Apple 24inch cinema display concerns with 2012 mac pro

[macguy93]

Hello Everyone,

I just picked up a mint used condition apple 24 inch LED cinema display. I just happen to come across a coupe of articles stating that there has been some issues with this monitor. I am using a 2012 mac pro with an ATI Radeon 5770 graphics card. Has anyone experienced any display flicker issues with this monitor on their mac pro? Is this something i should be concerned about..?

Thanks in advance

 

[highdefw]

Had a 24 inch since it was released. Using it on a 2009 MP. Not once have I ever seen it flicker.

 

[ZennZero]

I had the occasional flicker with mine back when I was using a DVI->MDP adapter. But since I upgraded video cards to one with a native MDP connector it's been rock solid.

 

[derbothaus]

Hello Everyone,

I just picked up a mint used condition apple 24 inch LED cinema display. I just happen to come across a coupe of articles stating that there has been some issues with this monitor. I am using a 2012 mac pro with an ATI Radeon 5770 graphics card. Has anyone experienced any display flicker issues with this monitor on their mac pro? Is this something i should be concerned about..?

Thanks in advance

I have had 5 randomly die. The most recent was exhibiting a type of random flicker. Apple could;t reproduce so it has been sequestered to non critical work until it totally dies. Super irritating. I love those displays but they appear to have more problems than any other cinema released. The 27" have been solid as replacements.

 

[macguy93]

I have had 5 randomly die. The most recent was exhibiting a type of random flicker. Apple could;t reproduce so it has been sequestered to non critical work until it totally dies. Super irritating. I love those displays but they appear to have more problems than any other cinema released. The 27" have been solid as replacements.

Was your monitor plugged into the adapter? Or was yours running straight into a mini display port?

 

[derbothaus]

Was your monitor plugged into the adapter? Or was yours running straight into a mini display port?

Pretty sure all were straight into display port. Never bought them for users who didn't have display port. (MBP and 2008+ Mac Pro's) Too much a PITA. They instead got NEC or HP LP24xx. Something with some flexibility.

 

[macguy93]

This concerns me. once i get the monitor and it seems to be running fine i feel i will always fear the flickering issue or in your case completely die. I called apple and they said there was just a faulty batch that was sent out.. hopefully im not going to be the unlucky one that receives that model..

Although i do have the 2009 imac, which i assume uses the same screen.. wouldn't that mean that some imac would have had this issue too?

 

[SteelBlueTJ]

I have the 24" cinema display hooked up to my 2010 MP with 5770. It's a beautiful display when it works, but once in awhile I'll get a flicker or jutter. Sometimes it will also just randomly shut off and come back on in a couple seconds or so. I shut my machine down every night and sometimes the display won't come back on the next morning during startup. I have to unplug the mini display cable and plug it back in a few times to get it to come back on. Sometimes I just have to give it time and wait for when it wants to come back on by itself. I have it hooked up with a 10ft. Mini display extension cable since the cord on the display itself is ridiculously short and my MP is down on the floor at the end of my desk. This is very annoying, but doesn't happen all that often, maybe once in every 2 weeks, so I live with it for now. If it gets worse then I am getting a different display probably a 27" samsung or something. It's a shame since it's such a nice looking display.

 

[Quash]

I have used my 24 inch Apple Cinema Display for 2 years now with my 2010 mac pro with 5770. Basically the same as the 2012 model...
Never once did i see it flicker. So it's not normal behavior.

 

[saulinpa]

Had several of them flicker on a 2011 mac mini. A monitor firmware update solved the issue. No problems on my pro with Apple 5770 card.

 

[Melbourne Park]

My 2006 iMac 24" has a nice display, but it was subject to overheating (from the iMac behind it). Thermocouple issues on the old iMac i believe. So displays are subject to interference due to heat, from my experience.

I do wonder with older 24" displays though, whether dust will gather and effect the display due to less efficient cooling. I do not know the display, but it seems to me that blowing air through or sucking air out every now and then cannot hurt.

My MP's 3rd party 24" monitor has a lot of cooling slots on it ...

 

[macguy93]

to those of you that have your 24inch cinema display functioning perfectly with your mac pro, are you able to control the brightness with the keyboard? for some reason i can not control the brightness via the keyboard and system preferences.. i had to download a separate program called "shades" just to adjust it. i prefer to control it the normal way. any suggestions?

 

[derbothaus]

PRAM zap could help. restart holding down cmmd-opt-p-r for 3 boot chimes and release. Unplug and plug back in display and keyboard if wired. Does the display system prefs allow to control brightness because those are usually not working either if it is a driver issue? Are they keys mapped incorrectly? Do you need to use 'fn'? F keys could be mapped somewhere else. Or try mapping other keys?

 

[macguy93]

There is no setting in system preferences for brightness. on my imac i have the slider bar but on the mac pro with the cinema display there is no slider bar. I did a PRAM zap a couple days before i got the display, would have that helped or should i do it again? I read up that this is a common issue but i have not been able to fix it. I would assume its software related. because everything else works; isight, speakers and usb hubs. I dont know what else would be causing this

 

[derbothaus]

There is no setting in system preferences for brightness. on my imac i have the slider bar but on the mac pro with the cinema display there is no slider bar. I did a PRAM zap a couple days before i got the display, would have that helped or should i do it again? I read up that this is a common issue but i have not been able to fix it. I would assume its software related. because everything else works; isight, speakers and usb hubs. I dont know what else would be causing this

Yeah. It isn't recognizing it as an Apple display at all. Just generic.
I would try another Mac and see if there is a firmware update available ( I know there were a few) and apply on a Macbook or something and then re-attach. Otherwise take it into Apple repair place. If it is same story on another Mac it's the display. If it works on another Mac maybe a re-install of your Mac Pro OS could help?

