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Sub.0

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 23, 2011
61
5
Sacramento, CA
I just received my M1 MacBook Pro and when trying to enter Target Mode using my 2013 iMac it seems like it’s not working. I have a 2019 MacBook Pro that I was using with Target Mode and it works fine.

Is anyone else having or experienced this issue?

I am using a Thunderbolt 3 to 2 Adapter for the connection.
 

jdb8167

macrumors 601
Nov 17, 2008
4,859
4,599
I just received my M1 MacBook Pro and when trying to enter Target Mode using my 2013 iMac it seems like it’s not working. I have a 2019 MacBook Pro that I was using with Target Mode and it works fine.

Is anyone else having or experienced this issue?

I am using a Thunderbolt 3 to 2 Adapter for the connection.
I think Target mode is gone for Apple Silicon Macs. There is a way to set up your Mac to use SMB though.

Transfer files between a Mac with Apple silicon and another Mac

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode
 

Yebubbleman

macrumors 603
May 20, 2010
6,024
2,617
Los Angeles, CA
I just received my M1 MacBook Pro and when trying to enter Target Mode using my 2013 iMac it seems like it’s not working. I have a 2019 MacBook Pro that I was using with Target Mode and it works fine.

Is anyone else having or experienced this issue?

I am using a Thunderbolt 3 to 2 Adapter for the connection.

I think Target mode is gone for Apple Silicon Macs. There is a way to set up your Mac to use SMB though.

Transfer files between a Mac with Apple silicon and another Mac

Transfer files between two Mac computers using target disk mode
I can confirm that Target Disk Mode is no more on Apple Silicon Macs. Its successor on Apple Silicon Macs (M1 and newer) is "Mac Sharing Mode". Instructions on how to use Mac Sharing Mode are detailed in @jdb8167 's first link entitled "Transfer files between a Mac with Apple silicon and another Mac".

For those not familiar, rather than turning your Mac into an external hard drive (the way that Target Disk Mode always had), Mac Sharing Mode turns your Mac into an SMB network file share. On the plus side, grabbing files from Windows and Linux clients is much easier, since both are compatible with SMB. On the downside, it's not an external drive that you can directly copy things from or to anymore (though the way Apple was going with the T2 Macs, it's probably better this way).
 

Kent W

macrumors member
Jan 6, 2019
61
33
Kullavik, Halland, Sweden, EU
People has reported it to work on older iMacs.

If you read Apples instruction carefully it states that the host machine needs to be on High Sierra or lower Mac OS version.

Abstract from Apple Support document below:
Link to Apple Support page on Target Display Mode:

Since you have an iMac 2013 you might be on Catalina or Mojave? If you are, you could possibly try to install High Sierra on your system (either a new separate partition or replace the whole system). That way you will know.

If your 2013 iMac already runs HS and that is what you tested it on, you already have a result of course.
 
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valtheuw

macrumors newbie
Jan 26, 2021
7
2
I can confirm that TDM works on MBP M1 with a iMac late 2009, Catalina.
That iMac does have a display port ...port.

To establish a connection several attempts of pressing command-F2 are needed, but at some point the iMac recognizes the input via usb-c/display port cable.
 

derRaab

macrumors newbie
Nov 25, 2021
1
0
I can confirm that TDM works on MBP M1 with a iMac late 2009, Catalina.
That iMac does have a display port ...port.

To establish a connection several attempts of pressing command-F2 are needed, but at some point the iMac recognizes the input via usb-c/display port cable.

Hi valtheurw, is this still working on macOS Monterey?

I recently received my MacBook Pro M1Max (with Monterey) and Target Display Mode isn't recognised. My MacBook Pro (End 2016) does detect the iMac (End 2012) with macOS Catalina just fine.
 
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