Connecting 2 x Thunderbolt Displays (from 2015-16) to a 2020 MacBook Air M1

[tommy777]

(I know this has already been discussed in general, but this question is specifically in regards to 2 x Apple Thunderbolt Displays)

Hi guys, I have two Thunderbolt Displays I've been running my MacBook Air on for a few years. Just got the new Air with M1 and was surprised to see that it only supports one screen, which of course has been discussed before.

I am not in the market to purchase any new screens at this point. Also, these screens are more than fine for my work (spreadsheets, emails) I don't need super high resolution, so I'm trying to get them to work with the new laptop.

I know there are adapters out there. Does anyone have any recommendation and an idea what to get and how to properly connect everything? It's a serial thing now with a mag safe charger, so concerned about that and also how to cable.

Thank you in advance!

 

[Chundles]

Don't think you'll be able to hook them both up but you can get a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter which should run the display fine. You'll just need to use the other port on your Air for power to the laptop.

 

[tommy777]

Don't think you'll be able to hook them both up but you can get a Thunderbolt 3 to Thunderbolt 2 adapter which should run the display fine. You'll just need to use the other port on your Air for power to the laptop.

thank you. Yeah, I bought that adapter when I ordered the laptop, but it’s not an option for me to cut my work space in half. I know there are plenty of workarounds, but I haven’t seen any for the original Apple screens because of the wonky serial cabling between the monitors

 

[mdgm]

It's likely that Apple will add back support for multiple screens with new hardware possibly sometime later this year. Though a MBA update may be further off.

 

[Coheebuzz]

There aren't many workarounds for the M1 laptops, your only option is through DisplayLink where the video is send over USB and is processed by the cpu so it comes with drawbacks.

 

[analog guy]

(I know this has already been discussed in general, but this question is specifically in regards to 2 x Apple Thunderbolt Displays)

Hi guys, I have two Thunderbolt Displays I've been running my MacBook Air on for a few years. Just got the new Air with M1 and was surprised to see that it only supports one screen, which of course has been discussed before.

I am not in the market to purchase any new screens at this point. Also, these screens are more than fine for my work (spreadsheets, emails) I don't need super high resolution, so I'm trying to get them to work with the new laptop.

I know there are adapters out there. Does anyone have any recommendation and an idea what to get and how to properly connect everything? It's a serial thing now with a mag safe charger, so concerned about that and also how to cable.

Thank you in advance!

I don't have your *exact* situation, but mine is quite similar and I just figured it out this weekend.

I have a new MBA M1 with an old Thunderbolt Display + an Apple LED Cinema Display (mini-DisplayPort).

I have it working using:
* OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock
* Thunderbolt Display connected in serial to a Sonnet Echo Express III-D (with T3->T2 adapter)
* Startech USB 3.0 to Displayport External Video Card 4k
* DisplayPort to mini-DP for the Apple LED display
* DisplayLink Manager 1.2.0

All works pretty well, but I don't have any control over brightness and such for the LED display. This is a bit of a bummer as I do use the dual-display setup for photo and video editing. I suppose I can use the Thunderbolt Display for more critical color work. I haven't tried to (re)profile the LED Cinema Display with the M1, yet—though it does have the options to (theoretically) *use* a profile.

To be honest, I don't really need the brightness controls. In fact, I prefer to have it locked.

Hope that helps.

 

[joevt]

You have two Thunderbolt displays but you can only connect one display to M1 Mac's Thunderbolt ports. Therefore, the second display needs to be connected via something else, like DisplayLink.

DisplayLink can output DisplayPort but not Thunderbolt. Therefore, you need a DisplayPort to Thunderbolt adapter. The only thing that can convert DisplayPort to Thunderbolt is a Thunderbolt add-in card (eg. GC-ALPINE RIDGE or GC-TITAN RIDGE). The add-in card is a PCIe card, so you need a method to power a PCIe card, such as a PCIe riser, or a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis, or a PC. Only the PCIe expansion chassis or PC options could let you use the functions of the display. There's no software to enable Thunderbolt functionality of the add-in card in a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis. It would probably be less expensive to buy a new display.

Maybe in the future someone will make a USB4 peripheral that has DisplayPort inputs and can output Thunderbolt from downstream USB4 ports.

 

[analog guy]

NOTE:

You have two Thunderbolt displays but you can only connect one display to M1 Mac's Thunderbolt ports. Therefore, the second display needs to be connected via something else, like DisplayLink.

