Can I connect the new MacBook Pro 2016 (USB C) to a Cinema Display 30?

Hello ScottCycle,

As per your suggestions, I purchased all the adapters and connected the two devices however the contents are not displayed on the second screen. However it is being detected intermittently as you suggested. Removing and re-plugging make it detect but does not show any contents on the HD Cinema display. I played with all the resolutions but nothing showing. Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks,
Mano

Hi Mano,

Wow, I have no clue. I don't know what's different between our systems.

On a side note, I have been using one of the little white ice-cube apple USB chargers lately to power the USB on the screen adapter (as suggested by another responder to this string,) but other than that, have made no changes. It works both ways.

Hope you can figure something out. I wish I had a suggestion that would be worth trying, but I can't think of anything.

I upgraded to 10.12.3 and have been using my two 30" Cinema displays with my new MBP without issues. I've gone through a number of screen save/screen lock cycles, and of course one or two reboots to install the updates, and haven't noticed any anomolies.

I was able to get the Dell3007WFPHC display working at 2650x1600 with the following:

- Buy a 10W iPad power supply to provide power to the Apple Dual Link DVI cable's USB

- Buy a Itanda USB-C to Mini-Displayport adapter

Hi Craig,

I have seen the flickering screen problem for the first time. I was able to get past it, but it was quite annoying. Here's what happened for what it's worth:

I left the laptop and cinema display in sleep mode overnight. The case was closed and the cinema display was connected. The cinema display was in sleep mode too.

In the morning, when I opened up the laptop, its screen was blank and the cinema display was showing a low resolution or very large magnification view of the log in screen. The touch id pad was indicating I could unlock the computer that way, but it did not respond. The log in screen was also not responsive. I did not have a trackpad cursor and the keyboard was unresponsive. I shut down the computer by holding the touch id pad button down for 10 seconds, then I restarted by pushing the same button. When the computer came up I logged in and both screens were working, for about 2 minutes. Then the cinema display began to wink out for a few seconds at a time. Sometimes it seemed to be triggered by trackpad movements, sometimes it didn't need any input. The on-off cycles were about 2 - 5 seconds apiece. I tried unplugging the screen and plugging it back in, but the problem continued. I turned off the power to everything. The screen went dead and the laptop switched over to battery. I turned the power back on and all is well.

Don't know if this will be any help for you, but perhaps it'll give you some ideas.

Watch eBay, the Dual Link DVI adapter comes up frequently at reasonable prices.

I have a MacBook Pro (last tower built) that my 30" cinema display is connected to at present

but having just purchased the new 15" MBP with Touch Bar I am hopeful that it will be compatible with

the monitor.

Can someone just give a list of the Apple USB-C (or older) Adapters needed to make this happen.

What adapters are needed from Apple that will allow the connection to the Dual Link DVI

from the USB-C.

I have already purchased the USB-C to USB & Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 (really don't care if it

supports port on display, got it to connect older firewire drives & does that without issue). The goal is to be able to mirror to the display.

Thanks to whoever makes this list happen!

Watch eBay, the Dual Link DVI adapter comes up frequently at reasonable prices.

I have a MacBook Pro (last tower built) that my 30" cinema display is connected to at present

but having just purchased the new 15" MBP with Touch Bar I am hopeful that it will be compatible with

the monitor.

Can someone just give a list of the Apple USB-C (or older) Adapters needed to make this happen.

What adapters are needed from Apple that will allow the connection to the Dual Link DVI

from the USB-C.

I have already purchased the USB-C to USB & Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 (really don't care if it

supports port on display, got it to connect older firewire drives & does that without issue). The goal is to be able to mirror to the display.

Thanks to whoever makes this list happen!

I just noticed a post in a review of a display port to Dual DVI adapter on sale on e-bay. It gives some clues about why sometimes the adapter might not work. Basically, the adapter has firmware inside and older versions cause the kind of issues you described. Here's a link and a copy of the review I read:

http://www.ebay.com/usr/billdegen2

Important to get the right version

Make sure you get the right firmware version (1.03) Earlier versions look identical but can't be upgraded. Versions 1.02 and 1.01 will cause screen flicker, flashes, shut off and wake from sleep issues. If you plug the adapter into a Mac and monitor you can see which version it has installed. Apple support says; Use the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter to connect a working display to the Mac. Choose 'About this Mac' from the the Apple menu. Click 'More Info' and then click the 'System Report' button Find the adapter firmware version in the Graphics/Displays section under Hardware. For computers with multiple video cards, scroll all the way down to locate the graphics card where the Dual-Link DVI adapter and display are connected.