 

[macguy93]

i plugged it into my 2009 imac and i had the same issue on there as well, How would i go about getting the proper firmware for it to work? is a new install of the OS the only route to take to fix this?

 

[derbothaus]

i plugged it into my 2009 imac and i had the same issue on there as well, How would i go about getting the proper firmware for it to work? is a new install of the OS the only route to take to fix this?

Unfortunately you may need to take it in. If it wont register as being there you can't upload correct or changed firmware. Won't even know if firmware is available. Doesn't appear to be SW from what you are stating. OS wont fix it if it isn't being recognized on any Mac.

 

[thekev]

I have had 5 randomly die. The most recent was exhibiting a type of random flicker. Apple could;t reproduce so it has been sequestered to non critical work until it totally dies. Super irritating. I love those displays but they appear to have more problems than any other cinema released. The 27" have been solid as replacements.

This is kind of why I tell people to avoid the 24" imacs and cinema displays. They looked great new. They just had too many problems past the first year or so of service.

Pretty sure all were straight into display port. Never bought them for users who didn't have display port. (MBP and 2008+ Mac Pro's) Too much a PITA. They instead got NEC or HP LP24xx. Something with some flexibility.

There are a couple decent mini displayport ==> displayport cables out there.

 

[Fangio]

to those of you that have your 24inch cinema display functioning perfectly with your mac pro, are you able to control the brightness with the keyboard?

Yes I am. Early 2009 Mac Pro running Lion, 24" ACD connected to an Apple 5770 using one of two MDPs. No flickering either since I bought it (hardly) used in 2011 btw, and almost no reflections when set up at the right place. I'm quite happy with it.

Below is what you should see in prefs. I have a 19" Sony SDM-HS93 connected to it as second monitor via DVI/VGA adapter, thats why the "Arrange" tab is also there.

 

[theSeb]

My 24" ACD randomly switches off for 1 second and then comes back on. I've tried it with different Macs and it does the same thing. It started doing that probably about a year after I got it and it happens about every 30 minutes, but it's pretty random. You can hear the fan come on and off and the screen goes blank and comes back. It's somewhat annoying when I am typing away, but I can live with it, for now. I'll see what the world of monitors is doing next year (high resolutions etc) and upgrade to something else then.

I've seen it flicker, but that's only happened a couple of times. I've had it for just over 2 years (bought it days before it was discontinued - lucky me)

 

[rantingrich]

Apple Reviews

If you go to the Apple store and read the reviews for the 27 inch Display they a large amount of them are bad to nightmarish!

What has happened to Apple Products?

Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave!

Seems Apple has put ALL their attentions into their over priced phones and let everything else go to hell...

I was thinking about getting the 27 inch apple display over the 30 inch dell 2 months ago. I am glad I got the Dell! One major reason for me going DELL was the REVIEWS on the Apple sight about the 27 inch Display. I have Never been happier with a over $1,000 monitor! If you can afford a $999 Apple you can afford the DELL! I strongly advise you go get a pizza Delivery Job long enough to scratch out another say $200-$300

By the way... I am still using an old 23 inch Apple Cinema LCD Displays. People on here are like.. "MAN you got lucky man! Most of them died right away!" Now it does have this weird little 1/4 inch box thing that happens once in awhile!

I was glad to pay the HIGHER prices of ANYTHING APPLE knowing they had a quality Product..... I can't justify that any longer.......

 

[theSeb]

If you go to the Apple store and read the reviews for the 27 inch Display they a large amount of them are bad to nightmarish!

What has happened to Apple Products?

Steve Jobs must be rolling over in his grave!

Seems Apple has put ALL their attentions into their over priced phones and let everything else go to hell...

I was thinking about getting the 27 inch apple display over the 30 inch dell 2 months ago. I am glad I got the Dell! One major reason for me going DELL was the REVIEWS on the Apple sight about the 27 inch Display. I have Never been happier with a over $1,000 monitor! If you can afford a $999 Apple you can afford the DELL! I strongly advise you go get a pizza Delivery Job long enough to scratch out another say $200-$300

By the way... I am still using an old 23 inch Apple Cinema LCD Displays. People on here are like.. "MAN you got lucky man! Most of them died right away!" Now it does have this weird little 1/4 inch box thing that happens once in awhile!

I was glad to pay the HIGHER prices of ANYTHING APPLE knowing they had a quality Product..... I can't justify that any longer.......

The 24" ACD was made when Mr Jobs was around and it wasn't very good either.

 

[The Moistress]

LED Cinema Display will not come on with 2012 MBP

When I first got my 24" LED Cinema Display, I was using a 2008 MBP, so the connections didn't work, so I could use it only with my MBAir. I got rid of the Air, and couldn't use it at all. I have recently bought a MBP with Retina, and I power it through the Cinema Display power cable, so the Cinema Display has power, but it will not come on. No picture, no sound. Anyone got any ideas??? I've hardly been able to use this baby....

 

[theSeb]

When I first got my 24" LED Cinema Display, I was using a 2008 MBP, so the connections didn't work, so I could use it only with my MBAir. I got rid of the Air, and couldn't use it at all. I have recently bought a MBP with Retina, and I power it through the Cinema Display power cable, so the Cinema Display has power, but it will not come on. No picture, no sound. Anyone got any ideas??? I've hardly been able to use this baby....

Sounds like something is broken because I can use my rMBP with a 24" ACD without any issues. Stupid question: Have you definitely plugged in the display port cable from the ACD into the rMBPs Thunderbolt port?