Apple Cinema Display (2004) to Macbook Pro (2016)

Published Jan 15, 2019 in #apple, #technologys-betrayal

ADC to HDMI to USB-C adapter chain — Daisy-chaining

Last year I finally upgraded my work laptop to a 13" Macbook Pro. I rarely bring that machine home; when I did, I realized that I couldn’t easily hook it up to my vintage 20" Apple Cinema Display (matte screens forever!). That monitor uses a DVI connector, which I currently have hooked up to my home machine using a DVI-to-Mini DisplayPort adapter.

The first thing I tried was to daisy-chain that adapter to a Thunderbolt 2-to-Thunderbolt 3 adapter, but my Macbook wouldn’t recognize the monitor.

After reading this helpful thread, what finally worked was: HDMI-to-DVI adapter, connected to a USB-C hub with HDMI input. It’s not pretty, but it works. The USB-C hub happily accepts the pass-through USB from the display’s own USB/Firewire hub (although I’ll always use the USB-C hub’s USB-A ports for better transfer speed).

The adapters I used:

Apple HDMI to DVI Adapter: https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MJVU2AM/A/apple-hdmi-to-dvi-adapter
Vava 8-in-1 USB-C hub: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079GSMZ7G