- Imac As Display For Mac Mini
- Use Imac As Screen For Mac Pro
- Can You Use Imac As Display For Macbook Pro
- Imac Or Macbook Pro
in short, i understand the answer is 'no', but I am wrestling with the alternatives.
The Problem:
I have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 15', 2014) at work, and I tend to work from home a few times per week.
Imac As Display For Mac Mini
I currently use a very old external display (>15 yrs, CRT via VGA adapter) when I work from home.
That PC is now completely dead (Win XP, corrupted hal.sys) so I was planning to buy the new iMac Retina 5K as my new home computer.
Press Command (⌘) + F2 on the keyboard of the iMac that you want to use as a display. Your target iMac will now display the desktop of the other, connected Mac. To exit TDM, just press Command + F2. Apple's Pro Display XDR is certainly impressive but not everyone is going want to spend over $5,000 on a monitor. If you're looking for a high-quality monitor with a lower price tag, these are our.
Then I found out that the new iMac Retina 5K cannot be used as a Target Display for a MacBook Pro, and possibly will never work in that capacity.
(bandwidth limitations of ThunderBolt 1.2 can't drive that many pixels, or something like that, but doesn't really matter)
As a work-around, I was hoping to put the MBP in Target Disk Mode, and boot the iMac from the MBP disk.
I tried that at the Apple Store this morning with one of the 'Geniuses'.
We selected the MBP disk on startup, but the iMac just ignored the MBP disk and booted from it's own internal disk.
![For For](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126596137/821475376.jpg)
I suspect that is the same issue where the MBP cannot drive the iMac display, and/or Thunderbolt limitation, but again, doesn't matter.
![Imac Imac](/uploads/1/2/6/5/126596137/492048975.jpg)
The Alternatives, each with it's own set of Cons:
1. Buy last year's iMac which works fine as an external ('Target') display for the latest MacBook pro.
I really don't like the idea of buying last year's technology, especially since I tend to hang on to my PCs longer than average.
Also, I have compared last year's iMac to the Retina 5K side-by-side, so obviously, I would really like to get the 5K. :-)
2. Reboot the MBP into Target Disk Mode, mount it as an external disk from the iMac, and have access to my work apps and data.
I tested a few things at the Apple Store this morning. Some apps crashed, but I am still running Mavericks on the MBP, so I suspect this will be fine once I upgrade the MBP to Yosemite. Of course, this would be a pain having to reboot my MacBook every day or two. Besides the time hit, I would lose all my context from one day to the next. :-(
3. Get the new iMac Retina 5K and a separate display for the MacBook when I work from home.
This seems like it would be a silly waste of money and limited desk space.
4. Just use the MBP display when I work from home.
I have a herniated disc in my neck, so using the MBP display all day long is literally a pain.
Use Imac As Screen For Mac Pro
Any other / better solutions I haven't considered?
Can You Use Imac As Display For Macbook Pro
What are people doing who have bought the Retina 5K but also have a MacBook?
TIA,
Nate
MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Mid 2014), OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)
Imac Or Macbook Pro
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