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New Mac Pro 2014 - using late 2010 iMac as monitor

Hi all, I am about to get the new Mac Pro (desktop) and almost stuck my iMac (late 2010 Core i5 16GB Ram) on ebay in order to get a new Thunderbolt display. But then I thought I could use old iMac as monitor.


I'm pretty sure this can be done - but wondered if there were any drawbacks (e.g. all the resources of the iMac running all the time (or can these be disabled?) Of course, I'd love a 4K display 😁 but for now too highly priced.


Any one got this type of setup already? Any thoughts?, Advice?


thanks


Mark.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.3)

Posted on Apr 5, 2014 11:44 PM

Reply
3 replies

Apr 6, 2014 8:37 AM in response to madaboutu

Once you get your Mac Pro setup and established, you may want to use the compute power of BOTH computers, while "driving" from the iMac.


If you set up Screen Sharing, you can have the Mac Pro's screen appear in a window on the iMac, including the ability to move the Mac Pro's mouse and launch Applications on the Mac Pro. This is very difficult to set up on day 1 without a real display (or the iMac in target display mode).


Gigabit Ethernet Switch is strongly recommended. (Otherwise mouse tracking can get laggy). Your Router is not likely to be that fast, so you do not necessarily have to replace your Router. But if you do not already have a dual-band Router, the newest models from Apple are very nice, and provide a Gigabit Ethernet Switch with three open Gigabit Ethernet ports.


Gigabit Switches are not on the front display at Best Buy, but they are available at the Apple Online Store in 5-port, 8, 16, and 24:


http://store.apple.com/us/search/Gigabit-Switch#!

New Mac Pro 2014 - using late 2010 iMac as monitor

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