Mac Setups: MacBook Pro with Triple Apple Cinema Displays
How’d you like to drive three external displays from a single MacBook Pro? That’s exactly what this weeks Mac setup is doing with the help of an external video card. Coming to us from journalist and blogger Pierra D, here is the hardware pictured:
- MacBook Pro 17″ (2009) – 8GB RAM and dual 256 GB SSD
- Apple Cinema Display 27″ (center)
- Apple Cinema Display 22″ (left)
- Apple Cinema Display 20″ (right)
- Additional external displays driven by ViDock External GPU with a GeForce GT 120
- iPhone 4
- iPod shuffle
- Magic Mouse
- Bluetooth Keyboard
- Wacom Intuos 4M
Anyone can install dual hard drives on a MacBook Pro by removing the built-in Super Drive and using a replacement bay to hold a hard disk or SSD instead. These are offered through a variety of companies and are a good solution for individuals who don’t use the DVD drive on a portable Mac, some replacement bays even include a caddy for the SuperDrive to turn it into an external device instead.
I hope external video cards become more common and more powerful, other than allowing for fully powered external displays like shown here, they offer some serious promise for dramatically enhanced gaming even from Macs with weaker video cards like the MacBook Air.
Want your Mac setup featured? Send pictures of Apple & Mac setups to osxdailycom@gmail.com and include some brief hardware details and what you use it for. We get tons of submissions so we canāt post them all.
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I have a 22″ Apple display but it has the slightly rounded DVI connector from a G4 Mac pro that I no longer use. Is it possible to hook this monitor up to a later Mac somehow? Thanks
Yes, you will need something like an ADC to DVI connector, or possibly an ADC to Mini-DVI or Mini-Display port. Worst case scenario a daisy chain may work, like a ADC to DVI to a DVI to Mini-DisplayPort adapter. Kind of convoluted, but yes you should be able to put that old Cinema Display to use. Here’s an ADC to DVI, but you’ll need to figure out exactly what port is on the later Mac to know what you’ll need. Amazon has tons of these types of things for sale.
Belkin F2E9142-WHT Pro Series ADC to DVI Apple Monitor Adapter
Hope that helps!
Beware that those old ADC Studio Displays’ connectors carried video signal, USB AND power, so a simple adapter won’t do (believe me, I had one and tried that). You need an adapter that supplies the needed power: http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/using_older_apple_adc_displays_with_mac_pro/
The DVIator mentioned there is no longer in production but there should current options.
ahh, a mac post.
Okay, this site is called: OSX Daily, not iOS Daily
out of the 9 links at the top:
Home Mac OS X iPhone iPad Tips & Tricks Jailbreak OS X Lion iOS 5
2 are generic, 2 and OSX, *4* are iOS!
Why!!?!?!
Apple makes Macs and iPhones, WHY!?!??!!
“OS X” is the generic; “Mac OS X” and “iOS” are the specific versions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VLb5XdxRm8#t=3m55s
Would be interested in external gpu seems a good solution
External GPU performance through thunderbolt could be quite good.