MacBook Pro

Question

Level 1

57 points

MacBook Pro

If I'm understanding this correctly:

7. Does the Thunderbolt port supply power to connected devices?

Yes. A Thunderbolt port supplies power if that Thunderbolt port is part of a device that is connected to an AC power outlet or is operating on battery power. If your Thunderbolt devices have their own power supplies, you should connect the power supplies to them for optimal functionality. If you are using Thunderbolt devices that get their power only from the Thunderbolt bus, computers running on battery power will experience battery drain more quickly.

So if the display is connected to a MacBook Pro power will be supplied BUT is a cable supplied (w/Display) for the Display connection to the MBP or does one have to purchase it separately?

Will power also be supplied to connected USB 2 hard drive or does that need to be powered by itself?

Posted on Feb 4, 2016 1:45 PM

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Answer 1

Pmintz25

Level 4

2,058 points

Feb 4, 2016 2:02 PM in response to curly1

Unless you are buying an Apple Cinema Display, it is highly unlikely that a third party display will come with the proper connection for a MacBook Pro.

Wether you need an adapter or not depends on what type of connections are on your display. For example, my Retina MacBook Pro has built in HDMI, so if I connect it to an HDMI capable display, all I need is an HDMI cable, not an adapter. But if you want to use and HDMI display with a MacBook Air, which doesn't have a built in HDMI port, you would need and HDMI to Thunderbolt adapter. Apple sells all of these adapters so just find one that matches your display on one end and has Thunderbolt on the other end.

To answer the question about your external hard drive, the external display will provide power, but if your external hard drive came with it's own power supply cable, you will most likely need to use that as well (as described in your original post). Some external hard drives don't need a power cable and run purely off of the computers USB port. If your hard drive is like this, then it will get all of the power it needs from the display.

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Answer 2

curly1 Author

Level 1

57 points

Feb 4, 2016 2:09 PM in response to Pmintz25

I'm nearing the buying mode so all and any information is very, very helpful at this point.

I had gotten away from the MacBooks years ago but I recalled just how helpful it was to just have one Mac so I might go that route again but at this point anything can (and probably will) happen!

So thanks!

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