013 11:49 PM in response to 23dmpot

Since the Late 2011 MacBook Pro, all Macs have got Thunderbolt instead of Mini DisplayPort. Thunderbolt is the same as Mini DisplayPort, but just with the ability to transfer data alongside audio and video. You have in this site the Macs that supports video and audio over Mini DisplayPort > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4241

As you can see, Mid 2010 and newer MacBooks Pro supports multisignal over Mini DisplayPort. I'm not sure if this solves the question

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Answer 2

23dmpot Author

Level 1

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Mar 25, 2013 8:05 PM in response to mende1

Hi mende1. Thank you so much for your reply.

However, this does not solve my question.

My interest is on the DisplayPort functionality of the Thunderbolt - whether the DisplayPort function only supports SST only, MST only, or Both. This is DisplayPort-specific terminologies and may be known only by Apple or DisplayPort-related technology professionals.

Thanks,

Denver

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Answer 3

Mar 25, 2013 8:21 PM in response to 23dmpot

I am not sure Readers here can answer a query so specific to the internal specifications of Mini DisplayPort or ThunderBolt. But we can advise about what sort or real-world displays can be connected, and how to connect them, if that is where your line of inquiry is headed.

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Answer 4

Apr 4, 2013 9:16 PM in response to 23dmpot

I just finished researching this for myself, as I was considering adding to my MacBook Pro (2012) a pair of new Dell U2713H 27" monitors that support DisplayPort-based daisy-chaining.

It looks like Thunderbolt-enabled Macs only support DisplayPort 1.1a which will not allow the kind of MST that you are looking for nor will it enable me to use multiple monitors as I desired. New Thunderbolt chips supporting DisplayPort 1.2 with MST are supposed to be available this year, and so would possibly make it into late-2013 or 2014 Macs.

It seems the only present ways to connect more than one external monitor to a MacBook are:

a) using a USB video adapter

b) purchasing two Apple Thunderbolt Displays

If someone releases a Thunderbolt docking station with multiple monitor outputs there might be hope, otherwise I think this won't ever be possible with current model MacBooks.

- Jim

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