Questions & Answers for Apple Thunderbolt Cable (0.5m) - White

Your question leaves open some ambiguity. Let me try to resolve it:

1. You can use the Thunderbolt cable to connect your iMac and your MacBook Pro

2. You can use the iMac as a secondary display for your MacBook Pro provided you put your iMac into Target Display Mode. This is documented by Apple - please search for "Use your iMac as a display with Target Display Mode"

3. You cannot use the MacBook Pro display as a secondary display for the iMac. The MacBook Pro does not offer Target Display Mode.

If you would like to use the MacBook Pro internal screen as a secondary display for the iMac, your only route would be by way of a software/network solution like ScreenRecycler.

• Answered by Peter S
• Sep 22, 2016
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can my iMac (2013) connect to my macbook pro (2012) with the thunderbolt cable and be used (the macbook pro) as a second display?)

Thunderbolt is a more versatile interface than USB, it can transfer both data and video signal. That means you only need one port to accomplish data transfer and video output, there is no need for two separate ports (ex. USB and DisplayPort). Thunderbolt uses the old Mini DisplayPort so you can still use your VGA/DVI adapters. Thunderbolt also have Daisy Chain capability, you can connect up to 6 devices on one Thunderbolt port (ex. You don't need 6 ports to connect 6 devices).

Like another commenter said, the theoretical speed of Thunderbolt is up to 10GB/s, or 20GB/s for TB2. Whereas USB 3.0 is only 5GB/s. Although the practical speed won't be much different as the hard drives are nowhere close to that speed. A 5400rpm HDD will be >100MB/s, 7200rpm will be ~150MB/s (my numbers might be a little off), SSDs will range from 300MB/s to 700MB/s (depends on the NAND used). With that said, USB 3.0 is good enough for simple storage use (TB might be better for RAID and other storage systems), especially if you count in the cost factor. Your practical transfer speed depend more on the hard drive you use, so I suggest you to spend the money on a good hard drive/SSD.

Because Thunderbolt combines Mini DisplayPort and PCIe. Theoretically, you can get an external PCIe adapter and plug in something like a GPU (assuming the "drivers" and power supports). I'm particularly interesting in this because Apple doesn't like to give you a strong GPUs to drive a 2880x1880 Retina display on a 15" rMBP. Anyway, PCIe is a strong interface and it can add endless possibilities to a Mac. There is more to Thunderbolt than people think.
Good luck!

• Answered by Cong W from San Francisco
• Jan 13, 2014
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (What is wrong with USB that I have to use Thunderbolt?)

You can just use the Mini Display Port cable that came with the 27 inch cinema display. Mini Display Port is the exact same plugin as Thunderbolt, so this is all you need. If you lost the cable, what you're looking for is a Belkin Mini Display port to Mini Display Port cable.

• Answered by Matt M from Austin
• Aug 22, 2011
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can I connect my 2011 macbook pro to a Cinema Display with thunderbolt or Firewire)

I can answer this myself as I took a chance and bought the cable. Connect the Mac Mini to the 27" iMac via the Thunderbolt cable and press cmd + F2 on the iMac keyboard to enter target display mode. The iMac becomes the display for the Mini, works a treat.

• Answered by William M
• Sep 5, 2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can I connect a new Mac Mini to a new iMac for display purposes using the Thunderbolt cable.)

Which versions of the MacBook Pro and Air? This Thunderbolt cable can be use to transfer data from one Thunderbolt equiped mac to another in target disk mode.

• Answered by Carol H from Boulder
• Oct 10, 2011
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Can this cable used to transferred data from the MacBook pro to the MacBook Air?)

I believe the only Apple branded cable that is being sold today is the 2 Meter cable.

There are shorter cable available from third parties. My colleague bought an El Gato branded 1.6ft cable from Amazon because we needed a short patch cable and it worked out fine.

• Answered by Chet D from Fremont
• Oct 23, 2012
• Flag as inappropriate Answer (Thunderbolt shorter cable?)