MacBook Air - iMac as monitor

[mitchino]

My partner just got a M1 MacBook Air. Can she use an old 2011 iMac as a second screen?

 

[barbu]

Google Target Display Mode and see if yours is supported. It may be, I don’t recall.

 

[mitchino]

If it is supported, does the MacBook Air use its graphics hardware to run the display or does it use the graphics card of the iMac (which might be goosed)?

 

[MultiFinder17]

If it is supported, does the MacBook Air use its graphics hardware to run the display or does it use the graphics card of the iMac (which might be goosed)?

Unfortunately M1 Macs don’t support connecting to iMacs in TDM. The Mac that’s using the display needs to be running High Sierra or lower.

Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

Target display mode is a feature available with certain older Mac models.

support.apple.com

Also TDM does use the GPU of the target iMac, so if it’s cooked, it won’t work either. Sorry mate.

 

[mitchino]

Thanks for your knowledge! Will seek out a budget second display

 

[barbu]

Unfortunately M1 Macs don’t support connecting to iMacs in TDM. The Mac that’s using the display needs to be running High Sierra or lower.

Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

Target display mode is a feature available with certain older Mac models.

support.apple.com

Also TDM does use the GPU of the target iMac, so if it’s cooked, it won’t work either. Sorry mate.

Small correction, per the link, the main mac can run up to Catalina. But otherwise, spot on.

 

[pshufd]

Thanks for your knowledge! Will seek out a budget second display

Get the best display that you can afford. You'll be looking at it for a long time and it's good to have something comfortable if you're going to spend a long time with it. Monitors are ridiculously overpriced right now too.