Note! This page only shows the basic pinout of this cable. The original cable may have resistors or other components inside which are unknown to me. If you happen to find additional information on what is needed to replicate this cable, or you successfully build a replacement cable, please contact me with any additional helpful information you may have.
Some of Apple’s monitors for their early modular Macintosh systems required unique cables to connect to their computers. 1989’s Macintosh Portrait Display and the Macintosh Two-Page Monochrome Display both feature 13W3 connectors instead of Apple’s standard DB-15 video port.
The 13W3 connector is something that may be familiar to you if you’ve used older Sun Microsystems machines or some NeXT systems.
In my quest to get my Portrait display working I purchased an Apple-branded DB-15 to 13W3 cable, which thankfully ended up working fine. This cable will plug into any (compatible) Macintosh system and let it work with the Portrait display.
This cable is becoming hard to find these days, so I decided to create a pinout so those of you may be able to create your own cable. Please be aware that I am using the numbering system printed on inside of the male side of the connectors.
The 13W3 connector has three parts labeled A1, A2, and A3. Each of these parts has both an outside and inside connector. I do not have a Two-Page Monochrome display to test this cable on, but I am told it works on that too.
Cable Pinout Diagram & Table
Please use the diagram shown below with the table of the cable pinouts.
| Apple DB-15 to 13W3 Pinout | Version 1.0 – October 2020 |
| DB-15 (Male Side) Pin # | 13W3 (Male Side) Pin # |
| 1 | A3 (Outside) |
| 2 | A3 (Inside) |
| 3 | 5 |
| 4 | 9 |
| 5 | A2 (Inside) |
| 6 | A2 (Outside) |
| 7 | 8 |
| 8 | None / Not Connected |
| 9 | A1 (Inside) |
| 10 | 3 |
| 11 | 4, 7, & 10 |
| 12 | 2 |
| 13 | A1 (Outside) |
| 14 | 1 |
| 15 | 6 |
| Connector Shield | Connector Shield |
Note: Apple still has an article on their website which details the pinout of the Apple Portrait Display (from the female / monitor side of the port). https://support.apple.com/kb/TA43900?locale=en_US
I am also including this here in case Apple removes it from their page.
