2011 Mini with Cinema Display & Thunderbolt Display?

[LevMac]

Hey guys just wondering if it's possible to have a new Mac Mini with a Cinema Display and a Thunderbolt Display connected to it?

Reason I ask is at the moment I'm running a 27" Cinema Display connected to my MacBook Pro and was thinking of having a dual screen setup by purchasing a Mac Mini and Thunderbolt Display...

 

[deafgoose]

Hey guys just wondering if it's possible to have a new Mac Mini with a Cinema Display and a Thunderbolt Display connected to it?

Reason I ask is at the moment I'm running a 27" Cinema Display connected to my MacBook Pro and was thinking of having a dual screen setup by purchasing a Mac Mini and Thunderbolt Display...

What version is your 2011 mini?

 

[powerbook911]

Hey guys just wondering if it's possible to have a new Mac Mini with a Cinema Display and a Thunderbolt Display connected to it?

Reason I ask is at the moment I'm running a 27" Cinema Display connected to my MacBook Pro and was thinking of having a dual screen setup by purchasing a Mac Mini and Thunderbolt Display...

I believe for any hope of this working you will need the mid-range model with discreet graphics card.

Then, what you could try is connecting Thunderbolt directly to the Mini, and then plug the Cinema Display into the Thunderbolt display.

I have read many speculate that this should work, but I haven't read confirmation of anyone trying it yet. I would try to find such confirmation before spending the money, as you're trying to do here obviously, unless you know if a retailer with a good return policy if it doesn't work.

Hopefully someone else can chime in. This is a very good question indeed, again, I have heard this referenced before, but not seen it or read confirmation it works.

 

[LevMac]

Thanks for your replies guys

deafgoose, I really love your setup it looks awesome. I don't have a mini yet, only got a 27" Cinema Display and a MacBook Pro, but how would I use my current Cinema Display and plug it into the high spec Mini and also have the Thunderboot Display connected at the same time?

powerbook911, thanks for your reply, apparently if you plug the mini displayport cable of the Cinema Display into the Thunderbolt Display it simply won't recognize and won't work

 

[thekev]

I'm not sure if you could do this with an hdmi adapter. I have a question. Why would you want to do this? The current 15" macbook pros have processor options comparable to the mini server (which uses full laptop internals) with better gpu options. There are better displays than Apple makes for less money. Also wouldn't an imac come out better if you simply want an Apple display + desktop computer? I'm not trolling you here. The choice of setup is just confusing. You'd be spending quite a lot for what you gain.

 

[deafgoose]

HDMI is out of the question because the max resolution is 1920x1200.

 

[powerbook911]

Thanks for your replies guys

deafgoose, I really love your setup it looks awesome. I don't have a mini yet, only got a 27" Cinema Display and a MacBook Pro, but how would I use my current Cinema Display and plug it into the high spec Mini and also have the Thunderboot Display connected at the same time?

powerbook911, thanks for your reply, apparently if you plug the mini displayport cable of the Cinema Display into the Thunderbolt Display it simply won't recognize and won't work

That is a real bummer! I'm so sorry to hear that.

The cinema displays are still valuable if you ever wanted to consider selling yours and getting two thunderbolts eventually I guess.

 

[deafgoose]

That would be the way to go if he had the mid level mini that could handle two thunderbolt displays.

That's what I love most about Apple products. They hold their value!

 

[thekev]

That is a real bummer! I'm so sorry to hear that.

The cinema displays are still valuable if you ever wanted to consider selling yours and getting two thunderbolts eventually I guess.

. They hold their value!

It varies. It depends how heavily used they are. With displays they shift over time and the backlights degrade. With some displays you can track how many hours are on them, but this isn't the case with any Apple display. Bleh though seriously there are better displays for the money, and computers depreciate no matter what. You should buy computer stuff to use it rather than for resale value .

 

[LevMac]

Thanks for all your recommendations guys