Jorge Valdano
Level 1
(4 points)
Q: MacBook Air to iMac 24 inch connection
Hi Guys,
I have a MacBook Air c.2011 and my partner has just bought a 2016 version - both running OS X Yosemite. I also have a 24 inch iMac c.2009 sitting on the home office desk (also running Yosemite). We want to be able to connect/dock our laptops into the iMac so we can use the bigger screen as the home computer, accessing the data and files on the laptops.
After extensive online research, the only way I can see it working is - thunderbolt port out from Macbook into Firewire 800 port on iMac.
Problem is, I've struggled to (a) find a firewire cable in any of the good electronics stores as they are outdated or (b) a male firewire/female lighting port adapter.
Does anyone have any other ideas or suggestions???
rkaufmann87
Level 9
(58,115 points)
As long as both are on the same network (wired or wireless) you don't need to connect the two together via any type of cable. What you are attempting to do is called File Sharing and is very basic function of OS X. Apple explains it in How to connect with File Sharing on your Mac - Apple Support.
However if you just want to use the computer as an external HD then you would connect via Target Disk Mode. That is explained in OS X Mountain Lion: Transfer files between two computers using target disk mode
