Old 2011 MacBook Pro as Thunderbolt Hub

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Old 2011 MacBook Pro as Thunderbolt Hub

I just upgraded myself to a new Retina display MacBook Pro, and while the machine is great, I still need an ethernet port and optical drive. (Yes, I still like to buy physical CDs and import them into my music library)

Is there a way to repurpose my old 2011 MacBook Pro as a thunderbolt hub for the new MacBook? It seems a waste to have all those ports (Ethernet, Firewire 800, Optical drive) and not be able to use them.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated! (And yes I know all about the thunderbolt to Ethernet adapters...)

Posted on Nov 5, 2015 10:29 AM

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Answer 1

Nov 5, 2015 10:53 AM in response to MoSchlo

There is no comprehensive way to share everything, but there are some things that can be shared.

Internal Hard drive:

Share files between two computers with target disk mode - Apple Support

CD/DVD Reader, e.g., over an Ethernet connection:

Use the CD or DVD drive from another computer with your Mac - Apple Support

Share/Control the screen, e.g., over an Ethernet connection:

OS X Yosemite: Share your screen

.

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Answer 2

MoSchlo Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 5, 2015 11:02 AM in response to Grant Bennet-Alder

Thanks Grant,

That's what I was afraid of. Well, if there are any engineers out there that want to figure this out, I'd love to buy an app that allows me to use an old macbook as a Hub, or a tutorial of how to hack the old computer and change it into an external thunderbolt display and hub...

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