iMac 27" and Mac Pro 5,1 connection

[rodedwards]

Hi !

Can i connect my old 2009 Mac Pro 5,1 to a new iMac 27"?

My old Mac Pro has five internal hard drives and it would be great to easily access the data.

Can i also start up the old Mac Pro with Mojave and use the 27" iMac as the display?

If so, how?!

Thanks in advance ...

 

[PBG4 Dude]

You cannot use an iMac as a display for another device. That option went away when Apple added 5K displays.

if you Mac Pro boots, you could log into it over your LAN and access data that way. You could also set up remote software like VNC / Apple Remote Desktop to run it headless.

 

[rodedwards]

Thanks ... Shame about the display support.

Think i'll hold off until the release of the new iMac Pro. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/2022-imac-pro/

If we're lucky it may support my old Mac Pro but doubt it.

 

[CWallace]

Can i connect my old 2009 Mac Pro 5,1 to a new iMac 27"?

My old Mac Pro has five internal hard drives and it would be great to easily access the data.

As noted, you cannot use the iMac 27" as a display for the Mac Pro, but if you put the Mac Pro into Target Disk Mode you should be able to access the disks on it from the iMac.

 

[rodedwards]

As noted, you cannot use the iMac 27" as a display for the Mac Pro, but if you put the Mac Pro into Target Disk Mode you should be able to access the disks on it from the iMac.

Thanks … so how do I get Target Disk Mode? Is it just boot up the connected Mac Pro whilst holding down the T and Command key on keyboard? And the Mac Pro would need to be wired into the iMac via Ethernet cable?

 

[CWallace]

Yes.

Apple has a support page about it at https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/transfer-files-mac-computers-target-disk-mode-mchlp1443/mac

They do mention using FireWire or Thunderbolt (and Thunderbolt is required if one of the machines is on macOS 11). You can try Ethernet and see if that works - if not you might need to use a Firewire to TB adapter on the Mac Pro and then connect it to the iMac via a Thunderbolt cable (I have only ever used TB with TDiskM).

 

[Nguyen Duc Hieu]

It would be much simpler if you choose the old-school Network Access Storage method.
Hook-up a borrowed monitor to the iMac 5,1 (a TV will do, if the cMP 5,1 has an HDMI port)
Share the drive/folders you want to access.
Now connect cMP 5,1 to the same network router with your new iMac using Ethernet cable.
You can access the data from the iMac now.

Set up file sharing on Mac

Share the files and folders on your Mac with others on your network. Share your entire Mac or allow specific users access to certain folders.

support.apple.com

 

[rodedwards]

Thanks guys - appreciate your advice. I'll be waiting until the new M 27" iMacs are released early next year - so will keep you posted.

 

[ADGrant]

Thanks ... Shame about the display support.

Think i'll hold off until the release of the new iMac Pro. https://www.macrumors.com/guide/2022-imac-pro/

If we're lucky it may support my old Mac Pro but doubt it.

I am confident that it won't support your old Mac Pro. You could just buy a 27" LG Ultrafine and an M1 Mac mini (assuming the video card in your MacPro can drive a 5k TB3 monitor).