Can I use iMac late 2013 as a display for Mac mini M4?

MFalla wrote:

Yeah FHD displays

Displays similar to those on Retina iMacs can be expensive or difficult to find. (Though the situation finally seems to be getting better where 27" 5K displays are concerned).

However, a 2013 iMac would not have had a Retina display. It would have had

• A 21.5" 1920x1080 (FHD) display, or
• A 27" 2560x1440 display

These days, you can get some 27" 4K displays with IPS panels and near-100% coverage of sRGB for $300–$350. Retina "like 2560x1440" mode would give you the same text size as on a 27" 2560x1440 display – while using the extra pixels to draw things more precisely. (The Mac would using 2.5K for sizing, draw at 5K, and then downscale the 5K image onto the 4K screen.)

Or you could get a 27" 2560x1440 display for a bit less.

Or you could get a 27" 5120x2880 display for maybe $800 to $1600+. (Some third-party 5K displays might have street prices of $800 – $950, while the Apple one would set you back $1600+.)

Nope!! You need to purchase an external display. Please Google “Target Display Mode” and you will find Apples explanation of Target Display Mode where it explains what is and is not supported. By the way external displays start at less than $100.

That iMac supports Target Display Mode using Thunderbolt input, but the M4 Mac mini is too recent to support using any iMac as a Target Display.

Read the bad news here: Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

So don’t waste your money buying $80+ of specialized Thunderbolt connection hardware that still won’t be enough to let you use the iMac as a display.

Buy a real standalone monitor.

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