iMac mid-2011 as Target Display for MacBook 2017

The Target Display article (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592) indicates my iMac can connect to another Mac via a Thunderbolt cable. A MacBook 2017 has (only) a USB-C port, not Thunderbolt. Is there adapter that will allow this to work?

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.13

Posted on May 14, 2019 5:08 PM

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Posted on May 14, 2019 6:24 PM

You are right. That adapter requires a Thunderbolt-3 port, and won't work with USB-C only ports. There is no way to run a Thunderbolt display (or Thunderbolt iMac in Target Display Mode) from a non-Thunderbolt computer.


You could run screen sharing software on the iMac so see the MacBook screen, but it will be slow.

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May 14, 2019 6:24 PM in response to TJM-Tom

You are right. That adapter requires a Thunderbolt-3 port, and won't work with USB-C only ports. There is no way to run a Thunderbolt display (or Thunderbolt iMac in Target Display Mode) from a non-Thunderbolt computer.


You could run screen sharing software on the iMac so see the MacBook screen, but it will be slow.

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iMac mid-2011 as Target Display for MacBook 2017

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