After years of using Thunderbolt Displays (and loving them), I experienced problems after obtaining a 2019 MacBook Pro. It would overheat very badly when hooked directly to a Thunderbolt Display. I was able to eliminate this issue by using an eGPU. I just tried hooking a 2023 MacBook Pro to a Thunderbolt Display (though the eGPU), but I could get it to work. Is there a way to make it work?
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Thunderbolt Display compatible with recent MacBook Pros?
- Thread starter cinclodes
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Yes, they all work great! As long as it is a thunderbolt port, some of the lower ones are just usb-c. You'll need the appropriate adapter. If your using the older LED Cinema Display (with mini display port) you can use an adapter there too-and the MacBooks without thunderbolt should be able to run those.
The M-series Macs do not have the heat issues of the last generation of Intel Macs. I run my 14" M1 Pro with two 5K Studio Displays and the fans never come on.
Thank you for pointing that out! If someone knows of a summary (or is willing to post one) of the issues discussed here for all models of the MacBook Pro, it might be useful to others. There are two questions: (1) Which models overheat if connected directly (no eGPU) to a Thunderbolt Display? and (2) Which models don't support eGPU? A few additional questions come to mind (please excuse my lack of familiarity with terms and models). What is an M-series Mac? What is an Apple Silicon machine? After many years of using a MacBook Pro with a Thunderbolt Display, I first noticed the overheating problem after obtaining a 2019 model. What is the cause of this problem? It seems odd that no such problem existed for many years, but then it suddenly emerged. Like others, I was able to resolve this problem by using an eGPU, but it was frustrating that Apple introduced such a problem that didn't previously exist. Was it just a mistake on their part? Or do they just not care about causing such problems for those who purchase their products?
M
They are very efficient and don't overheat.
They also don't support eGPU but their integrated GPU is usually much better than the one on equivalent intel/AMD machines.
The Mac that overheats the worst when connected to an external display is the 2019 Macbook Pro 16" (unless you had the latest 5600m graphics that wasn't available at launch). The cause of this problem is that the usb-c / thunderbolt / display ports of that machine are only connected to the discrete AMD GPU.
So using an external display even for mundane tasks launched the GPU. It's unclear if that was a bug but that GPU couldn't run in an energy efficient mode (except the 5600m variant). Since those laptops also had power hungry intel CPUs, the fans had to kick in (in a noisy way) to keep the temperatures acceptable.
M-Series Mac = Apple Silicon Mac = all macs released since late 2020 (Macbook air M1)
They are very efficient and don't overheat.
They also don't support eGPU but their integrated GPU is usually much better than the one on equivalent intel/AMD machines.
The Mac that overheats the worst when connected to an external display is the 2019 Macbook Pro 16" (unless you had the latest 5600m graphics that wasn't available at launch). The cause of this problem is that the usb-c / thunderbolt / display ports of that machine are only connected to the discrete AMD GPU.
So using an external display even for mundane tasks launched the GPU. It's unclear if that was a bug but that GPU couldn't run in an energy efficient mode (except the 5600m variant). Since those laptops also had power hungry intel CPUs, the fans had to kick in (in a noisy way) to keep the temperatures acceptable.
The later model Intel MacBook Pros were at the mercy of the heat generated by the Intel chipset, likely exacerbated by Apple's adherence to having cases as thin as possible. Whatever the design of the Intel chipsets was, having external displays forced the system to run the display subsystems off the dedicated GPU chip (versus the less power hungry -- and this cooler -- integrated GPUs built-in to the CPU itself). This resulted in excess heat and fan noise. I'm not certain they ever overheated to the point of system damage, but it would certainly cause the fans to run at full speed and likely left little thermal headroom for the rest of the system to run at full capacity.
The workaround of using an external GPU basically just moved the excess heat generation outside of the MacBook's case and onto a larger desktop-class part (with a bigger fan more easily moving more air at a lower fan speed).
The Apple Silicon machines (using the Apple designed M1, M2 and now M3 processors) do not have any of these problems. The systems are extraordinarily power efficient, exceeding the performance of similar Intel chips in many situations, while using substantially less power -- thus producing far less heat and enabling substantial battery-life savings. These systems do not use external GPUs. In fact, they are completely unable to do so due to their architecture (which you can read about on Apple's website). However, for all but the most demanding 3D rendering & top-level gaming, the integrated GPUs are highly capable. The Apple Silicon chips (M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, M1 Ultra, M2, M2 Pro, M2 Max, M2 Ultra, M3, M3 Pro and M3 Max, thus far) are based on ARM architecture, so they are completely different than Intel-based machines. While Apple's software allows them to execute code written for Intel machines, macOS and all of the core OS architecture and applications have been recompiled to run native ARM code instead of Intel code. Virtually all 3rd party apps have done the same.
The Apple Silicon systems are highly memory efficient, and their everything-on-the-same-chip design allows them to perform memory movements with increased efficiency and speed. Thus, even the very first model of the fanless M1 MacBook Air could outperform a Mac Pro in many situations. This efficiency, plus on-chip dedicated hardware video encode and decode engines, make them video editing monsters.
OP asked:
"Like others, I was able to resolve this problem by using an eGPU, but it was frustrating that Apple introduced such a problem that didn't previously exist. Was it just a mistake on their part? Or do they just not care about causing such problems for those who purchase their products?"
I don't think eGPUs are going to be usable with M-series Macs, now or in the future.
Incompatible with the fundamental design.
I could be wrong.
If you must have an eGPU, better start looking at Windows (or elsewhere than the Mac)...
"Like others, I was able to resolve this problem by using an eGPU, but it was frustrating that Apple introduced such a problem that didn't previously exist. Was it just a mistake on their part? Or do they just not care about causing such problems for those who purchase their products?"
I don't think eGPUs are going to be usable with M-series Macs, now or in the future.
Incompatible with the fundamental design.
I could be wrong.
If you must have an eGPU, better start looking at Windows (or elsewhere than the Mac)...
I'm thinking about getting a new macbook air but I love the 2 Thunderbolt displays I use in 2 locations... I also still use a VGA monitor.... Would this adapter work with a new macbook air and the old Thunderbolt Display or VGA ? (i already have a VGA to thunderbolt adapter).... But it's the male end that comes out of my thunderbolt display and goes into the computer. It seems like I would need another adapter to attach the male thunderbolt that comes out of my displays. Am I wrong, or would this work ? I will also need to figure out how to adapt the old power port that comes out of it. Any help appreciated.