Will the new Mac Pro Display connect to cMP 5.1 ?

[AlexMaximus]

Through out the history of the gimped thermal cornered MP6.1, many of 5.1 owners like me had to keep going as long as possible and pimp the hell out of it. Thanks to Apples thermal mistake, they have been forced to enhance its live span above its usual intended controlled Product obsolescence. Lucky us! So far we got Vega support, NVME support and many third parties provided very useful upgrades such as USB-C 3.1 and other goodies such as NVME SSD Raid soltution's thanks to Highpoint and many others.

I assume, many of us with pimped machines might keep the 5.1 around a lot longer, if the new Mac Pro 31' 6K Pro display connects through a regular Display port.

Apple will have to weigh between two extremes:

#1 Make it exclusive to the new Mac Pro 7.1 and sell a lot less quantity.

#2 Make it standard and therefor also accessible for Windows machines and Mac Pro 5.1 users to reach a lot more people and have a bigger market to sell the display compared to the limited group of #1.

Tell me your gutt feeling, what will be the scenario?

Would you as a 5.1 cMP owner skip your Mac Pro 7.1 purchase if the shiny new Apple Pro Display works on your pimped 5.1 ???

 

[crjackson2134]

It's hard to say what it will work with. If I were making and selling displays, I would want it to work with widest range of devices possible. That would generate more sales. They might make it mode switching to enable something like this (or not). We'll all just have to wait and see. Nothing Apple does surprises me anymore.

 

[flowrider]

If I were making and selling displays, I would want it to work with widest range of devices possible.

That certainly makes sense to me, but Apple doesn't seem to believe in that model.

Lou

 

[crjackson2134]

That certainly makes sense to me, but Apple doesn't seem to believe in that model.

Lou

Agreed... They’re really hard to predict. Nothing they do would shock me anymore.

 

[CWallace]

I voted "no", but not because Apple wants to make it proprietary to the new Mac Pro.

I voted "no" because it will certainly (IMO) use a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect it. So it will work with not just the new Mac Pro, but also any other TB3-equipped Mac. But that means it will also likely not work with TB2 Macs and definitely will not work with non-TB Macs like the 5,1.

 

[AlexMaximus]

I voted "no", but not because Apple wants to make it proprietary to the new Mac Pro.

I voted "no" because it will certainly (IMO) use a single Thunderbolt 3 cable to connect it. So it will work with not just the new Mac Pro, but also any other TB3-equipped Mac. But that means it will also likely not work with TB2 Macs and definitely will not work with non-TB Macs like the 5,1.

That is my fear. The only question is about the display ports on almost every eGPU, such as the Black Magic Design eGPU Pro Vega 56. Every „better“ eGPU seems to have a DisplayPort 1.4 for connecting to a display. Why would Blackmagic Design add such a port if the new MP doesn’t have one.
I would love to just replace the display and skip another two years, while keeping the Apple vibe on my desk alive.
But if Apple hates us, I guess it’s time for LG‘s new UltraWide 34‘ screen. Welcome to the free market, Apple...

 

[CWallace]

Well the BM eGPUs do have TB3 pass-through so you could connect the new "Thunderbolt Display" to them that way. And since those are the only ones sold through the Apple store, I could see Apple not exactly caring if other third-party eGPU cases with DisplayPort-only could not connect without an adapter.

Apple has generally favored a single-cable connection option for their LCD displays and TB3 allows that. It would/should also allow the display to power a MacBook, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro like the old Thunderbolt Display could with the original MacBook Air.