Mirrored Display and 2nd monitor question

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Level 1

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Mirrored Display and 2nd monitor question

Hi, I have a 2012 Mini in a location where I need two displays - one desktop, one cabled about 20 feet away to another studio room. What i've been doing for this lately is, engaging Mirrored Display and using the HDMI port for the desktop and the Thunderbolt port for the remote display. Now I need to add a device that requires the Thunderbolt port, and this machine only has one. What's the best way to keep this set-up or modify it, so that i can maintain the dual display, and free up the Thunderbolt port for this new device? Thanks!

Mac mini, macOS 10.14

Posted on Nov 26, 2022 8:43 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Malcolm J. Rayfield

Level 7

23,059 points

Nov 26, 2022 12:42 PM in response to MIKEinMICH

If you can find an old Apple Thunderbolt display you could use it for the desktop. Connect its Thunderbolt cable to the Mac mini and plug the extra Thunderbolt device into the Thunderbolt port on the back of the display. You would have to use the Mac mini's HDMI port for the remote display.

Make sure it's a Thunderbolt display, not the similar LED Cinema Display. The ports on back of the Thunderbolt display are: FireWire, Ethernet, Thunderbolt, and 3 USB. The LED Cinema Display has just the 3 USB ports.

The cable from a Thunderbolt display has two plugs: MagSafe and Thunderbolt. A Thunderbolt has a Lightning Bolt icon.

The cable from a LED Cinema Display has three plugs: MagSafe, USB and Mini DisplayPort.

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Answer 2

MIKEinMICH Author

Level 1

20 points

Nov 26, 2022 10:13 AM in response to den.thed

Yeah this is a bit of a challenge since the 2012 only has the single TB port. Is there a way to split two monitors out of the same HDMI ? I gather that in that case both monitors might have to be identical resolution or models?

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Answer 3

den.thed

Level 10

82,420 points

Nov 26, 2022 10:27 AM in response to MIKEinMICH

I had also considers an HDMI splitter or repeater, but have never tested that setup. Plus yes, that could be an issue if the monitors are different sizes.

Edit: does the UA Apollo Twin have USB input?

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Answer 4

MIKEinMICH Author

Level 1

20 points

Nov 26, 2022 1:47 PM in response to den.thed

No, just a TB in/out device. I'm now considering just using a spare Mini newer-gen(2018) - which has plenty of TB ports in addition to HDMI. I've used the Apollo on that machine with a TB>USB-C passive adapter Then, presumably I can do Mirrored Display by putting the remote monitor on one of the TB ports, using a VGA>USB-C adapter.

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