DisplayLink can output DisplayPort but not Thunderbolt. Therefore, you need a DisplayPort to Thunderbolt adapter. The only thing that can convert DisplayPort to Thunderbolt is a Thunderbolt add-in card (eg. GC-ALPINE RIDGE or GC-TITAN RIDGE). The add-in card is a PCIe card, so you need a method to power a PCIe card, such as a PCIe riser, or a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis, or a PC. Only the PCIe expansion chassis or PC options could let you use the functions of the display. There's no software to enable Thunderbolt functionality of the add-in card in a Thunderbolt PCIe expansion chassis. It would probably be less expensive to buy a new display.

Maybe in the future someone will make a USB4 peripheral that has DisplayPort inputs and can output Thunderbolt from downstream USB4 ports.

I can tell you that the Apple Thunderbolt Display works perfectly when plugged into the mini-DP connector on my OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock.

Perhaps the OP can use the solution I proposed above, with one Apple TB display connected via mini-DP to DP adapter to the Startech USB-A 3.0 to DP convertor.

I would bet that will work.

 

[tommy777]

You guys are awesome. Thank you. I’ll give it a shot and report back

 

[joevt]

I can tell you that the Apple Thunderbolt Display works perfectly when plugged into the mini-DP connector on my OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock.

He has two Thunderbolt Displays. You only connected one.

Perhaps the OP can use the solution I proposed above, with one Apple TB display connected via mini-DP to DP adapter to the Startech USB-A 3.0 to DP convertor.

Apple Thunderbolt Display requires Thunderbolt. The Startech USB-A 3.0 to DP converter is a DisplayLink device that outputs DisplayPort. Thus you need a Thunderbolt add-in card to do DisplayPort to Thunderbolt conversion.

 

[analog guy]

He has two Thunderbolt Displays. You only connected one.

Apple Thunderbolt Display requires Thunderbolt. The Startech USB-A 3.0 to DP converter is a DisplayLink device that outputs DisplayPort. Thus you need a Thunderbolt add-in card to do DisplayPort to Thunderbolt conversion.

I hear you, but as I mentioned above:
"I can tell you that the Apple Thunderbolt Display works perfectly when plugged into the mini-DP connector on my OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock."

Why does my Apple Thunderbolt Display work perfectly when plugged into mini-DP on the dock? I literally tested this Saturday evening.

I'm sincerely asking.

 

[joevt]

I hear you, but as I mentioned above:
"I can tell you that the Apple Thunderbolt Display works perfectly when plugged into the mini-DP connector on my OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock."

Why does my Apple Thunderbolt Display work perfectly when plugged into mini-DP on the dock? I literally tested this Saturday evening.

I'm sincerely asking.

That's a mystery. Either you're right, or you are mistaken about one of the things you said:
Either it's not a Thunderbolt Display, it's not a OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock (do you have the model number? OWC made a few different versions), or it's not the mini DP connector of the dock.

You described the following setup and provided some screenshots but didn't show Thunderbolt, PCI, or USB info and didn't show all situations:

I have a new MBA M1 with an old Thunderbolt Display + an Apple LED Cinema Display (mini-DisplayPort).

I have it working using:
* OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock
* Thunderbolt Display connected in serial to a Sonnet Echo Express III-D (with T3->T2 adapter)
* Startech USB 3.0 to Displayport External Video Card 4k
* DisplayPort to mini-DP for the Apple LED display
* DisplayLink Manager 1.2.0

In summary:
1a) OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock (connect Apple LED Cinema Display to Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt Display to Thunderbolt 3 port with Thunderbolt 2 Adapter).
1b) Sonnet Echo Express III-D -> Thunderbolt 2 Adapter -> Thunderbolt Display.
2) Startech DisplayLink -> Mini DisplayPort adapter -> Apple LED Cinema display.

All works pretty well, but I don't have any control over brightness and such for the LED display. This is a bit of a bummer as I do use the dual-display setup for photo and video editing. I suppose I can use the Thunderbolt Display for more critical color work. I haven't tried to (re)profile the LED Cinema Display with the M1, yet—though it does have the options to (theoretically) *use* a profile.

The functions of the Apple LED Cinema Display require a USB 2.0 connection - do the USB devices appear? Camera, USB 2.0 hub, etc.

 

[lixuelai]

If you have an old Mac with Thunderbolt you can try to connect one of the Thunderbolt displays to it and then use Airplay (AirServer), Luna etc.

Doubt a DP adapter will work.

 

[analog guy]

That's a mystery. Either you're right, or you are mistaken about one of the things you said:
Either it's not a Thunderbolt Display, it's not a OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock (do you have the model number? OWC made a few different versions), or it's not the mini DP connector of the dock.

You described the following setup and provided some screenshots but didn't show Thunderbolt, PCI, or USB info and didn't show all situations:

In summary:
1a) OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock (connect Apple LED Cinema Display to Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt Display to Thunderbolt 3 port with Thunderbolt 2 Adapter).
1b) Sonnet Echo Express III-D -> Thunderbolt 2 Adapter -> Thunderbolt Display.
2) Startech DisplayLink -> Mini DisplayPort adapter -> Apple LED Cinema display.


