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Best way to display my 2012 iMac on to my 2019 iMac screen

G

gmac190

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 24, 2013
16
1
Hello

I have a 2012 iMac with thunderbolt. My display has been smashed and I want to connect it to my new 2019 iMac so that I can use the new Mac as a display for the old one as I need to get music / movies etc off the old one. What cable would I need to do this?

Is this the best way to do it or would it be better to connect the 2012 iMac to a TV - again what adapter would I need for this?

Thanks
 
gmac190 said:
Hello

I have a 2012 iMac with thunderbolt. My display has been smashed and I want to connect it to my new 2019 iMac so that I can use the new Mac as a display for the old one as I need to get music / movies etc off the old one. What cable would I need to do this?

Is this the best way to do it or would it be better to connect the 2012 iMac to a TV - again what adapter would I need for this?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Option 1: Running the iMac 2012.
Using your TV is easier in this case.
You will need a mini-display port to HDMI cable.
For video signal output, this cable will work.
Use a single cable, no adapter.

Otion 2: Data rescue only
Un-plug the iMac 2012 from power source.
Remove the broken LCD off.
remove the HDD/SSD, put it to a USB enclosure.
Plug the enclosure to iMac 2019 and copy files to the iMac 2019.
 
Yeah after Apple went to the Retina iMacs, Target Display mode sadly died. You could connect your 2019 to your 2012, but not the other way around.

So "the best way" would be a software video stream like VNC. But there is no good way.

To connect to a TV you'd most likely need a Mini DisplayPort -> HDMI assuming your TV doesn't have DisplayPort ports.
 
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Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
Otion 2: Data rescue only
Un-plug the iMac 2012 from power source.
Remove the broken LCD off.
remove the HDD/SSD, put it to a USB enclosure.
Plug the enclosure to iMac 2019 and copy files to the iMac 2019.
Click to expand...

Alternatively boot it in Target Disk mode by holding T during boot. With it plugged into the 2019 Mac through Thunderbolt the data should be accessible from the 2019
 
Nguyen Duc Hieu said:
Option 1: Running the iMac 2012.
Using your TV is easier in this case.
You will need a mini-display port to HDMI cable.
For video signal output, this cable will work.
Use a single cable, no adapter.

Otion 2: Data rescue only
Un-plug the iMac 2012 from power source.
Remove the broken LCD off.
remove the HDD/SSD, put it to a USB enclosure.
Plug the enclosure to iMac 2019 and copy files to the iMac 2019.
Click to expand...
Both these options are doable as I took the screen off this morning. I thought the mini-display port had different connections than a thunderbolt connection (from google). These are cheap as chips on Amazon so will give this a try. The enclosures seem fairly cheap too.


Thanks for the advice
 
casperes1996 said:
Sure. But significantly easier than opening up the iMac to pull out the disk and the OP may have family or friends with the required cabling
Click to expand...
The iMac is open, actually surprised how easy it was to take off!! At least I have options to get this working.
 
gmac190 said:
Both these options are doable as I took the screen off this morning. I thought the mini-display port had different connections than a thunderbolt connection (from google). These are cheap as chips on Amazon so will give this a try. The enclosures seem fairly cheap too.


Thanks for the advice
Click to expand...

Yes, they are different, there is a thunderbolt chip inside the thunderbolt cable.
But they are compatible down-streaming, a mDP cable can get video signals output from thunderbolt 2 port.
 
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I’ve went for the removal of the hard drive and ordered a USB enclosure for it.

Thanks all.
 
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