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zoran

macrumors 601
Original poster
Jun 30, 2005
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What kind of ports are these shown with the red arrow?
 

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"Mini-DVI" on the bottom left and "Mini DisplayPort" on the bottom right and the top middle.

Is the top image a Late 2009 or Mid 2010 or earlier iMac?

The bottom image looks like a Early or Late 2009 Mac mini?

The "Mini-DVI" port supports DVI single link (1920x1200 similar to HDMI 1.1) and VGA with pass thru adapters.
The "Mini DisplayPort" port supports DisplayPort 1.1 (2560x1600) with pass thru adapter. It might support HDMI using DisplayPort dual mode adapter? Otherwise, there are active adapters for VGA, Dual Link DVI, and HDMI.
 
Top photo is from a mid2010 iMac and the bottom photo is from a late 2009 macMini
Im actuall looking for a cable to connect the mini with the iMac so i can use the iMac as a display :)
 
Must i take care of something, or any cable will do? I was thinking to get a cheap one... should i?
 
Top photo is from a mid2010 iMac and the bottom photo is from a late 2009 macMini
Im actuall looking for a cable to connect the mini with the iMac so i can use the iMac as a display :)
Which mid 2010 iMac? I think only the iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010) supported Target Display Mode. The 21.5-inch did not.

Must i take care of something, or any cable will do? I was thinking to get a cheap one... should i?
Any Mini-DisplayPort cable should work (not Thunderbolt).
 
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Its is the 27" mid 2010 iMac
Then I think you should be ready to go after getting the cable.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204592

Post a screenshot of the graphics tab in System Information.app on the Mac mini to show what display it sees when the iMac is connected.

I am actually more interested in getting info for newer iMacs (2011-2014) that use Thunderbolt Target Display Mode instead of DisplayPort Target Display Mode since I'm not sure how that works.
 
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Post a screenshot of the graphics tab in System Information.app on the Mac mini to show what display it sees when the iMac is connected.
I also happen to have a 27" mid-2010 iMac... for the exact purpose of playing with Target Display Mode. This is on a 2007 MacBook Pro with the HD 7770 as eGPU via ExpressCard.

rad-jpg.1782073


U think the mini wont work with the iMac?
It should work just fine. The 2009/2010 27" iMac switches into Target Display Mode as soon as it starts receiving a video signal via Mini-DisplayPort. Mac OS X must be fully booted up on the iMac though.
 
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I cannot find a cheap cable, with mini display male connectors on both ends! I thought this would be easy :-(
 
I cannot find a cheap cable, with mini display male connectors on both ends! I thought this would be easy :-(
Where are you located and where are you looking (Amazon, eBay, …)? Make sure you don’t get a Thunderbolt cable instead. These are expensive and won’t work.
 
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Im locted in Europe, but i guess its ok to buy from ebay, or Banggood, or GearBest, or Amazon although i dont believe they have better prices.
 
The "Mini DisplayPort" port supports DisplayPort 1.1 (2560x1600) with pass thru adapter. It might support HDMI using DisplayPort dual mode adapter?
I used a passive MiniDisplayPort-to-DVI adapter with my 2009 Mac mini and it worked fine. So a HDMI one should work too, albeit without audio as only the 2010 and later Macs support audio over MiniDisplayPort.
 
Why are u bringing in the subject the HDMI port, i do not have one. I just need MiniDisplayPort male to male cable. :)
 
Why are u bringing in the subject the HDMI port, i do not have one. I just need MiniDisplayPort male to male cable. :)
We are discussing the capabilities of your ports.

You have a Mini DVI port on the Mac mini. HDMI uses the same signal as DVI single link.

You have a Mini DisplayPort port on the Mac mini and the iMac. Some DisplayPort ports support DisplayPort Dual Mode (DP++) which can put a HDMI signal on the DisplayPort pins so that a passive HDMI adapter only needs to convert the voltages (since DisplayPort and HDMI use different voltages).

An active adapter is one that converts one digital protocol to another or converts between analog and digital.
 
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Things are starting to become hard to get the right male MiniDisportCable to male MiniDisportCable.
And this one i take it, will not do, correct?
 
Things are starting to become hard to get the right male MiniDisportCable to male MiniDisportCable.
And this one i take it, will not do, correct?
Why would you say it won't do?

It's only certified for DisplayPort 1.1 but that's good enough for the low resolutions you'll be using (2560x1440 60Hz).

I wouldn't buy a cable that wasn't certified for DisplayPort 1.4 just to be future compatible.
 
Because it’s used as a lightning port too, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.
 
Because it’s used as a lightning port too, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.
Do you mean Thunderbolt? The cable you linked to is a plain MiniDisplayPort cable, not a Thunderbolt one. MiniDisplayPort to MiniDisplayPort is the type of cable you need.
 
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Because it’s used as a lightning port too, and that wouldn’t be a good thing.
That cable can only be used for DisplayPort. It is not a Thunderbolt cable.

Your iMac and Mac mini do not have Thunderbolt. They support only DisplayPort. Therefore, that DisplayPort cable is the correct cable.
 
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