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jamesjingyi

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Dec 20, 2011
851
159
UK
Hey guys,

So I'm currently on the fence about buying a 4k UltraFine. I'm basically sold apart from the fact that I cannot find compatibility with any other devices that are not USB C at the moment. I wonder if anyone could help me check whether there is a way to connect it to a TB2 port? I currently have a trash can and a MacBook Pro 15" non-touchbar and they all have TB2 on them. I have heard you can run the 5k at 4k resolution using an adapter but haven't seen anyone actually being able to do it.

Thanks in advance
 
Mini-DP to TB3(USB-C) connectors don't exist? Maybe Mini-DP to HDMI2.0 ("active" or you won't get 60Hz) and HDMI2.0 to TB3(USB-C)?
 
You can't adapt to TB3 from a non-TB port (DP/HDMI), as you need both the data and the video portion of the stream. Using the Ultrafine 5K with an TB2 to TB3 adapter shouldn't be a problem though, except for the fact that the bandwidth isn't sufficient for full 5K.

The Ultrafine 4K might be more difficult though, as it doesn't use Thunderbolt but USB-C carrying DisplayPort, so you'd need a DisplayPort to Type-C adapter. Problem is:
  • I have not seen such an adapter yet, they're always the other way around
  • I don't know if the Ultrafine 4K will work without the USB portion
 
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