Apple Studio Display diagnose Thunderbolt connection

August 17, 2026

The Apple Studio Display has an onboard CPU with upgradable firmware and uses a Thunderbolt connection from the computer. The 2022 first generation Apple Studio Display uses Thunderbolt 3, and the 2026 second generation Apple Studio Display uses Thunderbolt 5. If Thunderbolt connection isn’t available (due to the computer or cable) then the Studio Display falls back to DisplayPort mode, which lacks features like wake from sleep.

Querying the display Thunderbolt connection is distinct but straightforward across operating systems:

Windows

Get-PnpDevice -PresentOnly | Where-Object { $_.FriendlyName -match 'Thunderbolt|USB4' } | Format-Table Status, Class, FriendlyName, InstanceId -AutoSize

The first generation Apple Studio Display will have a FriendlyName like “Thunderbolt 3(TM) Router, Apple Inc. - Studio Display”

macOS

system_profiler SPThunderboltDataType | grep -A 20 -i "Studio Display"

The Studio display should show up detailing the Thunderbolt connection.

Linux

The bolt utility is available on many desktop Linux distros:

boltctl list -a

and similar should show Thunderbolt-connected display. Alternative:

lspci | grep -iE 'thunderbolt'