Can I use my old iMac as a monitor?

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Level 1

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Can I use my old iMac as a monitor?

I have recently bought a MacBook Air (having received some great advice from this forum) and am pleased that I can extend the screen to my iPad Pro (2nd gen), but also wanted a larger screen in addition.

Before I buy a monitor I wanted to know if I could reuse my old iMac? (21.5" (late 2013), 2.7 GHz Quad-Core Intel Core i5, with 8GB Ram (1600 MHz DDR3) and a 1TB hard drive)

Buying new is not a problem, but this iMac is a good size and it seems not worth much second hand (£40 trade in to Apple!), so I would love to give it a second life.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Apr 19, 2022 3:09 AM

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Answer 1

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David McKinlay

Level 7

23,636 points

Apr 19, 2022 3:29 AM in response to Loody_Doody

No, unfortunately. Target Disc Mode is a thing of the past.

Target Disc Mode - or sometimes called Target Display Mode - can be achieved by using two older Macs, but as your Air is new it cannot be used for this.

Use your iMac as a display with target display mode details the Macs which can be used:

iMac models introduced in 2011, 2012, 2013, and mid 2014
24-inch and 27-inch iMac models introduced in 2009 and 2010
with macOS High Sierra or earlier installed
The other Mac that you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed.

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Can I use my old iMac as a monitor?

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