This article was originally published on Adam’s Oakbog website. I’m sure there are many other tips and suggestions on the topic of working with old and vintage Macs contact me with your suggestions and we may do a follow-up to this column with additional ideas. Older Macs and Apple monitors come with the DB15 style video connector newer Apple monitors and other brands use a VGA plug, so a DB15-to-VGA adapter is needed with older Macs. 17″ models are dirt cheap (often free) and can support 640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, and sometimes up to 1280 x 1024 resolutions. The other useful item is a multisync CRT. SVGA Connector, WOVTE DB HD New 15 VGA SVGA KVM Female to Female Gender Changer Adapter Coupler Pack of 2. The 15″ LCD monitor is small and can work with nearly any old or new Macintosh. This item C2G 02902 Mac DB15 Male to VGA (HD15) Female Adapter, Beige. These are cheap and readily available a few different ones may be needed due to quirks between machines. Nearly every Mac that has a video out port or dedicated video card supports 1024 x 768 – what’s needed is an adapter to convert the Mac’s DB15 connector to a VGA (HD15) style output. Simply connect the adapter to a USB-C or Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port on your Mac or iPad and then to your TV or projector via a VGA cable (sold separately). It also outputs video content like movies and captured video.
#Old mac vga adapter 1080p#
I make due around the Vintage Mac Museum primarily with two monitors for older systems: a 15″ VGA LCD (1024 x 768 resolution) and a 17″ multisync CRT. The USB-C VGA Multiport Adapter allows you to mirror your Mac or iPad Pro display to your VGA-enabled TV or display in up to 1080p HD. Old CRT monitors are a dime a dozen (literally, in some cases), but they’re bulky and heavy unless you have lots of space, it’s hard to keep more than a few around.
Here are some tips I’ve found for keeping the old beasts running and working with modern monitors. I deal with older (pre-G3) systems regularly, both through my consulting work and my personal collection, the Vintage Mac Museum.