USB-C and Thunderbolt Display Connectivity

Technology is great but no reason Apple cannot make adapters that will connect to their products that they still sell like the display.

tbirdvet wrote:

Technology is great but no reason Apple cannot make adapters that will connect to their products that they still sell like the display.

Yes, there are very real technological reasons why Apple can't make a connector from USB C to Thunderbolt. You can't pass Thunderbolt data through USB C and back to another Thunderbolt port.

You might be able to pass Video information from USB C to a TB Display, but you won't be able to use the hub.

It's also worth pointing out that Apple hasn't updated the TB Display in several years: it still uses TB 1, not TB 2; USB 2 not USB 3; and even MagSafe 1, not MagSafe 2. Maybe a new Apple Display will have TB and USB C in and all sorts of ports out. (Goodbye FireWire.)

What about the HydraDock?

Do you think it might work?

http://www.hydradock.com/

HydraDock shows Mini DisplayPort and HDMI. No Thunderbolt.

Based upon my research. There's no way to connect the new USB C MacBook to the TB monitor. I'm in the same situation as many of you. I have a MacBook Air 11 inch and would like to use the new MacBook in replace of it. I don't believe that there's going to be a solution until someone creates a dock that will support USB C, TB, USB A, and potentially Ethernet in one device. I've seen one such device, that originated on Kickstarter; however, it only supports MDP at the moment. The perfect solution for me would allow me to use the new MB with my TB monitors.

Any particular reason it has to be the new 12inch Macbook?

The new MacBook is a very niche device at this time. There are alternatives if you require compatibility with Thunderbolt peripherals.

The New MacBook Airs still feature a full fledged Thunderbolt 2.0 port and can use any Thunderbolt peripherals including TB displays directly.

The New MacBook Pros also have not one but 2 Thunderbolt 2.0 ports.

Furthermore, the Macbook Air and Pro are considerably more powerful, than the 12inch MacBook in terms of processors and RAM availability.

Your point is very salient. I'm the guy that Apple loves because I seem to have at least one of everything they make. With that said, I'm not moving from my MB Air until there's a solution for the TB issue. Additionally, I'm already hearing rumors of a second generation MB in the works.

I'm not in a rush. I store most of my stuff in cloud based services and don't need a huge amount of horsepower cpu/memory to drive the apps that I use the most. Just like having the new stuff. Thank you for your response.

Jules

Julian Waits wrote:

Your point is very salient. I'm the guy that Apple loves because I seem to have at least one of everything they make. With that said, I'm not moving from my MB Air until there's a solution for the TB issue. Additionally, I'm already hearing rumors of a second generation MB in the works.

I'm not in a rush. I store most of my stuff in cloud based services and don't need a huge amount of horsepower cpu/memory to drive the apps that I use the most. Just like having the new stuff. Thank you for your response.

Jules

Fair enough. 😉

I don't know anyone who would plug a usb 3 speed intensive device in any type of hub let alone a monitor.

Always direct for best performance and minimum fault points. Now if the systems didn't have usb 3 that would be a problem.

sorry to poster for not contributing to original question but nothing left to be said.

Right now it is impossible to connect the new MacBook 12" to the ThunderBolt Display. It is not a physical matter (the connector is physically the same as a MiniDisplay Port connector) but a functionality matter. ThunderBolt can carry several different types of signals (PCIe, USB1,2.3, MiniDisplay Port, Ethernet, FireWire) but the host (in this case the MacBook 12") is the one that needs to carry all those signals in the first place so it can support the display, and it is not the case at this time. Over simplifying things a lot, we could say that Display Port is a dumb type of unidirectional signal (from the Mac to the monitor) and ThunderBolt is a bi-directional signal with intelligence built-in. You can connect a dumb peripheral to an intelligent host, but not the opposite, because the host is the one that drives the peripheral.

It did happen the same when ThunderBolt 1 appeared. The latest Macs that had MiniDisplay Port ports, but not ThunderBolt, could not drive the new ThunderBolt Display and they had to use the prior MiniDisplay Port Cinema Display. The connector was physically the same, but not the functionality. The new Macs at the time, with ThunderBolt built in, could drive both types of monitors, the old MiniDisplay Port Cinema Display and the then new ThunderBolt Display.

In the near future ThunderBolt 3 will arrive and it is already announced that it will adopt the same physical connector as USB 3 Type C (the one included in the MacBook 12"). It is fairly plausible that ThunderBolt 3 will be backwards compatible with ThunderBolt 1 and 2, so all type of signals will be supported through it, including USB 3.1 Type C. As both ThunderBolt and USB 3.1 Type C (for short of USB-C) do support Display Port signals, there is hope in the near future to see an adapter that could connect the new MacBook 12" to the ThunderBolt Display, but I would not hold my breath, because all new machines coming out will have ThunderBolt 3 built in, and thus USB-C included in the pack. So, the company that may think about creating such a converter would have a reduced market of MacBook 12" users. A different thing would be a dock with all type of ports that offers the additional functionality for those same owners, but that appeals to all other users of ThunderBolt machines. All this third paragraph is just speculation, so we will have to wait an see.

You can check additional information about ThunderBolt 3 at:

https://thunderbolttechnology.net/blog/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-does-it-all

http://www.cnet.com/news/thunderbolt-3-and-usb-type-c-join-forces-for-one-port-t o-rule-them-all/

http://www.anandtech.com/show/9331/intel-announces-thunderbolt-3

http://9to5mac.com/2015/06/02/usb-c-thunderbolt-3/

Cheers,

Victor Bottacco

The funny thing is that it still shows a thunderbolt display port on their promotional page for the macbook. You think they would fix their information on their website

No, that's a mini-Display Port, which is not necessarily Thunderbolt. There are plenty of old Macs that have a mini-Display port for video, but which can't connect to a Thunderbolt drive or other TB device.

Similarly, Thunderbolt 3 is going to use USB C connectors, so some USB C ports will be Thunderbolt capable, and some USB C ports won't.

Confused? You will be....🙂

Thanks thats too bad. I was going to replace my 2011 Mac Air with the new Mac Book. I was hoping to gain even greater portability and a higher res screen. Perhaps a few generations down the road.....I can't imaging many people going for the MB with its current limitations.

Re: "... that's too bad. I was going to replace my 2011 Mac Air with the new Mac Book ... "

Agree.

My own research and "crystal ball reading" has led me to the same forecast that Victor put forth in his para 3 ...

... that Thunderbolt 3 will be integrated into Apple's USB-C connectors in the not-too-distant future.

So ... I'm simply going to wait.

Perhaps a new -- and long awaited -- Thunderbolt display will also be rolled-out as a "companion" product w/ Thunderbolt 3 port. (we can only hope)

you need one of these, a mini-displayport female to female coupler: http://www.amazon.com/Monoprice-Mini-DisplayPort-Coupler-Female/dp/B003KQ6BMC/re f=sr_1_2?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1442507343&sr=1-2&keywords=mini+displayport+f emale

From computer use #1 the Apple USB-C digital AV video adapter with HDMI port (http://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJ1K2AM/A/usb-c-digital-av-multiport-adapter?f node=b1bb30b1d86fa5b243f9b25ac34064f7fca…

#2 Then use an HDMI cable, #3 finally plug in an HDMI (female) to mini-displayport adapter (these are common on Apple store, amazon, etc),

Then #4 the coupler mentioned above. Finally plug the TB display into the other side of the coupler.

Haven't tried this, but it should get the connections fitting together and work in theory.