MacBook – Connect dual displays to MacBook 2011

I'd go with DisplayPort, if for no other reason than it's the native connector for your MacBook, and it's more likely that other devices will have DVI or HDMI, so that if you feel the need to use multiple computers with the monitor in the future you have those ports open.

Monoprice is my go-to source for cabling. It has a pretty good selection of DisplayPort (mini and full-size) cables and adapters, very cheaply, including the mini-DisplayPort to DisplayPort cables you need.

The Apple mini-DisplayPort to VGA or HDMI adapter terminates the Thunderbolt chain where it is connected, so until Apple released new MacBook Pro with two Thunderbolt ports (similar to the iMac that has two ports) then you will only get one video signal from the device through the Thunderbolt port.

You may find an inexpensive USB to VGA solution to get around this limitation. Initially they were slower, but the newer ones are getting much faster and the software much better. You can then put the most important content on the Thunderbolt port and have the secondary display served over USB.

Should a Thunderbolt adapter come about that drives two displays, I'll update the answer, but nothing has been released (or even rumored) even though it's clearly something the protocol could support.

I like this knowledge base article for the clear deprecation of which Macs support two Thunderbolt displays and which ones only support one.

• Apple Thunderbolt Display (27-inch): Connection options for Thunderbolt Macs