The only thing to know is that the sound will come on USB on older models, which is not a problem. The LED Cinema Display 27 inch screen works on all Macs on Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt. The 27-inch Thunderbolt screen only works on a Thunderbolt Mac. Of course, all Thunderbolt machines carry the sound on Mini DisplayPort. It works with all the 2011 or 2012 models.

The Mini DisplayPort HDMI adapters and the 27 inches Apple Cinema Display screen can not receive sound on this type of machine.įor the sound, you need a MacBook Mid 2010 (GeForce 320M), a MacBook Air 2010 11-inch or 13-inch (Core 2 Duo), a MacBook Pro 2010 13-inch (GeForce 320M), a MacBook Pro 2010 15-inch or 17-inch (GeForce 330M), a Mac mini 2010 (Core 2 Duo), an iMac 2009/2010 21-inch, an iMac 2009/2010 27-inch, or a Mac Pro 2010 (please note that changing the graphic card does not bring the sound). This is a limitation due to the motherboard.

On the first generations of Mac equiped with Mini DisplayPort (MacBook Pro 2008/2009, etc), the sound is not transmitted on Mini DisplayPort. Specifically, a Mini DisplayPort adapter runs on a Thunderbolt plug. Technically, the plug is the same and the only difference is that the Thunderbolt connector can carry – in addition to the classic Mini DisplayPort – a Thunderbolt signal, which is a signal PCI-Express (4 lines). Thunderbolt is fully compatible with Mini DisplayPort peripherals. As this issue os often misunderstood, I will expose the difference ( and also similarities ) between Thunderbolt and Mini DisplayPort.

Imac thunderbolt to hdmi