Connect 2 x 30” Apple Cinema Displays to MBP mid 2012 13”

[eyoungren]

No DisplayLink shenanigans necessary. Just one Thunderbolt 3 dock.

OK. I just assumed that Apple had gimped the 2012 13" just like they did the 13" M2 I am using.

The difference is your 2015 Retina MBP had two Thunderbolt 2 (DisplayPort) outputs and one HDMI output; connecting two external displays was a piece of cake.
OP's 2012 non-Retina MBP only has one Thunderbolt 1 output that carries two DisplayPort streams, so a Thunderbolt 3 dock is necessary to extract them and drive two displays.

Gotcha now. Thanks. Didn't realize that could be a thing.

 

[Amethyst1]

OK. I just assumed that Apple had gimped the 2012 13" just like they did the 13" M2 I am using.

The limitation to one external display on the base Mx models is…uhh…peculiar.

 

[eyoungren]

The limitation to one external display on the base Mx models is…uhh…peculiar.

Yeah and stupid me, I had assumed based on the 2015 MBP, that work would get the same size. So, I found out about that limitation real quick. I could have dealt with it better if Apple allowed two displays to count while the Mac is in clamshell mode because that is how I use the work Macs. But no. Apple says, one display plus the laptop display, period.

Whole lot of agonizing Google searching and expensive dock/adapter buying from the company to work around that. Fortunately, they were willing to pay for it.

 

[Amethyst1]

I could have dealt with it better if Apple allowed two displays to count while the Mac is in clamshell mode because that is how I use the work Macs.

Funny thing is the 13“ 2011 MBP allows this: hook up two external displays — and the internal one goes off.

 

[joevt]

OK, so again I am not OP and I am operating a 2023 M2 MBP. 2015 MBP is behind the 2023. Both of these are work issued.

A black object dragged around a QuarkXPress 2022 document with a black background (I zoomed in). Both monitors.

No green static.

Don't know what to say, I cannot reproduce green static with these Club adapters. The possible explanation, as I mentioned above, is that both my displays were part of that silent update and are HDCP ON.

The black object (window) needs to be dragged around a non-black background. In the example pictures in the club-3d thread, the background was the standard Windows 10 desktop wallpaper.

I was asking specifically about how to connect dual ACD's to a single MiniDisplayPort as I couldn't find anything already posted on here. There's a bunch of threads already that talk about connecting to USB-C.

macOS doesn't support DisplayPort MST so you can't connect two displays with a MST hub.
Good news though, your Mini DisplayPort is actually a Thunderbolt 1 port. To connect two displays to that, you need to connect two Thunderbolt 1/2 docks, or connect one Thunderbolt 3 dock.
The DisplayPort to Dual Link DVI adapters can get USB power from the Thunderbolt dock.
The USB-C to Dual Link DVI adapter don't require extra USB power because the USB-C port has extra power.

Before the M2, I used the 2015 MBP that is in one of the pics. That's fairly close to your Mac I believe (2012 I think you said). To get my two Cinemas to work with that MBP I had to use two A1306 Apple adapters. For power, you plug them in to those little iPhone power bricks (the square ones).

But my 2015 MBP was a 15 inch, and Apple may have gimped your 2012 because it's a 13" right? Apple gimped the 13" that work gave me, which is why I have to use that dock I linked to that has DisplayLink.

But because I mentioned I use Club adapters that brought out a side discussion and I apologize for that.

Assuming I've read your situation correctly, you're going to need a Thunderbolt 2 or 3 dock that has DisplayLink. I don't have any recommendations for that. But you can get at least one display working with the A1306 and whether there was a silent update or not to your Cinema Display that Apple adapter should work.

DisplayLink isn't required unless the Thunderbolt port doesn't actually support two displays.

 

[eyoungren]

The black object (window) needs to be dragged around a non-black background. In the example pictures in the club-3d thread, the background was the standard Windows 10 desktop wallpaper.

I'll take another shot at it tomorrow.

 

[eyoungren]

The black object (window) needs to be dragged around a non-black background. In the example pictures in the club-3d thread, the background was the standard Windows 10 desktop wallpaper.

No green static. The flashes you see are the box lining up with InDesign's smart guides, so that isn't anything.