Chosen Solution
I want to convert a Thunderbolt Display I acquired very cheaply into a ‘dumb’ Cinema Display. I don’t care about the ports on the back, camera, or speakers. What I’m thinking, is internally converting the LED panel into Mini DP and drilling a hole in the back to route the cable out to a Mac Pro 5,1. Is it possible? I read online that the logic board runs mini DP into the LED and I just need an extension cable but I can’t find any images to support that claim. If that’s not the case, could I use a 3rd party control board to create a mini DP input into the LED? At that point I’m wondering if I would be better off just selling it and buying a Cinema Display. Eating ebay fees and shipping in the process.
Here a good write up on the interplay: About Thunderbolt ports and displays. Sadly, a Thunderbolt display will not play with a DisplayPort based system. As to altering the display, I think its wiser to sell it and get a DisplayPort display. The other option is to see if a Thunderbolt card installed within your MacPro will work. It was on my list of projects to do some day never got a chance to try it.
