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I have 2 iMacs, I have one iMac mid 2011 and one iMac late 2013. I want to use one or the other as external display on the other.

I if look at the requirements it should work. I just bought a new thunderbolt cable, I tried everything on this page. Why isn't it working?

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Jun 27, 2023 5:03 AM

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Posted on Jun 27, 2023 5:16 AM

Do you meet all these requirements?…

  • The iMac used as a display must have 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.
  • The cable connecting the two Mac computers must be a Thunderbolt  or Thunderbolt 2  cable.


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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 27, 2023 5:16 AM in response to DusitnM

Do you meet all these requirements?…

  • The iMac used as a display must have 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.
  • The cable connecting the two Mac computers must be a Thunderbolt  or Thunderbolt 2  cable.


Jun 28, 2023 2:33 AM in response to DusitnM

DusitnM wrote:

Well I dont care really which one of them is used to do command f2. As long as it works I’m fine with it

The support article says that "the iMac used as a display must have macOS High Sierra or earlier installed." You can use the iMac running High Sierra as an extra display for the one running Catalina – but not the other way around.


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


The Command-F2 (or Command-Fn-F2) must be done on the iMac that is going to be the "display".


I have 2 iMacs, I have one iMac mid 2011 and one iMac late 2013. I want to use one or the other as external display on the other.

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