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MacBook Pro 2021: How to Use Your Old iMac as a Monitor


How can I connect my new MacBook Pro with my iMac (late 2011) and use it as a monitor?


MacBook Pro

Posted on Jun 29, 2022 6:11 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 29, 2022 8:34 AM

Your 2011 iMac was capable of being a monitor for certain other Macs, but not your Macbook Pro.The article zKaczor links says this:


    • The other Mac that you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed.


Therefore your MacBook Pro is too new. A free-standing external monitor uses cheaper cabling, is easier to set up, uses far less power and, important to me, allows extended desktop. Target Display Mode only offered mirrored desktop.


Apple began the deprecation of Target Display Mode in Late 2014, and threw the last shovel of dirt in its face in early 2020. It's dead tech.

5 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 29, 2022 8:34 AM in response to patrycja49

Your 2011 iMac was capable of being a monitor for certain other Macs, but not your Macbook Pro.The article zKaczor links says this:


    • The other Mac that you're connecting it to must have been introduced in 2019 or earlier and have macOS Catalina or earlier installed.


Therefore your MacBook Pro is too new. A free-standing external monitor uses cheaper cabling, is easier to set up, uses far less power and, important to me, allows extended desktop. Target Display Mode only offered mirrored desktop.


Apple began the deprecation of Target Display Mode in Late 2014, and threw the last shovel of dirt in its face in early 2020. It's dead tech.

MacBook Pro 2021: How to Use Your Old iMac as a Monitor

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