A:AnswerYes, mini display port is backward compatible with thunderbolt 2 cables....but not the other way around (i.e, if you have a thunderbolt 2 port you cannot use a minidisplay cable because the data will not transfer; I tried it and my 27" thunderbolt apple display monitor has major pieces of functionality missing.... ONLY a Thunderbolt 2 cable is compatible with Thunderbolt apple monitors... but if you have an older minidisplay cabled apple monitor you can just plug it into the thunderbolt 2 port on your laptop; I tried that also and it works fine; I have both tpes of monitors I use with my MacBookPro 2009 and 2011 and MaBookAir 2017 all work fine with both of my monitors and the brightness buttons work just fine as well on both monitors in all 3 computers because I'm using genuine apple cables of the correct type). I don't know if what is sold on BestBuy 3rd party sellers are actual real Apple or knock-offs and I'm afraid to buy one even though I need the longer cable Just can't deal with knock-offs that do not work properly. There are no guarantees about authenticity mentioned and return policy is vague.
