Mad I can't use 2017 iMac as monitor w/MacStudio, here's solutions

[coolbreeze2]

I am disappointed that Apple has blocked the usage of my fairly recent iMac(2017) as a secondary monitor for my Mac Studio. If Duet Display and Luna Dsplay can do it, why can't Apple? Apple not supporting this feature leaves the impression that some sort of hardware limitation exists. However, Duet and Luna have proven that no limitations exist. Duet needs to perfect its product. If Apple released software like Duet, Apple would have it working smoothly. I tried Duet trial and I can't get it to work correctly all the time. It's hit-or-miss.

I've purchased Luna Display in the past and that little thing got accidentally smashed within a few days. I wonder if will it work smoothly and impressively with M2 Mac Studio.

Is anyone using Luna Display with Mac Studio and iMac? How well does it work?

 

[name99]

Are you sure?

(a) Can the iMac run Ventura?

(b) If so, is AirPlay receiver switched on?

Mac User Guide

Learn what’s new in macOS, how to get started with your Mac and use it with your Apple devices, and how to control privacy and security on macOS.

support.apple.com

(c) You should then be able to go to Displays for the relevant Mac (assuming it can also run Ventura) and add the iMac as a display -- usual deal of being on the same network, logged in as same userID, etc.
I can do this from my M2 mini to my iMac Pro (also 2017).

 

[coolbreeze2]

On my 2017 iMac, AirPlay as a receiver is not supported. In fact, in Settings the choice does not exist. The iMac has to be 2019 or later. That part I don’t understand. The hardware is not the limitation. It’s Apple trying to force people to upgrade in my opinion. Here are the supported Macs.

Continuity features and requirements for Apple devices - Apple Support

Continuity features make it seamless to move between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro devices that meet the system requirements.

support.apple.com

 

[coolbreeze2]

I found this on YouTube. It explains the situation and a hack to get my iMac to support Airplay Receiver. I'm going to study this and see if I want to give it a try.

 

[meson]

I agree, it is a shame that Apple doesn’t make an effort to bring back target display mode. It was a great feature from over a decade ago that is almost certainly software limited.

OCLP works great. I ran it on a 2013 21” iMac and used it for a year or so as an external display/secondary machine.

One limitation with AirPlay is that you can only send a 1080p signal, and there will be compression artifacts. You may not be thrilled with the way things look on a Retina display.

It does require a little different approach, but Universal Control is how I used the iMac alongside my MBP. Designating certain tasks to each machine works well. You can copy and paste between machines, but the big problem is that you can’t drag windows back and forth.

Apple seems really sold on using devices as complimentary machines rather than one centralized computer with external displays. They want you to use each device for the things it does best, but sometimes I really just want to move a window off to the side so I can reference it while I work on another document.

I eventually gave up on that solution and picked up a Mac mini for my office and a 32” 4k display that offers all the screen real estate I need in one display. Now the mini gets used in the office and the MBP in the classroom and at home.

 

[coolbreeze2]

I agree, it is a shame that Apple doesn’t make an effort to bring back target display mode. It was a great feature from over a decade ago that is almost certainly software limited.

OCLP works great. I ran it on a 2013 21” iMac and used it for a year or so as an external display/secondary machine.

One limitation with AirPlay is that you can only send a 1080p signal, and there will be compression artifacts. You may not be thrilled with the way things look on a Retina display.

It does require a little different approach, but Universal Control is how I used the iMac alongside my MBP. Designating certain tasks to each machine works well. You can copy and paste between machines, but the big problem is that you can’t drag windows back and forth.

Apple seems really sold on using devices as complimentary machines rather than one centralized computer with external displays. They want you to use each device for the things it does best, but sometimes I really just want to move a window off to the side so I can reference it while I work on another document.

I eventually gave up on that solution and picked up a Mac mini for my office and a 32” 4k display that offers all the screen real estate I need in one display. Now the mini gets used in the office and the MBP in the classroom and at home.

So I can't drag windows back and forth!! That stinks because that was one of my goals. I run a small music studio and some mixing require a high number of software apps open at one time. I want to drag one out the way while I work in another and then come back to it. Software developers of most of these apps prevent activation of more than one machine. So, I will have to do like you did and designate certain task to each machine, copying/pasting the files back and forth.

Can you drag files back and forth?

 

[meson]

So I can't drag windows back and forth!! That stinks because that was one of my goals. I run a small music studio and some mixing require a high number of software apps open at one time. I want to drag one out the way while I work in another and then come back to it. Software developers of most of these apps prevent activation of more than one machine. So, I will have to do like you did and designate certain task to each machine, copying/pasting the files back and forth.

Can you drag files back and forth?

Strong licensing requirements make it a pain. Most of the files I work on are pushed off to the cloud, so I don’t move files often between machines. I think you are supposed to be able to drag files back and forth, but I don’t think it worked well for me.

