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How to Set up Thunderbolt Display on Windows [Driver Guide]
4 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Nowadays we have faster and faster connections between all our devices, and many of them are wireless. That wasn’t always the case.
In the past years, Thunderbolt was the standard for fastestdata transferand today we’ll find out how you can connect yourdisplaythrough it.
What is Thunderbolt?
Thunderbolt is an input/output technology introduced five years ago byApple, famous for supporting high-resolutiondisplaysand high-performance data devices with a singleport.
Its main characteristics are flexibility, speed and simplicity. This technology gives you two channels on the same connector and each channel has adata transferspeed of 10 Gb/s in both directions.
Thunderbolt is one method of connecting adisplayto a computer, but not a very popular one. The most appreciated areHDMI, DVI, VGA and DisplayPort.
Today, most of the VGA and DVI ports were replaced with DisplayPort. HDMI is used for flat screen TVs and smart TVs because you can connect thatportto different extensions like Blu-Ray players, game consoles, computers and much more.
The original project was patented by Intel under the name of Light Peak. The first version of this technology appeared in 2010 but was more like a beta.
The following year, Intel released the product co-developed version with Apple. PC manufacturers rejected the Light Peak version because its fiber optics technology was too expensive and the Thunderbolt version seemed like a more profitable option.
One problem with Thunderbolt monitors is that they have a specific connector for Apple devices. A Thunderbolt screen should work on any PC that has a Thunderbolt port, but many of you wouldn’t buy one without a guarantee it would work.
And while Thunderbolt 3 has adopted a newUSB Type-Cport, thisportis not compatible with any kind of PC.
Can I use an Apple Thunderbolt screen with a Windows 10 PC?
Technically, yes.
As we said, you need a system with a Thunderbolt port and, if you are lucky, you will be able to use this type of monitor on a PC. Wikipedia has a list with almost all the devices compatible with Thunderbolt and on the Thunderbolt official website you can find alsoa database with all these devices.
How to setup Apple Thunderbolt on Windows 10 PC?
After you made sure that the system and your drivers are up to date and your computer is compatible with Thunderbolt display, after connecting, you should receive a notification calledNew Thunderbolt devices have been attached.
How to establish connection via an adapter
To solve this problem, computer manufacturers have introduced different adapters on the market for these types of monitors. We recommend you the DisplayPort adapters.
Of course, there are adapters for any kind of video format, but there is a very small price difference between an HDMI or VGA adapter and a DisplayPort adapter.
If you still have trouble setting up the thunderboltdisplayon your PC, you can contactApple support departmentfor a correct diagnosis and more efficient solutions.
Did you manage to connect your Thunderbolt display to yourWindows 10PC? Tell us in the comments below if the process was seamless or do you still prefer a HDMI connection.
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More about the topics:fix monitor,Windows 10 Guides
Madalina Dinita
Networking & Security Specialist
Madalina has been a Windows fan ever since she got her hands on her first Windows XP computer.
She is interested in all things technology, especially emerging technologies – AI and DNA computing in particular.
Prior to joining the WindowsReport team, she worked in the corporate world for a number of years.
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Madalina Dinita
Networking & Security Specialist
Madalina is a Windows fan since forever, especially interested in AI, emerging technologies, privacy, and security.