The functions of the Apple LED Cinema Display require a USB 2.0 connection - do the USB devices appear? Camera, USB 2.0 hub, etc.

I can assure you it is a Thunderbolt Display. You can see that much in what I attached earlier.

It's definitely an OWC Thunberbolt 3 dock (OWCTB3DK14PSG).

It is possible that my memory is incorrect — perhaps I had plugged in the LED Cinema Display to the mini-DP port on the dock. Obviously, that would work.

Right now the TB Display is plugged into a TB slot (via the Sonnet Echo Express), and the LED Cinema Display is connected via USB->Displayport->mini-DP.

I can try to test the TB Display directly into the mini-DP port on the dock and/or to the USB->DP adapter.

Not sure what you mean by "the functions of the Apple LED CD require a USB 2.0 connection." Is this related to brightness and such?

I have the USB cable of the LED CD connected to the USB input of of the TB Display. I am able to access a device connected to the USB inputs on the LED CD. I can get sound out of the LED CD. I cannot adjust brightness (or have not found the way).

Thanks.

 

[joevt]

I can try to test the TB Display directly into the mini-DP port on the dock and/or to the USB->DP adapter.

Yes, if a TB display works from the mini-DP of the OWC dock then that would be very interesting.

Not sure what you mean by "the functions of the Apple LED CD require a USB 2.0 connection." Is this related to brightness and such?

Yes, brightness, USB ports, etc.

Right now the TB Display is plugged into a TB slot (via the Sonnet Echo Express), and the LED Cinema Display is connected via USB->Displayport->mini-DP.

I have the USB cable of the LED CD connected to the USB input of of the TB Display. I am able to access a device connected to the USB inputs on the LED CD. I can get sound out of the LED CD. I cannot adjust brightness (or have not found the way).

Display Preferences panel would have the brightness control. Or you could use the brightness keys on the keyboard. Since you have two displays, I think holding the option key with the brightness function keys would adjust the brightness of the second display. Maybe the fact that the LED CD is connected to a DisplayLink adapter is causing a disconnect between the display and the brightness control. Does the brightness control of the LED CD display work if it is connected without DisplayLink? If so, then this problem should be brought to the attention of DisplayLink and Apple.

 

[analog guy]

Yes, if a TB display works from the mini-DP of the OWC dock then that would be very interesting.


Yes, brightness, USB ports, etc.


Display Preferences panel would have the brightness control. Or you could use the brightness keys on the keyboard. Since you have two displays, I think holding the option key with the brightness function keys would adjust the brightness of the second display. Maybe the fact that the LED CD is connected to a DisplayLink adapter is causing a disconnect between the display and the brightness control. Does the brightness control of the LED CD display work if it is connected without DisplayLink? If so, then this problem should be brought to the attention of DisplayLink and Apple.

USB ports work, sound works, brightness does not.

As posted above, System Preferences >> Displays does NOT offer Brightness adjustments for the LED CD (connected via USB->DP->mini-DP / DisplayLink).

I'm new to Big Sur with this setup—and this is my first use of DisplayLink. In 10.13 & prior OSes, the brightness keys on the keyboard adjusted brightness based on whichever monitor my mouse was in. I assumed that I lost brightness control due to the use of either the adapters or DisplayLink.

Good idea about reporting the issue. Doesn't seem like an Apple issue; they don't support DisplayLink, right? In fact, aren't future releases of the OS likely to break (temporarily) DisplayLink?

 

[analog guy]

I reported this issue (inability to set Apple LED Cinema Display brightness) to the DisplayLink developers.

 

[analog guy]

From the DisplayLink developers:

"If there are any buttons with built in menu that allows you to change the brightness then you can use those, unfortunately you will not be able to change it in the OS as our drivers currently do not support color calibration.

We are working on it with the OS vendor however currently this option is not available. Therefore devices powered by our drivers will not be able to change color or brightness on the external monitors."

The Apple displays have no buttons for adjustment. "Working on it with the OS vendor"...hadn't heard that Apple supports this, so I'm not optimistic.

 

[joevt]

USB ports work, sound works, brightness does not.

As posted above, System Preferences >> Displays does NOT offer Brightness adjustments for the LED CD (connected via USB->DP->mini-DP / DisplayLink).

I'm new to Big Sur with this setup—and this is my first use of DisplayLink. In 10.13 & prior OSes, the brightness keys on the keyboard adjusted brightness based on whichever monitor my mouse was in. I assumed that I lost brightness control due to the use of either the adapters or DisplayLink.