If dragging doesn’t work, you can air drop files between machines. This is what I do if I’m moving something that doesn’t need a cloud backup.

 

[name99]

On my 2017 iMac, AirPlay as a receiver is not supported. In fact, in Settings the choice does not exist. The iMac has to be 2019 or later. That part I don’t understand. The hardware is not the limitation. It’s Apple trying to force people to upgrade in my opinion. Here are the supported Macs.

Continuity features and requirements for Apple devices - Apple Support

Continuity features make it seamless to move between your Mac, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Apple TV, and Apple Vision Pro devices that meet the system requirements.

support.apple.com

There are also various software solutions (ie convert your mac into an Airplay receiver) like Reflector and AirServer.
I've not tried these, but they seem to work.

 

[coolbreeze2]

There are also various software solutions (ie convert your mac into an Airplay receiver) like Reflector and AirServer.
I've not tried these, but they seem to work.

I am installing Opencore Legacy Patch right now. If I don't think it works great I will try some of the solutions you suggested.

 

[coolbreeze2]

There are also various software solutions (ie convert your mac into an Airplay receiver) like Reflector and AirServer.
I've not tried these, but they seem to work.

OK while I wait for Opencore Legacy to download the OS from Apple and create a USB installer I decided to download and try Airserver. It took only a few minutes and it works perfectly!!! I am using my 2017 5K iMac as the monitor for my Mac Studio! It looks gorgeous!! And it costs only $19.99 or $11.99 if I make an educational buy. That's not a monthly subscription but a license! What took you so long to recommend this? I've been using a 4K monitor for my Mac Studio and it looked alright but 5k now and it looks magnificent!

Any chance I can extend instead of mirroring? If this has an option to extend then it is the perfect solution.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Ok it looks like Reflector has more features than Airserver and they both cost only $19.99. I'll try Reflector and if it's a great as Airserver, it is the winner for its extra features. Thanks again!!

 

[coolbreeze2]

Ok here is my verdict if anyone is interested. Opencore Legacy Patch provides a quality screen. However, it's not by miles. Also Opencore had no noticeable latency and not one stutter. The downside is I don't think it supports extended display, it only provides mirroring. I looked all over their site and read documentation. If I am wrong, someone please correct me. Opencore is free but a little challenging to install. I goofed it the first time. It also takes a long time to install because you have to download a copy of Mac OS to install the patch into. Then you have create a bootable USB to placed the patched installer on. This took a while.

Airserver was simple to install. It had the best quality screen. It only costs $19.99 for a license. Unfortunately like Opencore I did not see extended display support.

Reflector 4 is the one I am choosing. Its screen quality is great but not stupendous. It is very simple to install. It does not support extended display by itself. You also have to buy another one of this companies products. It's called AirParrot. Reflector 4 + AirParrot 3 = Extended Display Support. Reflector 4 $19.99 + AirParrot 3 $17.99 = $37.98. Once again, these are licenses and not subscriptions.

Having this is important to my small business; therefore, I will probably make the investment when the 7 day trial ends.

This proves what I have been saying. Apple is not limited by hardware to allow those features on their blacklisted hardware. It baffles me.

 

[meson]

AirPlay supports screen mirroring. Open the displays preferences/settings in system preferences/settings and you can choose whether you want to mirror or extend the display. Once you are AirPlaying to the display, you should be able to make the adjustment. I’ll do this with a tv at home occasionally while I’m working.

If OCLP and AirPlay can get the job done for free and the screen quality is acceptable, free is good. If not, the Reflector/AirParrot company was started by a group from my alma mater. I never bought their software because it was a little pricy to me for personal use.

 

[coolbreeze2]

AirPlay supports screen mirroring. Open the displays preferences/settings in system preferences/settings and you can choose whether you want to mirror or extend the display. Once you are AirPlaying to the display, you should be able to make the adjustment. I’ll do this with a tv at home occasionally while I’m working.

If OCLP and AirPlay can get the job done for free and the screen quality is acceptable, free is good. If not, the Reflector/AirParrot company was started by a group from my alma mater. I never bought their software because it was a little pricy to me for personal use.

Ok I will go back and look again. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[name99]

Ok here is my verdict if anyone is interested. Opencore Legacy Patch provides a quality screen. However, it's not by miles. Also Opencore had no noticeable latency and not one stutter. The downside is I don't think it supports extended display, it only provides mirroring. I looked all over their site and read documentation. If I am wrong, someone please correct me. Opencore is free but a little challenging to install. I goofed it the first time. It also takes a long time to install because you have to download a copy of Mac OS to install the patch into. Then you have create a bootable USB to placed the patched installer on. This took a while.

Airserver was simple to install. It had the best quality screen. It only costs $19.99 for a license. Unfortunately like Opencore I did not see extended display support.

