My Thunderbolt Display started chirping when attached to a computer a few months ago, and then a few weeks ago, it out and out died.
Now, I am fully aware that this monitor is extremely obsolete with its USB 2 ports, moderate resolution and Thunderbolt 2 connectivity. But, it is still an attractive, accurate monitor with lots of connectivity. So, I deemed it worth it to spend $139 on a replacement power supply. Also needed some suction cups to pull the front glass off. It was a good task to assign my son, although we nearly broke the internal cable connecting the motherboard to the LCD panel.
Also bought a replacement power+data cable as the strain relief had failed a long while ago, leading me to use the passthrough Thunderbolt 2 port to connect to the monitor. I could probably have gone without this expense.
It would be great if someone manufactured a replacement cable that incorporated USB-C + Power + Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3. There are a lot of these monitors out there. Where I work, these legacy monitors are coveted by anyone assigned a normal corporate purchase monitor. A swap in cable replacement would make them practically perfect.
Everything worked although I did manage to snap the screw holding the grounding wire to the external cable, so I had to do a bit of a solder hack. And now, I have my beautiful Thunderbolt Display back on my desk.
