In 2009, Intel showcased a new technological invention that the company hoped would cut down on the number of ports and connections needed to connect to commonly used peripherals and specialty hardware. Thunderbolt ports were co-developed by Apple and Intel. Thunderbolt 3 came in three varieties: Double Port, Singal Port, and Low Power. Not all Thunderbolt ports are created equal.Companies like CalDigit and Cable Matters are working on larger lengths with full support that are between 5 m and 50 m for release in the future. These cables come in three specific lengths: 0.2 m, 0.8 m, and 2 m. Thunderbolt 4 copper cables offer 40 Gbit/s speed and are supported by all versions of USB up to USB4.Intel originally presented the technology under the name ‘Light Peak’. Apple originally registered the trademark ‘Thunderbolt’, but the technology was co-developed by Intel and Apple.This means smaller devices can have even more powerful connections than their predecessors. Thunderbolt 3 and 4 use the new USB-C shape connector which allows for the port to take less physical space on the device it is installed on.Many believed it to be a display connection. This has often led to confusion about what the Thunderbolt port is capable of. Thunderbolt 1 and 2 use the Mini DisplayPort connector.Thunderbolt ports allow for 10 Gbit/s per channel.Your best bet is to to either USB-C to HDMI or USB-C to Display Port (preferred because no conversion is required). It should work, but you may run into performance/stability issues because of all the conversions. This will help with reliability of the video connection. It's always best to limit the number of connections/conversions to ensure reliability.įinally, you didn't mention which mDP to HDMI adapter you are using, but you want to make sure you are using an active adapter (see link above for more details). Secondly, converting from TB3 to TB2 so you can use mDP HDMI is just adding another link in the chain which becomes another point of failure/trouble. Even if you convert from mDP to DP, you are only changing the physical interface, not the protocol or signaling. It's best to just stick with one protocol like DisplayPort. First off, the mDP to HDMI conversion can cause issues. That said, you may run into issues due to all the conversations. TB3 is backward compatible with TB2 and TB1.So, assuming that you are going from TB3 to a TB2 to a mDP to HDMI, it should work because: It's important to note this distinction because you cannot go from USB (A, C, or whatever) to Thunderbolt you go from Thunderbolt to USB (it's not bi-directional).

USB-C and mini Display Port are interfaces while Thunderbolt, Display Port and HDMI are interfaces and signaling/protocols. Technically speaking what you are doing is this: Thunderbolt 3 -> Thunderbolt 2 -> Display Port -> HDMI

Thunderbolt 2 to hdmi apple