Cinema Displays: NEW MBA 2011 with OLDER (pre-Thunderbolt) Cinema Display

[alpinadvl]

1st, just wanted to let you guys know that the LED Cinema Display (with mini display port connector on it) CAN attach to the thunderbolt port of the new macbook airs.

(i believe the reverse is not true : a thunderbolt display, cannot connect to an older macbook air with a mini display port connector)


2nd, for those who are using the OLD (mini display port) LED Cinema Display with the NEW (thunderbolt-equipped) MBA's..... do you notice a significant degradation in the quality of images, text, etc ?

(I checked to make sure smooth fonts is on in the preference pane... and I am at the max resolution on the display profile in the system preferences).

anyone else notice this ?

 

[Jaro65]

I noticed exactly 0% difference in quality. Seems to work great here.

 

[eba]

No difference here.

 

[StellarZ]

I'm curious to know why you all didn't go with a Thunderbolt display. Was it just the availability? I'm deciding between the two now for a Mac Mini and I just don't want to have the Thunderbolt port in use without the means of another one available in case some more accessories decide to pop up.

 

[Puonti]

I'm curious to know why you all didn't go with a Thunderbolt display.

Perhaps they already owned ACDs and have only now bought TB-enabled Macs?

 

[FuNGi]

Yup, I have an older 24" ACD that I got on refurb and it works great with the 2010 Air (obviously no TB) and the 2011 MBP with the TB port.


EDIT: I have noticed recently that the screen blacks-out occasionally on my new 2011 MBP. The above post was made the day I received it. The frequency of the 1-second black-outs seems to change from day to day as well. Sometimes every 10 minutes, sometimes every 5. Very annoying - and a well known issue for which Apple is apparently trying to fix.

Recent post:
http://www.engadget.com/2011/03/19/some-thunderbolt-macbook-pros-causing-flicker-on-cinema-displays/

33 page long Apple discussion:
https://discussions.apple.com/message/15737747#15737747