Area-51m needs BIOS update to allow BIOS Assist for Thunderbolt

Hello Community,

Posting this here hoping Dell will release an update for the A51M BIOS that will enable the Apple Thunderbolt Display to work as I have seen so many posts here and on reddit as well but none had a solution.

I have been searching and searching all over to find a way to connect my Apple Thunderbolt Display to my Alienware Area-51m. The Apple Thunderbolt Display has a Thunderbolt 2 connection, so I bought this Apple Thunderbolt 2 to Thunderbolt 3 adapter : (https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MMEL2AM/A/thunderbolt-3-usb-c-to-thunderbolt-2-adapter)

 

I updated everything for my A51M, latest BIOS (1.10.0), latest Thunderbolt control driver, everything is up to date.

 

When I connect the monitor to my A51M (plugging the Apple adapter in the Thunderbolt 3 port), this approved thunderbolt devices window pops up (see photo).

 

I then select always connect:

After this, nothing happens. The Apple Thunderbolt Display is not turning on. When I view attached devices this is what shows up:

When I click the blue "Not Connected" it the previous window will show up asking me if I want to connect this device:

Even if I click always connect, the connection status will still remain "Not connected".

 

After seeing this post here: https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/XPS-15-9570-TB3-USB-C-non-supported-Apple-Thunderbolt-Display/m-p/6116974#M13817 it looks like this user managed to connect by enabling the BIOS Assist Enumeration in the Thunderbolt Security settings in BIOS. He was using a XPS 15 9570. I tried going in both BIOS and UEFI of my Alienware Area-51m and I cannot find the Thunderbolt Security settings. 

For what I read from other forums, it looks like some settings are hidden in BIOS. I tried all the tricks to launch BIOS and from there press A immediately, press FN+TAB 3 times and go in BIOS again, I still didn't manage to load the BIOS Advanced (hidden) settings. I believe Dell locked these setting so that users will not overclock they CPU and it is understandable, I also read that there is a vulnerability in the Thunderbolt ports that could be exploited by hackers, so again, it is understandable why these thunderbolt security options are hidden from the user. 

 

Some more details about the Thunderbolt Software version I am using:

 

So DELL could you please take a look at this issue and release an update which will allow the Apple Thunderbolt Display to connect to Area 51m while also maintaining the security ?

 

Very very important to mention: after leaving the monitor plugged in my laptop, the thunderbolt 2 end of the cable gets hot! I believe the signal is trying to be transmitted but it is blocked by the Alienware settings.

 

Anyone, if you have any tips or suggestions, or if you are also struggling to connect an Apple Thunderbolt Display to your A51M please comment your experience on this.

 

Thanks community!

Miu23