connecting an iMac up to a retina iMac ?

[HaruAoki]

Hello I have a question, I have a retina iMac and a 2010 imac I remember hearing something about a year ago about how you can connect 2 iMac up to each other and was wondering if I could connect a 2010 iMac up to a retina iMac ? (using the 2010 iMac as a second display not the retina iMac)

if it is possible is it safe to do/ and or is there any benefits like are you able to use the graphic card and process on the 2010 iMac along with the retina iMac to boost performance or are you just using the retina iMac parts ?

Thank you for your time and have a great day.

 

[Dreadnought]

I think you can use it only for an extended display as the 2010 iMac doen't have TB, only displayport. Also please check the specs of the RiMac as there was a limitation connecting multiple displays.

However it's always fun to do an experiment like this if you have a TB cable lying around.

 

[redheeler]

Hello I have a question, I have a retina iMac and a 2010 imac I remember hearing something about a year ago about how you can connect 2 iMac up to each other and was wondering if I could connect a 2010 iMac up to a retina iMac ? (using the 2010 iMac as a second display not the retina iMac)

if it is possible is it safe to do/ and or is there any benefits like are you able to use the graphic card and process on the 2010 iMac along with the retina iMac to boost performance or are you just using the retina iMac parts ?

Thank you for your time and have a great day.

You can use it as a display if it's a 27'', but it must be running on its own and there is no sharing of anything else.

Not to mention that the 2010 display will look terrible next to your 5K.

I think you can use it only for an extended display as the 2010 iMac doen't have TB, only displayport. Also please check the specs of the RiMac as there was a limitation connecting multiple displays.

However it's always fun to do an experiment like this if you have a TB cable lying around.

You mean a Mini DisplayPort cable. A 2010 iMac won't work with a Thunderbolt cable because the pinout is slightly different to Mini DisplayPort.

 

[Dreadnought]

Thanks for the correction. I thought a TB cable would also work, apparently not.

 

[Kyle-K]

The iMac with Retina 5K Display, Supports the following.

Simultaneously supports full native resolution on the built-in display and up to 3840 by 2160 pixels on an external display. Support for extended desktop and video mirroring modes

Your 2010 iMac Will need to be the 27 inch model. To act as a secondary display, this Apple support document will explain more.

 

[tatty27]

You can use the older imac as a secondary display to the retina imac but not the other way round.