Trying to use a 2021 imac 24" as a monitor for a 13" 2022 Mac Book Pro - not working

The extremely restrictive hardware and OS requirements for Target Display Mode are laid out here:

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

and show your devices are too new. Apple started the deprecation of TDM in late 2014 and threw the last shovel of dirt in its grave in ealry 2020. It's dead tech.

Of the options listed in the 9to5Mac article, only the standard external monitor will be lag-free and offer full display options.

Hi, sxot, what you are trying to do is called Target display Mode and it used to be possible, some years back, provided that both Macs met certain criteria… your M1 doesn’t qualify ( way too new, Apple silicon doesn’t support TDM) and your 2022 MacBook doesn’t qualify either both computers must be running High Sierra ( macOS 10.13.6) so “ No “ for both of them… only thing I’ve heard might sort of work is”Duet Display” for which you have to pay $139… or buy an external monitor ( USB-C ) with a usb-c port on your 2022 MacBook Pro.. you can have hdmi, DVI, VGA and Thunderbolt 2 with the appropriate adapters…

John B

john B

+3 Target Display Mode has been dead for about a decade, both of your computers are too new to support it. I strongly recommend that if you need an external display for the MBP that you buy one, why:

• Less expensive than you think, external displays begin at <$100
• Extremely simple setup
• Dead reliable
• No expensive and unreliable software to use

The 24" M1 iMac does not support Target Display Mode. Target Display Mode went away when the first 27" 5K Retina iMac came out in Late 2014, and never returned. In addition, Apple added restrictions on the use of TDM which mean that your 2022 MacBook Pro is too new to use ANY iMac as a Target Display.

Your Macs are new enough that you could set up either as an AirPlay Receiver, and use it as an AirPlay display for the other one. AirPlay to Mac is lower-quality than a hardware-supported connection to a real monitor, but if you already have Macs that support it, it costs nothing to play with the feature.

Continuity features and requirements for Apple devices - Apple Support

without target display being an option there are 3. party options

though my xp is that these options rarely perform all that well

Use iMac as monitor: 5 Solutions - 9to5Mac

Not sure how you've gotten iMac to iMac to work. That's interesting.

As far as target disk mode goes, @OldGoat67 is correct about the feature not being supported in the newer Macs and macOS.

iMac is not designed to be a monitor. You'd be best served by buying a real monitor if you need an external screen for MBP. They can be had starting around $125 on the low end. An external monitor will be dead easy to set up and will use much less energy that an iMac computer doing all its iMac computer stuff.

OldGoat67 wrote:

both computers must be running High Sierra ( macOS 10.13.6)

The one acting as the Target Display must be running High Sierra or earlier.

The one providing the video can be running Mojave or Catalina. However, no Apple Silicon Mac can run anything as old as Catalina. The first wave of Apple Silicon Macs shipped with Big Sur.