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MacBook air and iMac as display

S

SuperMiguel

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 6, 2010
423
12
I have a 2011 MBA 13" and a 2011 27" iMac...what cable do I need to use my iMac as a display of my MBA.???
 
Wrong, well, for the none thunderbolt 27" iMac there is a video in via the minidisplay-port. Presumably the new 27" are the same, so a simple thunderbolt-thunderbolt cable should do it.

The 21.5" does not have this feature...
 
LordVic said:
um. None?

as far as I remember, the Imacs are all internal enclosures that use their own proprietary cabling internally between the graphics adapter an dthe display (similar to a laptop).

there's no way of using it as a stand alone display powered by another machine.
Click to expand...

Huh?

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht3924

OP, you need mDP to mDP (male to male) cable.

By the way, if anyone has ever done this, can they confirm if the entire iMac must be powered on (HDD, CPU, etc.) in order to use it as a display? Or is the screen the only part that is powered on?
 
And why, pray tell, would you want to use an iMac as a monitor as it the more powerful tool of the two? You can't transfer content?
 
SuperMiguel said:
Well my MBA doesn't have DP so i guess it has to be mTB to mTB
Click to expand...

mDP is backwards compatible with TB. I don't think you will find a true TB to mDP cable.

I myself am using a mDP to HDMI cable to hook up my 2011 MBA to an external monitor.
 
Kendo said:
mDP is backwards compatible with TB. I don't think you will find a true TB to mDP cable.

I myself am using a mDP to HDMI cable to hook up my 2011 MBA to an external monitor.
Click to expand...

In this case, that's not right. The OP must use a TB cable to hook these two together:-

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3775

The iMac 27" 2011 essentially acts as a Thunderbolt display. A mDP cable just won't work.
 
Yes, must be a Thunderbolt cable. If you don't want to shell out $50, just set up Screen Sharing and use the iMac to control the MBA (or vice versa).

Also, the 21.5" 2011 iMacs can be used as an external monitor.
 
martinm0 said:
Yes, must be a Thunderbolt cable. If you don't want to shell out $50, just set up Screen Sharing and use the iMac to control the MBA (or vice versa).

Also, the 21.5" 2011 iMacs can be used as an external monitor.
Click to expand...

Screen sharing??
 
SuperMiguel said:
Screen sharing??
Click to expand...

Yeah, Screen Sharing. Under System Preferences->Sharing->Screen Sharing. It's effectively OSX's RDP service on local networks only. It will allow you to access and control any other mac on your network that also has Screen Sharing enabled.
 
I got the 27" imac and 11" mba both 2011 and can confirm you need a thunderbolt > thunderbolt cable (which is worth it if you like to transfer big files between the two anyway) to use the imac as 2nd screen. Sadly the iMac has to be completely on
 
Ok, to make things clear.

Thunderbolt port is a miniDisplayPort with a Thunderbolt data stream added.

Every thunderbolt port work with any old minidisplayport cable if you only want image.

So, a simple miniDP to miniDP cable would work for using an external display.

Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt would also work, it would simply be usable as a data cable also.
 
/V\acpower said:
Ok, to make things clear.

Thunderbolt port is a miniDisplayPort with a Thunderbolt data stream added.

Every thunderbolt port work with any old minidisplayport cable if you only want image.

So, a simple miniDP to miniDP cable would work for using an external display.

Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt would also work, it would simply be usable as a data cable also.
Click to expand...

This guy is right.

There seem to be a lot of confusion around mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt cables. Both use the same connector. If your mac supports TB, it also supports mDP. Not the other way around though.

Basically:


  • If both your Macs have mDP or TB ports and you only want to use one as a display, use a mDP to mDP cable.

  • If both your Macs have TB ports and you want to use one as a display AND transfer data between them, use a TB cable.

  • If one of them has TB and the other has mDP, you will only be able to use one as a display and can't transfer data. Just use a mDP to mDP cable. There is no such thing as a TB to mDP cable.
 
You need one of these: http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC913ZM/A

pgiguere1 said:
This guy is right.

There seem to be a lot of confusion around mini DisplayPort and Thunderbolt cables. Both use the same connector. If your mac supports TB, it also supports mDP. Not the other way around though.

Basically:


  • If both your Macs have mDP or TB ports and you only want to use one as a display, use a mDP to mDP cable.

  • If both your Macs have TB ports and you want to use one as a display AND transfer data between them, use a TB cable.

  • If one of them has TB and the other has mDP, you will only be able to use one as a display and can't transfer data. Just use a mDP to mDP cable. There is no such thing as a TB to mDP cable.
Click to expand...


Except that the new 2011 iMac with Thunderbolt does not accept mini-displayport input. It requires a Thunderbolt input source to work as a display.

To go from a 2011 Macbook Air to a 2011 iMac you need a Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable.


iMac (21.5-inch, Mid 2011) and iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) support Target Display Mode via Thunderbolt to Thunderbolt cable (2 m) when the source is another Thunderbolt-equipped computer.

iMac (27-inch, Mid 2011) computers do not support Target Display Mode via Mini DisplayPort cables.
Click to expand...

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3775
 
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