Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)

With built-in Thunderbolt technology — the fastest, most flexible I/O ever — the new Apple Thunderbolt Display can do things other displays simply can’t. Of course, it delivers a brilliant viewing experience. But connect it to any Thunderbolt-enabled Mac and it becomes a plug-and-play hub for everything you do. Features include a high-resolution 2560-by-1440 LED-backlit display, a FaceTime HD camera, high-quality audio, three USB 2.0 ports, a FireWire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and a Thunderbolt port for daisy-chaining additional high-performance devices.

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3.5

Based on 110 reviews

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Purchase Information

$999.00

Available: 1-2 business days
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Overview

Introducing the world’s first Thunderbolt display.

Made for the new Macbook family

Thunderbolt technology built in.

Thunderbolt I/O technology lets you move data between your devices and your computer with unprecedented speed. With two channels of 10-Gbps throughput in both directions, it’s up to 20 times faster than USB 2.0 and up to 12 times faster than FireWire 800. And it allows you to connect as many as six devices through a single, compact port.

Connect via Mini DisplayPort

The ultimate docking station.

With just one cable, connect any Thunderbolt-enabled Mac and get 27 inches of high-resolution screen space, high-quality audio, a FaceTime HD camera, FireWire 800 and Gigabit Ethernet ports — and a Thunderbolt port you can use to daisy-chain additional high-performance peripherals such as hard drives and video capture devices.

MagSafe connector.

Plug in and power up.

The Thunderbolt Display includes a MagSafe connector that powers and charges your MacBook Pro or MacBook Air. The connector sits on your desk, ready and waiting. No need to unwind the cord to the power adapter that came with your notebook. Leave it exactly where it is, in your bag.

Made for the new Macbook family

A bigger display for your biggest ideas.

Connect your Thunderbolt-enabled Mac to the Thunderbolt Display for a panoramic viewing experience unlike any other. This huge 27-inch glossy widescreen display features a cinematic 16:9 aspect ratio and an astonishing 2560-by-1440 resolution. That gives you more room to work with apps on your MacBook Air. More pixels for your MacBook Pro. And a worthy desktop companion to your iMac or Mac mini.

The LED advantage.

LED backlighting.

Full brightness with no waiting. That’s the big advantage of LED backlight technology. Unlike most displays that take time to warm up before they reach maximum brightness, an LED-backlit display is instantly on and uniformly bright. LED backlighting also gives you greater control over screen brightness. So you can tune the Thunderbolt Display to suit the ambient light in even the dimmest room.

Built-in conveniences.

Built-in FaceTime HD camera and microphone.

With the built-in FaceTime HD camera and microphone, you can connect your Mac desktop or notebook — open or closed — and make HD video calls* or take a few snapshots using Photo Booth.

Thunderbolt Display compatibility.

Thunderbolt-enabled Macs, including the current generations of MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, Mac mini, and iMac are fully compatible with the Apple Thunderbolt Display. Customers with Macs that only support Mini DisplayPort output, such as the Mac Pro and MacBook, as well as previous generations of MacBook Pro, MacBook Air, Mac mini, and iMac can use the 27-inch LED Cinema Display.

What’s in the Box

  • Apple Thunderbolt Display
  • AC power cord
  • Printed documentation

System Requirements

Technical Specifications

  • Screen size: 27 inches (diagonal viewable)
  • Screen type: TFT active-matrix LCD with in-plane switching (IPS)
  • Resolution: 2560 by 1440 pixels
  • Colors: 16.7 million
  • Aspect ratio: 16:9
  • Viewing angle: 178° horizontal; 178° vertical
  • Brightness: 375 cd/m2
  • Contrast ratio: 1000:1
  • Response time: 12 ms

Cables

  • Built-in Thunderbolt cable
  • Built-in Universal MagSafe cable (up to 85W)

Ports

  • Three powered USB 2.0 ports
  • FireWire 800 port
  • Gigabit Ethernet port
  • Thunderbolt port
  • Kensington security slot

Camera and Microphone

  • Built-in FaceTime HD camera with microphone

Speakers

  • Built-in 2.1 speaker system (49 watts)

Electrical Requirements

  • Input voltage: 100V to 240V AC; 50-60Hz
  • Maximum power: 250W (Thunderbolt Display while charging MacBook Pro)
  • Energy saver mode: 2W or less

