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iMac as second display.

C

case2001

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 9, 2010
356
52
I could not find an answer to this question. I hope I didn't miss it.
I have a MacBook Pro Retina 15 and I have a Thunderbolt Display for it. I am considering replacing my 2009 Mac mini that I use as a server for my home with a 27" iMac. Can I use my current Thunderbolt Display with my MacBook Pro and the iMac so it is a 2nd 27 inch monitor for the MacBook Pro? Thus giving me 2 27 inch monitors??

Thanks.
 
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Thanks for the reply. I read over the FAQ. But I did not see that I could go retina MacBook Pro to Thunderbolt Display to iMac display. Will that work.
 
The imac as a server is probably not a good idea because the screen is integrated in the whole design. Every time there is activity on the iMac, the screen will go on and uses power. It will go to sleep again, but after a while (at least with my iMac) the screen sleep settings gets disrupted and the screen won't go into sleep. I always have to restart my iMac and this usually fixes the settings.

What year is your iMac? I believe only 2010 models or older (before TB) have displayport/video in.
Also I don't know if you can use the iMac as a server when used as a display.
 
Thanks for the reply. I was looking at a 11 or 12 model. I haven't actually purchased one yet.
 
iMac as second display.

Great. Thanks. That's what I was looking for!!
 
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Oh, I didn't realize that. So I can mount the iMac drive on the retina MacBook but not across the network? That may be a deal breaker.
 
Everytime you disconnect your MB you'll have to restart the iMac to function as a server and vice versa. Also when it's a standalone server, the display story comes around the corner (see my first post).

Maybe there is a way, when your MB is connected and the iMac functions as a screen and HD, that you can get the HD of the iMac to your network via your MB. You'll just need to test this from time to time and see what works and maybe you'll do get it to work as some sort of NAS. In the meantime, keep you Mac mini as a server.

Please try it out and keep us posted, as I'm very interested in this setup.
 
Just found this thread in the mac mini forum
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1503528/
This is probably interesting for you. It seems you can toggle between screens when the iMac is used as an external display, therefore using the iMac completely as a computer/server.

Seems I have given a bit of bad advise before, sorry for that. Back in the day, before DP, You could do this with a firewire cable and only access the HD of a machine. Hence my confusion!
 
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