I just noticed a post in a review of a display port to Dual DVI adapter on sale on e-bay. It gives some clues about why some Apple dual-link DVI-D to mini-display port adapters might not work. Basically, the adapter has firmware inside and older versions have issues. Others have responded to my posts, with issues like the following: flickering screen, (slow flicker that makes the screen, annoyingly, frustratingly, but completely unusable,) start-up problems, etc.. Here's a link and a copy of the review I read:

http://www.ebay.com/usr/billdegen2

Important to get the right version

Make sure you get the right firmware version (1.03) Earlier versions look identical but can't be upgraded. Versions 1.02 and 1.01 will cause screen flicker, flashes, shut off and wake from sleep issues. If you plug the adapter into a Mac and monitor you can see which version it has installed. Apple support says; Use the Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter to connect a working display to the Mac. Choose 'About this Mac' from the the Apple menu. Click 'More Info' and then click the 'System Report' button Find the adapter firmware version in the Graphics/Displays section under Hardware. For computers with multiple video cards, scroll all the way down to locate the graphics card where the Dual-Link DVI adapter and display are connected.

I think, perhaps, the firmware version is not necessarily important for everyone, after all. I just purchased another display port to Dual DVI adapter. I got it on e-bay for a good price. I corresponded with a few people who had these for sale. All of them claimed they no longer had access to a working mac, and/or a working cinema display, and, therefore, were unable to determine what version of firmware was installed on their adapter. So I bought one from a guy who claimed he formerly used it to connect a mid 2015 macbook pro to a cinema display. (I used to have a similar set up before I lost my macbook and bought this new one.) When the adapter arrived I plugged it in and it worked. Then I checked the firmware. Version 1.01! I have tried it with both of my cinema displays now, and so far, it works fine.

Hi,

I found your post after trying many other ways of getting my Cinema display to work.

But your solution still has a problem. My current setup looks exactly the same as the one in your picture. The laptop does see the cinema display at 2560x1600, but no image appears on it. It just does not light up. Everything else seems fine. The screen remains dark…

Of course I tried plugging into different USB-C ports etc., different sequences of starting and so on, but nothing seemed to work. Any thoughts?

(I have two of those displays and dearly would like them to work, but let's do one at a time)

Hi Grant,

I thought of that myself, but then I tested my system and I don't think it's that simple. I think that Robert must have power to his display adapter, because his computer says it's connected, and specifies the resolution he should be seeing on his 30" display.

I just unplugged the power to the adapter on my set up (only the power, not any of the other connections,) and not only does the screen go dark, but all of my open windows consolidate onto my laptop screen and I can see no evidence in the system report or display preferences that the 30" display is even connected. Without power, the computer doesn't recognize the 30" display at all, which is different from what Robert is describing.

BTW, strangely, the same thing happens if I try to put all of the connections from the display through one apple multiport adapter which has both a usb-c and a usb-(3.0?) port. (This would allow me to use just one of the 4 usb-c ports on my computer, but it doesn't work.)

FYI "4K" was in the advertisement for both of the USB-C to Displayport adapters I bought that didn't work, so seeing 4K in the ad isn't the key to getting a working adapter. I didn't bother trying any adapters which didn't have "4K" in the specs.

Robert, Glad that you got your monitors working. I haven't tried running both of mine together yet. Nice to know it's possible.

Robert,

Could you possibly post a "shopping list" with URL's for the items that you ended up using?

I very much want use my trusted 30" Apple Cinema Display with my new maximum spec'd 15" 2016 MacBook Pro with touch bar.

Thanks!

Thanks so much for the details and photo. I have everything hooked up exactly as you specified, using the new MBP and a 21 inch Apple Cinema Display.

Sometimes it works and everything on the MB is on the AC display, but just for a minute. Then I have the top menu bar and the dock, but the desktop picture doesn't appear, nor does anything that is on my MB screen. I can get the finder to work, but apps open on the MB don't work on the AC display.

I use this MB with a new LG display at work in a clamshell setup. If I close the MB with the AC display, it goes black.

Any ideas why it works momentarily? Do you work in clamshell mode or leave the MB open?