Using an iMac as a monitor

[iMikeT]

As I patiently sit here waiting for the iMac upgrade, I allowed my brain to wander and came up with this possible scenario.

As the title of the thread suggests and as we know, we can use the iMac as a monitor. Now, say in three to five years, possibly more, I feel that it is necessary for me to upgrade to a new Mac, how viable will it be for me to turn the iMac solely into a monitor? That is assuming the iMac will barely be able to run future software and that Thunderbolt/miniDisplay Port will still be in use. I'm thinking of moving up to a Mac Pro by then.

Also, what is the life expectancy of modern LCDs?

 

[Hellhammer]

It's hard to say anything. Your best bet is to wait and see what happens. Maybe you don't want it anymore as there are better displays by then. A new iMac will also be a lot faster so maybe you won't need Mac Pro.

 

[iMikeT]

It's hard to say anything. Your best bet is to wait and see what happens.

This is purely speculation.

Maybe you don't want it anymore as there are better displays by then.

That's assuming that I have the money to afford a new display by then. However, as the iMac can double up as a display, why not take advantage of it? If I find myself having the same kind budgetary limits then, that's possibly $1,000 (USD) that I can save.

A new iMac will also be a lot faster so maybe you won't need Mac Pro.

Though an iMac years from now will be much more powerful then, a Mac Pro years from now should still be more powerful than the iMac.

Aside from my budget, the other main reason why I'm not going for a Mac Pro this time is because I will have to buy an ACD with it. The total cost of the Mac Pro with an ACD and at the specs that I want now will be equal to buying two of the highest end [BTO] iMacs AND a 13" MBP!

 

[zombierunner]

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Im going to buy my first iMac this year ... Really hoping 1080p target display mode is supported so I can use kanex xd to play xbox on iMac in 1080p instead of 720p which is what is supported right now ... But if it's not supported I'm still going to get the iMac

 

[kuebby]

Also, what is the life expectancy of modern LCDs?

A good 10 years I would expect. The 15" LCD I bought in 2002 still works fine, and that was obviously before the technology had matured.

 

[iMikeT]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

Im going to buy my first iMac this year ... Really hoping 1080p target display mode is supported so I can use kanex xd to play xbox on iMac in 1080p instead of 720p which is what is supported right now ... But if it's not supported I'm still going to get the iMac

Given what we have seen with the MBP and iPad 2 updates, I don't think that Apple is going to improve the display this time around. Though, I really hope that I am wrong. I would love to see full 1080p support in the iMac as well.

 

[iMikeT]

A good 10 years I would expect. The 15" LCD I bought in 2002 still works fine, and that was obviously before the technology had matured.

Thanks. It's really helpful to have an idea of how long these things can go for.