Environmental Requirements

  • Operating temperature: 50° to 95° F (10° to 35° C)
  • Storage temperature: -4° to 116° F (-20° to 47° C)
  • Operating humidity: 20% to 80% noncondensing
  • Maximum operating altitude: 10,000 feet

Size and Weight

  • Height: 19.35 inches (49.1 cm)
  • Width: 25.7 inches (65 cm)
  • Depth (with stand): 8.15 inches (20.7 cm)
  • Weight: 23.5 pounds (10.8 kg)

VESA Compatibility

  • Compatible with VESA Mount Adapter Kit (sold separately)

    *Requires a FaceTime-enabled iOS device with a Wi-Fi connection or a FaceTime-enabled Mac with an Internet connection and FaceTime for Mac software (may require separate purchase). Not available in all areas.
 

Ratings & Reviews

3.5

Based on 110 reviews

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Most Useful Reviews

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    HORRIBLE FOR IMAC, MULTIPLE DISPLAYS AND LION

    • Written by from sacramento

    I was so excited to get my 27 inch iMac, and thunderbolt display(TBD)...until i opened them up and set them side by side.... and went huh?

    The TBD is shorter than the 27 iMac so the screens do not line up. that is a bad design flaw. if you had the laptop or the 21 inch iMac this wouldn't even matter so I'm lost for why they didn't make them match. did they hire someone from micro$oft to design this?

    Second design flaw for the TBD is actually LION the os... does not work well with multiple displays like snow leopard does! when you use the new FULLSCREEN mode in lion apps it actually dims out the TBD(or any other screens for that matter) and displays a linen style backdrop which make the $1,000 monitor a very nice paper weight. I would hope this would be addressed in a LION update ASAP.

    The third and very irritating design flaw is the lack of a POWER BUTTON. so now your pretty much forced to look at the linen style backdrop because you can't turn off the monitor. its like a reminder how much you paid to look at NOTHING.

    I have been a mac user and customer for over 13 years and have owned/used almost every product apple has made and let me say that I have not been this disappointed from apple ever with both the TBD and LION.     …More

    1682 of 2171 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Beautiful and full featured yet handicapped by LCD quality control

    • Written by from Frisco

    I purchased two of these beautiful displays a few weeks ago and was wowed with them. The displays have a lot of functionality with the multitude of ports on the backside. The ethernet, firewire, and usb ports are great when docking a computer such as an air. This is the good.

    The bad is that the LCD panel inside of of the two units had a blue/greenish tint to it on the right and bottom area of the display which was very prominent when a light or white background was moved over it. I had that display replaced only to have the new one have yellowing around the bottom left corner and upper middle when on a darker background. Likely is caused by backlight bleed.

    At $1000, I would assume others are using this for creative means and work like myself. Apple since will only replace the panel once. Being in photography, I am unfortunately having to return the display. Disappointing.     …More

    834 of 941 people found this useful

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  • 4.0 out of 5 stars

    Ultimate docking station for my Macbook Air

    • Written by from candiac

    Likes:
    - great size, was a bit concerned it would be too large compared to my previous Apple Cinema 20" display, but I quickly appreciated the extra space
    - Clean simple design
    - No fan, no noise - sometimes get fan noise from my MBA when using video chat 9heavy processing i guess)
    - Love the Docking simplicity - I plug 2 FW 800 drives, keyboard, Ethernet (Thunderbolt HD prices are crazy, even by this monitors standards...)
    - no concerns about reflection, I'm in sunny office by a window, no issues with reflection at all
    - Built in FaceTime camera is great - was tired of looking sideways at my laptop during video calls
    - Colors bright and even
    Dislike:
    - undocking - no clear documentation on how to undock when you have multiple drives attached. Found an applescript called "undock" to eject all drives prior to undocking
    - Apple needs to improve communication on how to "undock", sleep computer first ? eject disks, etc...
    - Smell - yes smell, for first few days, like some past macbook pros i've owned, this monitor has a "smell" for few days from the 'electronics" heating up, not too techie, but there's obviously some sort of coating etc. that emits a annoying smell, it eventually goes away, but reminded me of my past macbook pros
    - no USB 3, this is a bit ridiculous, again, considering the price of thunderbolt external HDs
    - would like to have audio out to plug speakers

    Summary:
    would i buy again and recommend - yes.
    hope this was helpful to shoppers     …More

    581 of 676 people found this useful

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Most Recent Reviews

  • 1.0 out of 5 stars

    Great display, poor ethernet integration

    • Written by from Florham Park

    As a display, this monitor is magnificent. Great colors, clarity, viewing angles, etc.

