Mid2011 iMac help

[Mid2011imac]

To start I have a Mid 2011 iMac, that has recently had the hard drive replaced with a 500GB solid state drive, and I have 14GB RAM. I just noticed that because of the age of my computer, Apple is not updating the operating system.

My question, if I buy a Mac mini computer, can I hook it up to my existing iMac and use it like a monitor? Also will I still have access to the 500GB hard drive, to use not as a boot drive, but more like an external drive?

 

[r6mile]

Both those features exist - Target Display Mode allows you to use the iMac as an external display, and Target Disk Mode to use its hard drive as an external drive from another Mac. However I don't think you can use both at the same time.

 

[Juicy Box]

. I just noticed that because of the age of my computer, Apple is not updating the operating system.

If you are happy with the performance of you iMac, and it does everything you need it to, I would continue using it.

Just because Apple will be dropping support doesn't mean you make will be instantly unusable.

The security updates are often Safari related, and if you have security concerns, you can switch to FireFox, which will continue supporting your old iMac with security updates for a few more years at least.

I personally really like the Mid 2011 iMac. There are things you can do to that iMac that you cannot do to most other Macs.

You can replace the ODD with a SSD or HDD.
It is possible to have three internal drive on that iMac.
You can replace the GPU with a more modern one.
You can have an internal RAID0 boot drive.
You can boot from the SD card slot.
It has Thunderbolt and FW800.
It has a beautiful display on it.
You can use it with Target Disk Mode over Thunderbolt or FW.
You can use it with Target Display Mode.
It doesn't require tape strips to open it.

It is just an amazing Mac to have.

if I buy a Mac mini computer, can I hook it up to my existing iMac and use it like a monitor?

If it is a 27", then yes, it is called Target Display Mode, and will most likely require an Apple bidirectional adapter for TB3/TB2, and a Thunderbolt 1/2 cable.

Also will I still have access to the 500GB hard drive, to use not as a boot drive, but more like an external drive?

Yes, it is called Target Disk Mode, and will also most likely require an Apple bidirectional adapter for TB3/TB2, and a Thunderbolt 1/2 cable. There could be some other ways of getting this too work as well, but the easiest and cheapest is probably the cables mentioned above.

Like @r6mile has mentioned, I don't think you can do both at the same time.


You could also pull the drive from your Mid 2011 iMac.

 

[Mid2011imac]

Don't get me wrong. I love my iMAC. Just last winter I replaced the hard drive with a Solid State drive, and have periodically updated all for RAM Slots with 4 GB RAM Cards, so it's a wonderful machine and runs great. For Work-From-Home, I need to download the Cisco AnyConnect remote access application. this application isn't available in the App Store (that I can find) on my current operating system.

a second thought I had was to follow a work-around that I found to trick my current machine to upgrade to OS Catalina. I'm not sure I want to do that yet.

I'm just looking for what my best options are going forward the next 5 years with the computer I currently have.

If you are happy with the performance of you iMac, and it does everything you need it to, I would continue using it.

Just because Apple will be dropping support doesn't mean you make will be instantly unusable.

The security updates are often Safari related, and if you have security concerns, you can switch to FireFox, which will continue supporting your old iMac with security updates for a few more years at least.

I personally really like the Mid 2011 iMac. There are things you can do to that iMac that you cannot do to most other Macs.

You can replace the ODD with a SSD or HDD.
It is possible to have three internal drive on that iMac.
You can replace the GPU with a more modern one.
You can have an internal RAID0 boot drive.
You can boot from the SD card slot.
It has Thunderbolt and FW800.
It has a beautiful display on it.
You can use it with Target Disk Mode over Thunderbolt or FW.
You can use it with Target Display Mode.
It doesn't require tape strips to open it.

It is just an amazing Mac to have.


If it is a 27", then yes, it is called Target Display Mode, and will most likely require an Apple bidirectional adapter for TB3/TB2, and a Thunderbolt 1/2 cable.


Yes, it is called Target Disk Mode, and will also most likely require an Apple bidirectional adapter for TB3/TB2, and a Thunderbolt 1/2 cable. There could be some other ways of getting this too work as well, but the easiest and cheapest is probably the cables mentioned above.

Like @r6mile has mentioned, I don't think you can do both at the same time.


You could also pull the drive from your Mid 2011 iMac.

 

[Juicy Box]

For Work-From-Home, I need to download the Cisco AnyConnect remote access application. this application isn't available in the App Store (that I can find) on my current operating system.

You may not be able to download it from the App Store, but one of the best things about the MacOS (compared to iOS), is that you can download apps from places other than the Mac App Store.

Most of my apps on my Macs are not available on the Mac App Store.

 

[Juicy Box]

Is this what you are looking for:

RV34x: Install Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client on a Mac Computer

This article aims to show you how to install the Cisco AnyConnect Secure Mobility Client on a Mac Computer.

www.cisco.com