Docking stations

Melbourne_Ash wrote:

Was trying to use them as targets displays for the surface laptop

Not possible.

There are two products that people sometimes use with Macs to try to reuse iMacs as displays – using second-class, software-based means. One is Luna Display, by Astropad, a software-based workaround that requires the use of a hardware "dongle". The other is Duet Display, a workaround that you rent for $48 or more per year.

Microsoft – Surface Laptop 2 specs and features

I don't think Luna Display would let you drive that 5K iMac at 5K resolution. You need the USB-C version of Luna Display and a good connection to get 5K at 30 – 45 Hz. Your Surface Laptop 2 doesn't have any USB-C port for directly attaching the dongle, let alone something like Thunderbolt to carry the video data.

I'm not sure if your laptop would produce good results with Duet Display, either. (If Duet Display worked with that setup at all.)

If you're trying to use either computer as a hard-wired display for the other, that won't work.

No 27" Retina 5K iMac ever made supported Target Display Mode input. The appearance of your model was when 27" iMacs lost Target Display Mode for good.

The Surface Laptop 2 has a Miini DisplayPort. I'm pretty sure it's for video output only, not for video input.

Were you trying to connect the computers for display purposes? Or data transfer / data sharing ones?

As far as finding a real hardware monitor for that Surface Laptop 2 …

Your laptop uses an 8th-generation Intel CPU with an Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated GPU. According to the data sheet for the Intel® Core™ i7-8550U (one 8th-generation CPU that uses that iGPU, though perhaps not the CPU in the Surface Laptop 2), its iGPU has internal support for three video outputs:

• HDMI – up to 4096 x 2304 @ 24 Hz
• DisplayPort – up to 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz
• eDP (built-in display) – up to 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz

Presumably your laptop uses the eDP one for its internal display and the DisplayPort one for its Mini DisplayPort, leaving the HDMI one unused.

Microsoft does not say in their specifications whether the Mini DisplayPort output on the Surface Laptop 2 will support the full 4096 x 2304 @ 60 Hz. (I believe that's Cinema 4K resolution, which is a little bit higher than the Ultra HD resolution you find on consumer "4K" TV sets and monitors.) But this Microsoft Community thread has a reply by a "Microsoft Agent | Moderator" that seems to say that it can.

Microsoft Community – surface laptop 2