Connect Apple 23" Cinema Display to rMBP HDMI

Question

Connect Apple 23" Cinema Display to rMBP HDMI

What cable do I need to connect an Apple 23" Cinema Display (bought in 2006) to a new rMBP HDMI output? The Cinema Display is single-link DVI, but the adapters/cables I've seen are all double-link. Will that work?

Secondly, will I be able to use the full 1920x1200 resolution of the display, or will the output be limited to the 1920x1080 1080p spec?

Thanks in advance for any help with this. I'd like to buy the cables prior to the arrival of my new rMBP. If necessary I'll use one of the thunderbolt outputs, but I'd rather save these for more complex i/o.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.4)

Posted on Aug 4, 2014 1:44 PM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Aug 4, 2014 9:15 PM in response to Community User

ApplePhile,

you should be able to use something like the Belkin HDMI-to-DVI-D cable to connect your retina MacBook Pro and your 23-inch Cinema HD Display. I don’t know whether your MacBook Pro would support a 1920 × 1200 external resolution or not.

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Answer 2

Aug 4, 2014 10:06 PM in response to Melophage

Thanks Melophage. But are you sure a DVI-D (dual link) connector is compatible with the DVI single-link monitor input?

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Answer 3

Aug 5, 2014 10:00 AM in response to Community User

As it turns out, the original Mac Pro 1,1 with the original NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT, has both a dual-link and single-link output. The 23" HD Cinema display, with its DVI single-link connector, can be plugged into either output, so it appears that there is no problem with plugging a DVI single-link connector into a DVI dual-link output. (Of course, since male dual-link connector has more pins than a single-link female has holes, one could not plug a dual-link male into a single-link female output.) I found this page very useful: http://superuser.com/questions/440159/can-a-single-link-dvi-cable-be-connected-t o-a-dual-link-dvi-port

Since the monitor cable is hardwired into the monitor, and the other end is DVI single-link male, rather than the Belkin HDMI-to-DVI-D cable that Melophage linked to (which is HDMI to DVI-D male), I actually need an HDMI to DVI-D female. This cable should do the trick:

http://www.amazon.com/StarTech-com-DVI-D-Video-Cable-Adapter/dp/B009YCASUW/ref=s r_1_1_m?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1407255578&sr=1-1&keywords=HDMI+Male+to+DVI+Fe male

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