Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)

Reviews for Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch)

Customer Reviews and Ratings

3.5 out of 5 stars

Based on 207 reviews

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    USB 3.0?

    • Written by from Manhattan Beach

    For this much money I don't see why it still uses USB 2.0 from 2001.

    40 of 48 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Great screen that will drive you crazy

    • Written by from Palo Alto

    It's a beautiful screen to look at. High resolution, high contrast, good built-in audio and ports (no USB3 though), thunderbolt connection to macs so it just works, no headaches here.

    You will get headaches from the mirror finish. It's effectively unusable in anything but a dark room. It's possible to force brightness way up to drown out the reflections, but this is akin to staring directly into a bright light - seriously not good for you.

    It's a gorgeous looking device, but it's going back to Apple store tomorrow. Not willing to gamble with my eyesight.

    31 of 46 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Only works when the moon is full

    • Written by from Los Alamos

    I struggled with the sound problem - hopefully someday there will be a complete fix, seems to work better since I updated to Mountain Lion.

    The most irritating thing is some days I can dock my laptop and it will switch just fine. Other days it seems like there is nothing I can do to get the keyboard and mouse attached to the display USB ports (not even wired ones) to work.

    There's nothing worse than sitting down to do a bit of work on this big beautiful display and spend all my time fiddling with docking my MacBook Air. It would really help if Apple would provide some trouble shooting tips on this problem. I try powering off, putting the MacBook Air to sleep; disconnecting and reconnecting the mouse, keyboard, MacBook Air and power in various sequences. Sometimes some combination works. Other times, like now, I sit here in front of the big black display typing on my MacBook. It's really sad.

    30 of 33 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Great display but cannot recommend

    • Written by from Delaware

    One item before I say why I don't recommend this display -

    1) Visually, this is a great display and was a perfect companion to my MacBook Pro.

    The problem is the noise! I purchased the display in 2011. Fifteen to sixteen months later it begins to make a noise that literally drives me up the wall. Best description as print is "Tszzzzzzzz". Research shows it's caused by the LED driver / power supply. Noise increases as brightness is increased. Even at an unusable low brightness, I still cannot stand the constant background noise coming from the display. Seems to be emanating from the lower right quadrant of the display.

    I gather this problem is a hit or miss proposition - some don't generate the noise, some people aren't bothered by the noise, or, like me, some cannot abide the noise. I've heard of some people getting their displayed swapped out at the Apple store but I'm 18 months after purchase...

    96 of 109 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Looks great when it works. Terrible with Bootcamp.

    • Written by from Mandeville

    The monitor is awful with Bootcamp. I've never not had random quirky problems with it. My Cinema Display was way better in terms of working correctly in windows. There is no way to disconnect/connect it while the computer is on. For some reason, the USB ports on it will randomly stop working and require a reboot to fix. Brightness controls on the keyboard don't do anything. For $1000, I would expect it to work better. Not a driver issue either.

    90 of 115 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    So many problems.

    • Written by from Montreal

    I should've read the other reviews before purchasing a brand new MacBook Pro and Thunderbolt display. Plagued with problems.

    1) Display flickers (apparently a common trait)
    2) Unplugging MBP from Thunderbolt display causes MBP to shut down.
    3) Plugging an awake or sleeping MBP into Thunderbolt display is a mess with the display needing multiple plug/unplugs to even turn on. USB, Firewire ports don't work. MBP needs hard reboot.

    The above description is not a rare occurrence but almost every time.

    . . .

    When it's all working it can be very nice but this level of disfunction is not what I expected for $3500 worth of brand new equipment. I am bitterly dissappointed.

    175 of 204 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Wonderful display flawed by waking from sleep issues.

    • Written by from Albany

    The display is hooked up to a 2012 MBP. Despite the fantastic image quality, reasonable sound, and great FaceTime camera, the display consistently has trouble waking from sleep when using the USB or ethernet ports on the back. Therefore, I resort to a direct plugin of my ethernet and peripheral into the MBP. For now I await a firmware update, but this usability issue could have been fixed during product development.

    70 of 79 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    So Disappointed

    • Written by from Bronx

    I've had problems with the Thunderbolt Display, since the first time i connected it to my mac-mimi. The image just goes out and I can't turn it back on. I tried unplugging the power cord and then back on and it worked but only with constant flickers as if is about to turn off again. If it goes to sleep mode I can never turn it back on. I have to connect my tv to my my Mac so I can save what I was working on and then restart my computer in order to get the screen to work and even that, doesn't always work. I'm a photographer and while retouching images this can be very frustrating. VERY VERY disappointed. It's a thousand dollar display. I should not have this problems...

    85 of 101 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Thunderbolt displays not made for the iMac

    • Written by from Lakewood

    I bought a 27" iMac together with a 27" Thunderbolt display and am very disappointed at what I would consider bad design decisions on the part of Apple.

    1) The 27" display is about one inch shorter than the iMac, so I had to find a book to put under the display to get things to line up.

    2) You can either use the speakers from the iMac, or from the Display, but not both at the same time. Why do we have this limitation?

    3) If you maximize a window on the desktop, the window will move to the iMac screen (if it's not already there) and a default background will show on the 27" Display, making it useless for this feature.

    I would appreciate if you would inform potential buyers of these limitations. It is obvious that your design team did not intend to have iMac owners pair their machines up with these displays. Very disappointing...

    109 of 124 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Flawed sound system...

    • Written by from Milwaukee

    While the overall quality of the display is outstanding, there is problems with the audio system, in the form of static that plays from the display's speakers whenever any sound is produced by an attached computer. While some may not notice this, I have good hearing, and find this static sound unacceptable for such an expensive monitor. Will probably take the original and second unit that Apple sent me (both have the static issue) back, and wait till they fix this issue, or come out with a better monitor. (Search on the static sound issue in Support here if you don't believe it).

    33 of 34 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Nah...

    • Written by from HICKSVILLE

    A $1,000.00 shiny dust magnet. I'll be shipping this lead weight back and sticking with my old 23' Wide Screen Cinema display. Its a shame apple stopped making them. The picture quality is comparable, the screen is a matte finish, and dust/glare is never a problem. Oh sure it isn't as pretty and all, but when the heck did apple think that looks should be substituted for functionality? I guess thats a silly question. Look elsewhere in my opinion unless you prefer a side order of glare with your glare.

    63 of 82 people found this useful

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  • 2.0 out of 5 stars

    Beautiful picture, poor Thunderbolt port features

    • Written by

    The picture quality is spectacular, even though it is glossy. The unit itself is beautifully designed. The main issues are when connected to my MBP 13" (Mid 2011). The Apple USB keyboard (connected to TBD) is often not recognized or does not register all the key inputs. It seems random which keys are recognized. Second, the MBP will not wake from sleep when connected to the TBD (have to force restart). For a $1000 display, it's advertised features should be better. Hopefully a firmware/software fix is in the works.

    140 of 165 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.

    1465 of 1664 people found this useful

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