Good idea about reporting the issue. Doesn't seem like an Apple issue; they don't support DisplayLink, right? In fact, aren't future releases of the OS likely to break (temporarily) DisplayLink?

Did you try brightness control in Big Sur with the LED CD connected without DisplayLink - just to make sure brightness control of the LED CD is still a thing?
I think it's something that needs to be reported to Apple also, since they don't document how a virtual display (or whatever technology that allows DisplayLink to work) should be implemented to allow OS level brightness control.

The OS knows there's a Apple Display USB device that supports brightness control, but I'm guessing the OS doesn't know the display is connected with DisplayLink. So both Apple and DisplayLink need to work out how that should happen.

 

[analog guy]

Did you try brightness control in Big Sur with the LED CD connected without DisplayLink - just to make sure brightness control of the LED CD is still a thing?
I think it's something that needs to be reported to Apple also, since they don't document how a virtual display (or whatever technology that allows DisplayLink to work) should be implemented to allow OS level brightness control.

The OS knows there's a Apple Display USB device that supports brightness control, but I'm guessing the OS doesn't know the display is connected with DisplayLink. So both Apple and DisplayLink need to work out how that should happen.

Update:
1) I am able to adjust LED CD brightness via the OS when it is connected to the mini-DP port on the OWC dock. I am *unable* to adjust LED CD brightness when connected via DisplayLink and associated adapters.

2) The Apple TB Display did NOT work when plugged directly into the OWC mini-DP port. I must have been mistaken about that working earlier. I did not try to connect it via DisplayLink.

3) I submitted a report via Apple's "Feedback Assistant" app re: the inability to set brightness.

Thank you.

On a separate note, System Report in Big Sur no longer lets me see the cards installed in a Sonnect Echo Express III-D enclosure. Not sure if this is an OS issue or an issue with the dock. In prior versions of the OS with different hardware (Mac Pro, enclosure connected directly to the machine), I could see the specific cards inside the enclosure. Now, I cannot see anything other than the drives installed on those cards.

 

[joevt]

On a separate note, System Report in Big Sur no longer lets me see the cards installed in a Sonnect Echo Express III-D enclosure. Not sure if this is an OS issue or an issue with the dock. In prior versions of the OS with different hardware (Mac Pro, enclosure connected directly to the machine), I could see the specific cards inside the enclosure. Now, I cannot see anything other than the drives installed on those cards.

I have macOS Big Sur running on a Mac mini 2018 with a Sonnet Echo Express III-D. The PCI section shows devices in the Sonnet Echo Express III-D like in macOS Catalina - where the slot of each device only says "Thunderbolt@" with the bus, device, and function numbers.

Maybe Apple forgot to update the PCI section of System Information.app for M1 Macs? I don't remember if someone posted a screenshot of that. M1 Macs have 3 PCI segments - one for network chip, and one for each Thunderbolt port. Separate PCI segments means each Thunderbolt port gets its own set of 256 PCI bus numbers (more than any Mac in the past which only had a single set of 256 bus numbers to be used by all Thunderbolt ports and PCIe devices). So multiple Thunderbolt devices could have the same bus number if they are connected to different Thunderbolt ports. System Information.app would need to change the format of the Slot column in order to make each slot/bus unique.

 

[zgilmore]

I don't have your *exact* situation, but mine is quite similar and I just figured it out this weekend.

I have a new MBA M1 with an old Thunderbolt Display + an Apple LED Cinema Display (mini-DisplayPort).

I have it working using:
* OWC Thunderbolt 3 Dock
* Thunderbolt Display connected in serial to a Sonnet Echo Express III-D (with T3->T2 adapter)
* Startech USB 3.0 to Displayport External Video Card 4k
* DisplayPort to mini-DP for the Apple LED display
* DisplayLink Manager 1.2.0

All works pretty well, but I don't have any control over brightness and such for the LED display. This is a bit of a bummer as I do use the dual-display setup for photo and video editing. I suppose I can use the Thunderbolt Display for more critical color work. I haven't tried to (re)profile the LED Cinema Display with the M1, yet—though it does have the options to (theoretically) *use* a profile.

To be honest, I don't really need the brightness controls. In fact, I prefer to have it locked.

Hope that helps.

Thanks for sharing this. I have the exact same setup. Is there any way you can walk me through exactly what all hardware I need. I have the OWC Thunderbolt 3 dock already.

 

[rightisleft]

Any updated on this? Its a year later, any advancements?

I have the same setup as the OP. I have 2 x 27" Apple LED Cinema Displays that have worked fine over Thunderbolt for 2 generations of Mac. I was just given a 2021 MacBook Air as a primary laptop, and sure enough, only 1 of the displays fires up when connected over the adapter cable (ThunderBolt3 -> ThunderBolt 2).

I'd really love to not ditch these awesome monitors.