Studio using late 2013 as monitor

cyrano7 wrote:

For what it’s worth, I bought the Studio specifically because it can run 4 monitors. And then I find, that one of them cannot be the previously available 27.

I’m waiting on the cable in the mail now, USB-C to Mini DisplayPort. It is not an Apple cable, however.

I also wonder, if the OS systems permit, if a Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable would work? The Studio has 1 HDMI port.

I am sorry to disappoint you, but no, a Mini DisplayPort will not work, and in fact would not have worked with any mac as the source.

Even though the connector is the same, the hardware for MiniDisplayPort and Thunderbolt 2 are two different things. Your mac only ever supported Target Display Mode via a Thunderbolt cable - and it still does.

The problem is that support on the side of the Mac Studio is almost certainly nonexistent.

But to make sure we cover all the bases: what exactly have you connected the two? You said you used "the proper cable" but did not elaborate on that. If it had any hope of working, it had to be an adapter from Thunderbot 3 to Thunderbolt 2, and a Thunderbolt 2 cable.

I can certainly sympathize. I have for years used a 21" iMac as a second display for my mac; but I decided against buying the TB3-TB2 adapter just to try this with my current MBP, and settled on a cheaper display (which I had lying around, but would probably have cost less than the adapter...)

The older iMac running in Target Display Mode must be running High Sierra or earlier.

The Mac using the iMac as a display must running Catalina or earlier.

So, alas this won't work. You could install High Sierra on the iMac, but the Studio cannot run Catalina.

Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

I doubt that target display mode would work with the Mac Studio using any cable, and if possible, the iMac would need to be running macOS High Sierra or older. You would be better served with a real higher resolution display and not a nine-year old iMac.

cyrano7 wrote:

Can my late 2013 iMac 27 be used as a monitor for my brand new Studio?

FWIW, the bottom line is, trying to use any iMac with a Mac Studio is unsupported. I believe you're just spinning your wheels so to speak.

I don’t think that the keyboards are the limiting factor. On any case, the keyboard might only have any relevance in the older imac. But most likely in this case, the limiting factor is the lack of support for this configuration in the new Studio.

I forgot to add this: if it even works, it is with the TB3-TB2 adapter (which I think is the one you are waiting for) and a TB2-TB2 cable (which I assume you already have). If that fails, it will confirm that one can’t use TDM with the Studio as the source. I hope it works, but I am not very optimistic.

• The link below indicates it can using Support for Target Display Mode via the Thunderbolt port using a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable (sold separately)

Link iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) - Technical Specifications (CA)

I thought I had read somewhere that this works but the iMac must be rolled back to an early OS. Do you know what OS your iMac was on when you tried?

The OP's question is important to me too as I just purchased a MacStudio and would very much like to use my 27" iMac as an additional monitor.

cyrano7 wrote:

So, I got the Studio, which promises "4 monitors and a TV." Nowhere did it say "but not old iMacs".

Probably because an iMac is not a monitor.

Thanks for the help.

You're welcome.

Building on previous Contributors comments

If the user wishes to explore the Apple Trading In option where the Value of the exiting machine could be used against the cost of a new Apple Computer 

Or Shop Refurbished Apple computers at an Apple Reduced Cost

Have used both previously and have been satisfied each time.

Who knows if this machines value could be used for a Better Hi-Res Display from Apple

That is interesting.

It should be noted that the two imacs in the video are pretty old (2012 and 2013; they were made to run Monterey by using a third party hack, as described in the video).

I do not have the means to test this.

I think I can explain away the "only works with Windows keyboard" claim.

The person in that video had a mac keyboard on the 2013, and a windows keyboard on the 2012.

The 2013 does not support Target Display Mode, so that is why it did not work. If he had switched the keyboards between the two macs, he could have confirmed that it is the specific model of iMac and not the keyboard that is the limitation.