    Where it fails miserably is in the ethernet integration. This display is supposed to act like a docking station where you can plug your usb and ethernet into the display, then your laptop uses the ethernet and usb interfaces in the display when the thunderbolt cable is plugged into the laptop.

    Unfortunately once you disconnect from the display, when you return and plug the thunderbolt cable back in, you may find that the ethernet port is no longer available. The only way to restore functionality is to reboot your laptop.

    You can read a very long thread discussing this problem on the apple forums. You will see this isn't just an isolated problem. Unfortunately this site doesn't allow me to publish the URL, so just google for: thunderbolt ethernet not available

    I keep hoping every OS X Lion update will fix this but after at least 6 months, the problem still persists.     …More

    2 of 2 people found this useful

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    Another nearly perfect product from Apple

    • Written by from Louisville

    I was seeking a solution that allowed me to move between two offices regularly without having to fumble around with cords & cables. This display addresses that need perfectly. I use a TwelveSouth Book Arc, drop my MBP15 into it, connect the Thunderbolt (via a single cable w/two connections, one for power, the other for everything else) and I'm up and running in less than a minute. The display is stunning both in terms of image quality as well as resolution. Using spaces, I regularly have the equivalent of 10-12 separate full browser windows open and/or applications running simultaneously. The display is silent, clean and features a minimal footprint (really feels like it is floating in front of me). Yes, the reflectivity is high and depending on your environment (e.g. if you have natural light coming through a window), you may need to rotate the screen slightly. That said, you can slide this display around effortlessly thanks to its aluminum stand which smoothly sails across your desk. The upside to the finish is the image quality - again stunning. Hard to envision a better execution of a product. If you own this display, you will never be able to go back to anything else. …More

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  • 5.0 out of 5 stars

    I dig it!

    • Written by from Carlsbad

    At first I wanted to use this as second larger display for my macbook air, but it's got such a high resolution that I just use it as my sole display, and I use Better Touch Tool to get AeroSnap-like ability. Then with spaces, I can use separate virtual desktops with two apps side by side, or four windows in quadrants. No glare issues for me, it's bright enough that the glare is not a problem. I'm using wireless and not the integrated ethernet interface, so I'm not getting intermittent issues which others are reporting.

    Looks great, works great, but not cheap. Hey Mr taxman, I'm writing this bad boy off!

    If your work puts you behind a monitor all day, I say treat yourself and go for it.     …More

    8 of 11 people found this useful

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Questions & Answers

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See all 81 Questions

Most Interesting

  • Macbook air doesn't have FireWire or Etherne port.. Can I connect the MBA to display and use display ports instead?

    • Asked by Theresa P
    • 11-Feb-2012

    1 Answer

    Best Answer

    Yes, the Thunderbolt Display includes not only those ports, but also the relevant controllers for them. As such, connecting a computer like the Air, which has Thunderbolt but lacks FireWire or Ethernet, to the display will enable the use of all the ports the display has. …More

    • Answered by Julian B
    • 14-Feb-2012

  • Can I connect the apple TV to the Apple Thunderbolt Display

    • Asked by Edward & Angelika G from Atlanta
    • 9-Nov-2011

    1 Answer

    Best Answer

    No you can't. This screen connect to thunderbolt enabled devises, only, and the Apple Cinema Display only connect to devises with a mini display port, neither of which the Apple TV has or can connect to. The Apple TV can only connect to a HD TV with an HDMI cable. …More

    • Answered by Tommy P from Toronto
    • 13-Apr-2012

  • what is the difference between the thunderbolt display and the cinema display?

    • Asked by Reynaldo Allan B from Los Angeles
    • 25-Nov-2011

    3 Answers

    Answer

    The differences between the two are:

    Cinema display needs 3 connections to work, Thunderbolt display uses 2.

    Cinema display works with Mini Display port, Thunderbolt display only works with Thunderbolt port.

    cinema display has 3 USB 2.0 ports on the back, the thunderbolt display has 3 USB 2.0 ports, FireWire 800, an additional Thunderbolt port and an ethernet port.

    apart from that, they look identical, have the same screen resolution and cost exactly the same.     …More

    • Answered by Sam R
    • 22-Mar-2012

Recently Answered

Featured Question

can you connect s display adaptor to DVI on the back of the thunderbolt display to attach a second monitor that I already own?

  • Asked by Noah N from Lehi
  • 26-Apr-2012
Answer
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