Using 2008 iMac as an External Display for my 2016 MacBook Pro

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Level 1

41 points

Using 2008 iMac as an External Display for my 2016 MacBook Pro

Hi, so have had a 2008 iMac for a good while now and it has just been sitting in a another room collecting dust. While my 2016 MacBook Pro has been in repair (for the keyboard) these past couple days, I have once again grown fond of the huge 24-inch display on this iMac. So I was wondering if there was a way to connect my 2016 MacBook Pro to the 2008 iMac and use the iMac as an external display for my MacBook Pro.

I am aware that only models starting in 2009 were able to use the Target Display Mode, which kinda stinks. I also know that I would be unable to use the mini-DVI port. So I was wondering if there was another way (like through CAT5/Ethernet or maybe firewire) to do this and how I would go about doing so.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Tyler

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Sep 8, 2019 1:32 PM

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Answer 1

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,446 points

Sep 8, 2019 1:37 PM in response to techguy5000

Your question is asked almost daily and the answer is no it will not work and no there are no work arounds. Your 2008 iMac is a computer, not an external display for another computer. Please read Use your iMac as a display with Target Display Mode and this will tell you which iMacs will work and what connections they need, your 2008 iMac is not among them.

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Answer 2

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,446 points

Sep 8, 2019 4:37 PM in response to techguy5000

As I mentioned it cannot be done, sorry but the answer is that simple. The articles you read are full of falsehoods. What you need to do is to buy an external display to work with your MBP. As mentioned your question is asked daily and the answer has ALWAYS been the same.

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Answer 3

techguy5000 Author

Level 1

41 points

Sep 8, 2019 4:18 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Hi rkaufmann87! Thank you for your reply, and yes, I am aware of this as I did read this article before posting this thread. But, I saw in other threads that some people were able to do this through FireWire and Ethernet/CAT5, but they never explained how, so I was just wondering how that would be done.

Thanks!

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Using 2008 iMac as an External Display for my 2016 MacBook Pro

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