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Unibody MacBook-to-HDMI Solution Coming in January

11:17 pm, December 14th, 2008, Pete Mortensen

2948297072_043b05ede3.jpgIf I have one complaint about my aluminum MacBook (and I think I might literally have only one complaint), it’s that I don’t have an elegant method for hooking the machine up to my HDTV. As part of the 99.997 percent of the population who don’t own an AppleTV, this means I don’t have any way to watch the video in my living room. The laptop’s Mini DisplayPort is an absurdly new standard, and that means it plays well with virtually nothing. I could buy an MDP to DVI cable from Apple, then use a DVI-to-HDMI cable to provide video and an additional TOSLink cable to deliver audio, but that sounds like a poor way to spend a Sunday evening. It would be nice just to have one cable to do everything.

Well. This frustration should soon be gone. According to MacYourself, an MDP-to-HDMI cable will be arriving in late January from Monoprice.com, the leading source for really cheap cables on the Internet. It looks like a separate audio cable will still be necessary (though no one is really sure), but I’m still a big proponent of the direct to HDMI solution, especially because it should support HDCP protection for watching iTunes HD downloads on an external screen.

I’ll buy one on day one. Who’s with me?

Posted by Pete Mortensen in Apple, Hardware, Macintosh | Comment on this article

About the author

Petemortensen

Pete Mortensen is the communications lead for growth strategy firm Jump Associates and the co-author of Wired to Care: How Companies Prosper When They Create Widespread Empathy, a book and blog that are significantly more interesting than you might initially think. Pete's particular Apple avocations are both around design--interface and industrial. Follow him on Twitter!

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11 comments

    I don’t have this problem, because I have an iPhone. I sync the video with the iPhone, then I use a cable to connect the iPhone to the TV.

    Harvey, on December 15th, 2008 at 8:03 am

    I am defo with you id love one ! there really is so much use for one

    Danny Policarpo, on December 15th, 2008 at 9:33 am

    The biggest issue for me on the MacBook is the lack of FireWire.

    I’m not a high end user and hate USB for hard drives. If you try to daisy chain USB hard drives the performance drops significantly.

    Why would I daisy chain hard drives? Well, I have other USB devices I have to plug into my iMac. The result is that I end up having to daisy chain the hard drives.

    Yes I’ve tried a USB hub but it is still ultimately going through one USB hub on the iMac so it is still very slow.

    Note that I only did this as a test. The hard drives I have with my iMac have both FireWire and USB 2 ports on them.

    The problem is, the MacBooks don’t have FireWire and the MacBook Pros cost significantly more.

    OlsonBW, on December 15th, 2008 at 11:38 am

    Please, I beg you, tell me when I can get hold of one in Bergen Norway. I asked about this cable (plug?) the very first day I got my unibody. It really will make life more easy when bringing my laptop around to show pictures and film to family and friends with HDMI-loaded HD/HD-ready TV

    Motbakke, on December 15th, 2008 at 1:39 pm

    “The biggest issue for me on the MacBook is the lack of FireWire. ”
    What lack of Firewire? The only Problem is that you have to buy an adapter for everything. Apple could have made a good DVI adapter for example, where you could add a dvi to vga adapter but noooooo, you have to buy an extra one.
    With Firewire you can buy a FW400 to FW800 adapter. should be about 10 Dollars. Im going to buy one soon.

    and thats the problem with apple computers. you have a thin laptop but a whole bag of adapters and cables you have to take with you.

    Dave, on December 15th, 2008 at 11:15 pm

    to Dave
    “The biggest issue for me on the MacBook is the lack of FireWire. ”
    very true, we are talking about unibody MacBooks, not Pros.
    only pros have Firewire, and only 800.
    no firewire at all or adapters to get it on the 13 unibody

    vincent, on December 16th, 2008 at 2:31 pm

    Help. I’ve been using a MDP-DVI cable from Apple and a DVI-HDMI cable from Belkin with my new MacBook to watch movies on my HDTV. It’s been great, but today it just quit working. Anyone had the same problem or any idea what’s causing the problem? The TV does not seem to be getting the signal. I’ve made sure displays are set up properly and the cable isn’t damaged as far as I can tell.

    Could the Mini DisplayPort be causing the problem?

    I’m not a teckie and this is my first Mac so any ideas would be appreciated…

    Camilla Kristensen, on January 5th, 2009 at 7:43 pm

    Its now February 2nd and still no news on this adapter, does anyone have a clue about if its coming out at all?

    Danny Policarpo, on February 2nd, 2009 at 10:31 am

    2/6/2009 1:03AM — site is undergoing maintenance till 2:30AM. Hopefully it comes out soon.

    Ivan, on February 6th, 2009 at 1:03 am

    Belkin makes one now. I have it hooked up to my HDTV with separate audio cable and it works great.

    GS, on February 9th, 2009 at 6:25 am

    Can you send a link? I’d love to see it…

    And Monoprice claims they’re going to have their solution ready in March.

    http://www.monoprice.com/products/product.asp?c_id=104&cp_id=10428&cs_id=1042802&p_id=5311&seq=1&format=2

    Peter Mortensen, on February 9th, 2009 at 3:19 pm