Target Display Mode not working 2020 MacBook Pro (Catalina)

thanks Grant but it's not. Purchased in 2020 but it's identified as a specked up 2019 model in the 'about this mac' window. I've tried a number of fixes including osx re-install and exhausted options according to apple support with recommendation to use screen sharing (which you also linked to earlier) which I've found to be an unsatisfactory user experience. The imac continues to work flawlessly in TDM with the 2015 mbp running sierra!

Are you also running High Sierra or OLDER on your iMac? and the recommended cables from that article?

If that is the case, and it is still not working for you, applying pressure to Apple MAY get them to fix the feature. But it is FAR more likely they would "FIX" the documentation to include that your case does not work either.

Okay thanks Grant, I'm running Catalina on the imac but will try a reinstall of high Sierra. I assumed that while running Catalina, since it was still working in TDM with my 2015 MBP that the 2019 MBP should connect also. I'll get back to you on this. Thanks for the tips.

Just adding another voice to the chorus. It's my new MacBook Air, not MBP, but I'm equally frustrated and out-of-pocket on cables etc., as well as having spent 3 or 4 hours with Apple support on the phone before sale and after, trying to make this work.

Now I understand why my work laptop - a 2019 MacBook Pro works with my 2013 iMac in Target Display Mode but our new 2020 MacBook Pro does not. So frustrating! They have the same OS and almost identical capabilities. Why did Apple do this to us?

I have this exact same issue. What a huge disappointment. Apple is this true? Can you contact me if it’s not?

I’ve tried everything! I meet all the other requirements for macOS version, using all Apple cables, I’ve spent $$$$$ trying to get this to work as advertised and 10+ hours of my time! Will Apple saw my iMac for a mid 2014? So it will work?

Sam here I was gonna buy iMac 2020 but returning it as I have macbook pro 2020 and would have loves to use it as external monitor and my video editing setup. I hope the "target display mode" comes back.

I have exactly the same problem.

My MBP from 2019 is working together with my iMac 27 (mid-2011) in Target Display Mode but not the newest MBP from 2020, I bought recently.

Pretty disappointing, Apple!

Cannot this be considered as a flagrant example of programmed obsolescence, just made intentionally for people to buy more display screens, to the detriment of the planet?

Apple has always been very sensitive to this...

I just bought a MacBook Air 2020 with the newer M1 models and a cable to connect with my 2011 iMac. With my previous MacBook Pro I could use it as a screen but with this one it does not work. They did not told me so when I purchased the Thunderbolt 3 - Thunderbolt 2 adapter, which is quite expensive.

Very dissappointed.

For a company that is proud to say they care about the environment they sure rather my late 2013 iMac end up in a land fill polluting ground water and the environment then be used for another 5 - 10 years as a monitor. I’d be glad to chunk the the old iMac into the ocean for them and go buy a competition monitor that will prob last 1-2 years and throw that right into the ocean too! Way to Apple! Pushing people the brink of ruining the environment.

DisplayLink technology creates a "fake" display buffer in RAM, sends the data out over a slower interface to a stunt box with DisplayLink custom chips that put that data back onto a "legacy" interface. It is not a true "accelerated" display, and it suffers from lagging.

It may be acceptable for a second display showing slow-to-change data such as computer program listings, stock quotes, or spreadsheets, but NOT for full motion Video, not for Video editing, and absolutely not for gaming. Mouse-tracking on that display can lag, and can make you feel queasy.

In a pinch, it may even play Internet videos without (as one user put it) "too many dropped frames".

This is in stark contrast to the Apple standard for its built-in hardware-accelerated displays ,which are suitable for production/display of cinema-quality video with NO dropped frames, and NO dropouts or partial-blank scan lines due to memory under-runs or other issues.

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It is really nice to know that you can use a DisplayLink display if you MUST have an additional display for some of the types of data I mentioned. But that is NOT the same as the computer supporting a second, built-in, Hardware-accelerated display.

These displays depend on DisplayLink software, and are at the whim of Apple when they make MacOS changes. There have been cases where MacOS changes completely Borked DisplayLink software, and it took some time for them to recover.

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I think the Big Surprise for a lot of Hub/Dock buyers is that they thought they were getting a "real" display, but actually got a DisplayLink "fake" Display. If you got what you expected in every case, I would not use such pejorative terms to describe DisplayLink.

You make some good points.

Apple so far has stuck to their: 'no delays, no dropouts, cinema quality' standard on the Mac. As displays get bigger and bigger, and the hardware requirements (especially memory speeds) become more torturous, whether enforcing Apple's standard as THE single standard available is the correct choice for everyone is certainly debatable.

Using DisplayLink displays for your secondary displays allows you to think differently. But in suggesting these alternatives, we must NOT gloss over the fact that the quality may be somewhat different than the standard Apple espouses. Deciding to use DisplayLink displays should be an Educated choice.

yeah, I myself plan to use it to add only one 1080p1200 dell display to a macbook, while using the native connection to connect a regular displayport 27'' display using apple thunderbolt to displayport cable to the same macbook natively. so i think i'm good, even when watching netflix and such on the 1080 dell screen

i do of course agree, it has to be an informed choice here.

You don't need ANY extra equipment to connect two Macs (through your Router) over Wi-Fi -- just enable File sharing in Sharing preferences.

The drawback is that for large volumes of data, it can be very slow... like DAYS.