Hi Rod,
I was considering using my 2009 iMac as one of my monitors this if/when I buy a Mac Studio – but research suggests that this will not work> This article: https://www.macworld.com/article/348530/want-to-use-an-imac-as-an-external-monitor-you-need-an-old-version-of-macos.html says that there are certain restrictions when using the iMac as a target display: Does an iMac have to be running an old version of macOS as well to support Target Display Mode? Yes, it must. And so must the Mac connecting to it! Apple eliminated Target Display Mode support from macOS 10.14 Mojave. In order to use your iMac as a display, it has to be both the correct model year and have macOS 10.13 High Sierra or an earlier version of macOS (or Mac OS X) installed. The Mac that uses the display of an iMac of the correct vintage with the correct macOS version installed has its own requirements: the controlling Mac must be a model released in 2019 or earlier and must have macOS 10.15 Catalina or earlier installed. macOS 11 Big Sur apparently modified the capability for Intel Macs to target an otherwise qualifying iMac as a display, and the Apple silicon M1 Macs can only run Big Sur—or, soon, Monterey. although they also say: Update: A few readers with Big Sur installed have written in to say that they can, in fact, still control an iMac with their Big Sur Mac. However, we’ve also heard from other readers who were frustrated they could not. (One reader said that it only worked after pressing Command-F2 repeatedly on the iMac, sometimes a few seconds apart, which may have overcome the iMac’s resistance.) Apple only supports Catalina and earlier with this feature, which means that the company could fully disable it in an update to Big Sur without contradicting its support documents. Apple themselves say https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT204592 24-inch and 27-inch iMac models introduced in 2009 and 2010 To use any of these iMac models as an external display: · The iMac used as a display must have macOS High Sierra or earlier installed. · The other Mac you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed. · The cable connecting the two Mac computers must be a Mini DisplayPort cable. So, whether or not the target display mode would work for you would seem to depend on the OS versions you run - Big Sur is not supported by Apple but may work. However, if you want to keep your OS up to date on the MacBook pro, it seems it won’t work. However, I can tell you about a different approach I have just tried with success – after reading several articles, such as https://9to5mac.com/2021/04/21/m1-imac-target-display-mode/ I very recently bought this item: https://astropad.com/product/lunadisplay/ Obviously at US$135 it is a bit more pricy than just a cable – but, to me, it seems to offer a good solution. As I said, my main idea is to use this if/when I buy a Mac Studio so I can use my 27” iMac as one of my monitors. However I thought I would see how it worked first! I can report that I have tried it with my new 13” M1 MacBook Air (running Monterey) and my late 2009 27” i7 iMac (running El Capitan 10.11.6.). You go to https://astropad.com/app-downloads/luna-display/ install the Luna primary app on your main computer – in my case the Macbook Air install the Luna secondary app on your iMac. To use, you: Open the Luna secondary app on your iMac – the screen goes black with the message that it is now ready to be a display Plug in the Luna Display dongle to your main computer and open the Luna primary app There is some initial setup steps the first time you do it and then the iMac just acts as an external display – you can use it as a mirror or as an extended display. One thing I really like is that the iMac is still running in normal mode – press and hold the escape key on the iMac keyboard and the Luna secondary app quits and you continue to use the iMac as normal. (To the Macbook it is just like you unplugged the external display). To resume using it as a second display for the MacBook just open the Luna secondary app again. This is great if you still have apps that only work on the old iMac and great for a more gradual transition to the latest operating system on the new machine. Anyway, this may or may not be the sort of thing you want/need – but, so far, it seems to work well for me. HTH Cheers Neil From: <wamug.org.au-wamug-boun...@lists.wamug.org.au> on behalf of Rod Blitvich <rb...@iinet.net.au> Reply-To: WAMUG <wamug@wamug.org.au> Date: Saturday, 14 May 2022 at 11:01 To: WAMUG <wamug@wamug.org.au> Subject: [WAMUG] Display cable to connect 2009 27 inch iMac to 2021 M1 MacBook Pro Hi Folks Is this what I need to use my 2009 27 inch Imac as a monitor connected to my M1 Macbook Pro? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082LNGMHJ/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B082LNGMHJ&linkCode=as2&tag=rvtravelblog-20&linkId=9de52fac9a5cb1a60e8df26fd4cdb5ed&th=1 Thanks Blitto Rod Blitvich - Amy & Sam’s Dad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . rb...@iinet.net.au -- The WA Macintosh User Group Mailing List -- Archives - Guidelines - Settings & Unsubscribe -
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