Reflector 4 is the one I am choosing. Its screen quality is great but not stupendous. It is very simple to install. It does not support extended display by itself. You also have to buy another one of this companies products. It's called AirParrot. Reflector 4 + AirParrot 3 = Extended Display Support. Reflector 4 $19.99 + AirParrot 3 $17.99 = $37.98. Once again, these are licenses and not subscriptions.

Having this is important to my small business; therefore, I will probably make the investment when the 7 day trial ends.

This proves what I have been saying. Apple is not limited by hardware to allow those features on their blacklisted hardware. It baffles me.

I did not suggest these earlier because I thought you had one of the macs for which AirPlay display extension would work.
I wish I'd mentioned that AirServer apparently supports only mirroring; you might be able to (and still can try) to get what you want using BetterDisplay on the non-iMac to create a "synthetic" additional display that then gets mirrored to AirServer.
I have only used BetterDisplay on Apple Silicon M2, but in that case it worked well.

BetterDisplay is nominally free, with pay to access various fancy features that seem so specialized I did not even understand most of them.

As for Apple, sometimes the constraint is not "can't be done" but "can't be done without hurting the rest of the experience". Maybe a solution like you are trying for works well for "static" content, but badly for playing a movie or a video game, and Apple don't want to, in some sense, be promising a solution that (some) people will complain about endlessly...

 

[coolbreeze2]

Yippeee Yahooo!! I got mirroring and extended display to work using Opencore Legacy Patch!!! OCLP is a freebie!! Like I said, it's tough to install. I can't imagine a complete novice installing smoothly. I have been tinkering with software for years and had a tough time. So read everything first before you start. Meson suggested that it should work and go back ensure I had everything correct. Here is what did the trick: I had to stop mirroring and then the option to Extend the Display appeared. So sorry Airserver and Reflector. I get to keep my money and save for Vision Pro.

Thank you to all of you who replied to this thread and helped me. I am a happy camper and no longer

Mad I can't use 2017 iMac as monitor w/MacStudio!!​

 

[meson]

Glad it worked out!

OCLP does take a bit of work to install, but is worth the effort to keep old machines up to date and unlock some new features.

 

[Mac Dream Weaver]

Yippeee Yahooo!! I got mirroring and extended display to work using Opencore Legacy Patch!!! OCLP is a freebie!! Like I said, it's tough to install. I can't imagine a complete novice installing smoothly. I have been tinkering with software for years and had a tough time. So read everything first before you start. Meson suggested that it should work and go back ensure I had everything correct. Here is what did the trick: I had to stop mirroring and then the option to Extend the Display appeared. So sorry Airserver and Reflector. I get to keep my money and save for Vision Pro.

Thank you to all of you who replied to this thread and helped me. I am a happy camper and no longer

Mad I can't use 2017 iMac as monitor w/MacStudio!!​

coolbreeze Thanks for sharing the results with us -- I found the entire thread helpful.

Just to clarify, was your solution that you installed OCLP onto your 2017 iMac in order to enable it to be a target for extended display from your main unit? I assume that your newer main unit did not need to be patched. I'm interested if you see any latency issues. Also, interested if you use the 2017 to do a bunch of real-time things or mostly just as a convenient place to temporarily dump some windows?

Thanks much in advance.

 

[Saimac]

Yippeee Yahooo!! I got mirroring and extended display to work using Opencore Legacy Patch!!! OCLP is a freebie!! Like I said, it's tough to install. I can't imagine a complete novice installing smoothly. I have been tinkering with software for years and had a tough time. So read everything first before you start. Meson suggested that it should work and go back ensure I had everything correct. Here is what did the trick: I had to stop mirroring and then the option to Extend the Display appeared. So sorry Airserver and Reflector. I get to keep my money and save for Vision Pro.

Thank you to all of you who replied to this thread and helped me. I am a happy camper and no longer

Mad I can't use 2017 iMac as monitor w/MacStudio!!​

Hi coolbreeze, how are you going? It is super exciting to hear that it is possible to make retina iMac works as extended monitor! Ive been trying to use my 2017 iMac like you do but it has been challenging to make it works with OCLP. I've done all the procedures but the Airplay receiver options doesn't shows up!
Can you share which OS version you have installed and if there is any additional configuration on the OpenCore UBS boot patcher that you have setted up in order to make it works? So far I have tried running Monterey 12.7.4 and the last OCLP version.
Thanks in advance.

 

[coolbreeze2]

Hi coolbreeze, how are you going? It is super exciting to hear that it is possible to make retina iMac works as extended monitor! Ive been trying to use my 2017 iMac like you do but it has been challenging to make it works with OCLP. I've done all the procedures but the Airplay receiver options doesn't shows up!
Can you share which OS version you have installed and if there is any additional configuration on the OpenCore UBS boot patcher that you have setted up in order to make it works? So far I have tried running Monterey 12.7.4 and the last OCLP version.
Thanks in advance.

I now have the latest OpenCore working out of the box on my 2017 iMac. The iMac works as an extended display. Is that what you are asking me?