I am by no means technologically inclined but did some research and consulted with Best Buy’s geek squad. I am using a mini display port to HDMI adapter with an HDMI cable to connect the two. I am getting no reaction from my 2012 mac when pressing command f2. It’s obviously not recognizing the Mac mini. I’m not sure what to try next.
Yes, if you downgrade the 2012 iMac to High Sierra (Mac OS 10.13) it should work as a display for your Mac mini. You will need the Thunderbolt 3 adapter and Thunderbolt cable. It will not work with HDMI.
Yes, if you downgrade the 2012 iMac to High Sierra (Mac OS 10.13) it should work as a display for your Mac mini. You will need the Thunderbolt 3 adapter and Thunderbolt cable. It will not work with HDMI.
Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support
"You can connect any of these older iMac models to another Mac from 2019 or earlier for use as an external display."
If your new computer is a 2020 iMac it can't use another iMac as a display.
If it's a Mac mini, it's actually a 2018 model (even if purchased in 2020), so can do it if the iMac is running the correct software.
"Target display mode requires macOS High Sierra or earlier on the iMac used as the external display. It does not work with macOS Mojave or later."
You will need a Thunderbolt 3 adapter
Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) to Thunderbolt 2 Adapter - Apple
and a Thunderbolt cable.
My 2012 mac is using Catalina. So from what I understand from your response is that I should be able to use it with the Mac mini if my OS on the 2012 mac is running Sierra High or earlier? Correct me if I’m wrong.
Using 2012 iMac as display for 2020 iMac mini
