iFixit has taken apart one of the new Apple Thunderbolt displays. This particular model is the 27 inch, 2560 x 1440 screen. The screen was relatively easy to open and once inside, it contained a surprise amount of chips allowing to speedily connect up via the Thunderbolt Port.
A good number of chips were found on the main board inside which includes the following list:
– Pericom PI7C9X440SL PCIe-to-USB 2.0 host controller
– L129NB11 EFL, which looks to be the Thunderbolt port controller
– Analog Devices ADAV4601 audio processor
– NXP LPC2144 USB 2.0 microcontroller
– Delta LFE9249 10/100/1000 Base-T LAN filter
– SMSC USB2517-JZX USB 2.0 hub controller
– Maxim MAX9736B Mono/Stereo high-power Class D amplifier
– LSI L-FW643E-2 open host controller interface
– Broadcom BCM57761 Gigabit ethernet controller
– Supertex HV9982 3-channel switch-mode LED driver IC
The panel used inside is identical to the one used in the 2009 27 inch iMac. If you are curious as to why you can’t connect up a display port device after a Thunderbolt device then check out the review at Anandtech which covers all the technical details of the configuration.
The full teardown instructions can be found on the iFixit site which also lists the step by step process of how to open the unit.
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