Introduced in October 2008, Mini DisplayPort is Apple’s current connection du jour for audio and video, and starting with the introduction of Thunderbolt earlier this year, the tiny jack is now host to high-speed hard drives and other peripherals as well. But did you know that Mini DisplayPort is capable of other amazing feats of strength as well?

As with all things Apple, over time everything gets smaller and more convenient. Take for instance, how we connect displays to our Mac computers -- gone are the bulky, multi-pin connections of yesteryear, replaced with one tiny little jack known as Mini DisplayPort. But don’t let its diminutive size fool you, because there’s a lot going on within its small frame.

The popular Mactracker app lists 34 Apple products featuring Mini DisplayPort, including two LED Cinema Displays, seven iMac models, five Mac minis, three Mac Pros, one Xserve and a total of 16 various notebook models -- not counting models introduced this year where the port does double-duty alongside Thunderbolt, which adds another 10 configurations to the mix.

However, nearly four years after its debut, Thunderbolt isn’t the only change as to how Mini DisplayPort is implemented on the Mac, so let’s take a look how the port works on various Mac generations and what you’ll need to take advantage of it.

All Macs Are Not Created Equal

First introduced with the 15-inch MacBook Pro, 13.3-inch MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook and 24-inch LED Cinema Display in late 2008, Mini DisplayPort was initially a video-only affair -- despite the DisplayPort specification also allowing digital audio to flow over the same connection. That changed in April, 2010, when the MacBook Pro lineup was the first to push video and audio over the same Mini DisplayPort cable.

While this isn’t a problem for users looking to jack in an external monitor, if you want to use adapters to connect your Mac to a home theatre setup, video projector or other device requiring both audio and video, you’ll need two cables -- one for video and another for audio, or an appropriate third-party Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter that draws power and digital audio from a USB port (or audio from the optical out port).

Of course, recent Mac mini owners have the option of skipping Mini DisplayPort entirely -- starting with the 2010 model, the smallest Mac now comes standard with an HDMI connection, bringing digital video and audio straight to a home theatre receiver or HDTV. However, users of Apple notebooks, iMacs or Mac Pros will be better served by adapting their Mini DisplayPort.

To find out which Mac model you have, download the free Mactracker app and click on “This Mac” in the sidebar, double-click on the model displayed at right and look for the “Introduced” month and year. Any model introduced on or after April 2010 is capable of handling audio and video over the same Mini DisplayPort cable -- for earlier systems, read on to see what your available options might be.

Adapt Me

Apple currently offers seven Mini DisplayPort adapters in its online store, including solutions from third parties such as Kanex and Dr. Bott. Others are available from suppliers like Monoprice (more on them in a moment), and usually at a much steeper discount than Apple’s own retail pricing. Let’s take a look at what each adapter does, and why you might want them.

Mini DisplayPort to VGA Adapter ($29): This one is easy -- if you have an older analog VGA monitor you want to plug into a current Mac, this is the adapter for you. Many HDTV sets also come with a VGA port, although this won’t provide the highest quality video for that scenario. This adapter is strictly a video-only connection.

Mini DisplayPort to DVI Adapter ($29): Likewise, to connect your Mini DisplayPort Mac to a previous generation digital monitor with DVI port, you’ll want this adapter. There’s just one caveat: It only works with a single link connection, which means you can’t power anything larger than a 23-inch Apple Cinema Display.

Mini DisplayPort to Dual-Link DVI Adapter ($99): If you want to connect to a 30-inch, dual-link DVI monitor, reach for the wallet! Unfortunately, even at nearly $100, it’s not a perfect solution, requiring a USB port for power (it features a USB port pass-through, so it kind of evens out) and this adapter is notorious for sporadic graphics issues that usually require sleeping the display to address -- even with the latest Mac hardware and software. Tsk tsk, Apple.

Kanex C247M Mini-DVI to Mini DisplayPort Converter ($129.95): Okay, so maybe you’ve got a problem in the opposite direction -- an older Mac with Mini-DVI and you want to jack it into a Mini DisplayPort monitor? Apple doesn’t have their own solution for this, but thankfully Kanex does -- although the price tag may have you wondering if it’s not time to buy a new Mac instead.

Kanex C247D Single-Link DVI to Mini DisplayPort Converter ($129.95): Along the same lines as the previous converter, this model allows you to connect a 24-inch LED Cinema Display to an older Mac with a single-link DVI port -- even passing audio via USB to the speakers on the display.

ATLONA AT-DP400 Dual Link DVI to Mini Display Port Converter ($199.95): If you’ve found no love with Apple’s own $100 dual-link DVI to Mini DisplayPort converter and money is no object, Atlona has you covered -- assuming you want to connect to a 27-inch iMac or LED Cinema Display, since it doesn’t claim compatibility with anything else.

Dr. Bott Mini DisplayPort Extension II, with USB ($39.95): If you’re just fine with a Mini DisplayPort connection but simply need to extend the distance between your monitor and Mac, Dr. Bott offers an extra 6.6 feet of love for 40 bucks -- and throws in a USB extension as a bonus. This solution can even be extended up to 19.6 feet if you want to keep your Mac in a whole other room from the display.

There are plenty of other options available online from Monoprice.com, including a less costly dual-link DVI adapter, discounted cables up to 15 feet in length and even a variety of couplers. Monoprice also offers the Mini DisplayPort Male and USB Male/Toslink Audio to HDMI Female Converting Adapter (currently $33.35), which adapts Mini DisplayPort for video (but also works with Thunderbolt) with optical audio out, then spits them out into one convenient female HDMI port, should you need to go that route instead.

Enter Thunderbolt

February, 2011 brought even more excitement to the Mini DisplayPort story with the arrival of Thunderbolt. Engineered by Intel and formerly known as “Light Peak,” Apple rolled the up to 10Gbit per second Thunderbolt connection right into the existing Mini DisplayPort rather than replacing existing data-only FireWire 800 or USB 2.0 ports.

This means that one port can now daisy chain a connection between displays and other peripherals, including high-speed hard drives, video capture devices and much more yet to come. Third-party companies were quick to announce support for Thunderbolt earlier this year, although there hasn’t been much to plug into those jacks until this summer.

Apple has firmly cemented Thunderbolt as part of its future, with the Mini DisplayPort jack now upgraded across all currently shipping Macs with the curious exception of the Mac Pro, which is widely rumored to be in line for a radical retooling any time now. So what do you need to take advantage of it?

If you’re strictly using Thunderbolt for a display connection, the existing Mini DisplayPort cables and adapters will work just fine. Otherwise, Apple now offers a $49 Thunderbolt cable which is required for data transfer and can also be used for Target Disk Mode between two Thunderbolt-equipped Macs in the same manner than older models used FireWire. This cable includes special circuitry to regulate the flow of data and it’s the only game in town right now for this purpose -- although third-party companies will surely step into the fray soon enough with cheaper options as well.

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