I recently bought a 2011 13" base model mbp and like it so much am considering switching my desktop pc out for an iMac. I want to make sure it can double as an htpc as well as my primary desktop computer. I did some googling and see many people are recommending the mac mini for an htpc but I love the look of the iMac and would prefer that if it can do both. I'm aware it doesn't have an hdmi port but I think there are adapters that can fix this problem. Does anyone use their iMac in this way?
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Using iMac as htpc
- Thread starter crimton
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
The new 2011 thunderbolt iMacs don't have the facility to use HDMi. Theres currently no adapters available to go from thunderbolt to HDMi.
I assume the dvi to hdmi would only do video then? How about another way of hooking up to a tv and mirroring so that you can get both sound and video out of the tv? I would like an imac but this could be a deal breaker for me as I constantly am watching movies from my pc on my tv. thanks
This is incorrect, I'm afraid. You can use the Mini Displayport adaptors for Thunderbolt, to go to HDMI.
The only issue you might have is Blu-Ray, but if you are using a TV rather than the iMac alone, you could just buy a separate Blu-Ray player for not much money and be done with it.
Yup. I read that as the other way round lol. I read it as wanting to put stuff onto the iMac screen.
so going this route I could get sound as well is video out of the thunderbolt port?
I think an older Mac Mini or an Apple TV 2 with a jail break would be a great solution too. I used the Mac Mini for a HTPC and it suited my needs. I ended up getting an Apple TV 2 and jail breaking it for XBMC and it works flawlessly.
Ooops, forgot to respond to this! Mini Displayport does carry audio, but Thunderbolt does not. The iMac does have optical out of course, through S/PDIF, so you won't have any problems there.
I've not tested the iMac to TV as it is too far from the TV / Amp, but the latest MacBook Air with Thunderbolt port using a Mini DP to HDMI connector to the AMP does pass through audio just fine.
I prefer something like OpenELEC as the HTPC solution (XBMC) as it is simple, does nothing else but the HTPC side of things without all the extras of having to manage an OS...
I prefer something like OpenELEC as the HTPC solution (XBMC) as it is simple, does nothing else but the HTPC side of things without all the extras of having to manage an OS...
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-gb) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)
Crimton you do know that with the thunderbolt display that when you hook a MBP up to it you can close the lid of the MBP and the interface will show up on the thunderbolt display. But the same can be done in the display settings, exept making a 'double. Interface' which is having not only having the interface on the thunderbolt display, but on the MacBook pro as well. So it's like a similar setup, but using one computer.
Crimton you do know that with the thunderbolt display that when you hook a MBP up to it you can close the lid of the MBP and the interface will show up on the thunderbolt display. But the same can be done in the display settings, exept making a 'double. Interface' which is having not only having the interface on the thunderbolt display, but on the MacBook pro as well. So it's like a similar setup, but using one computer.
If that's the case with the MBA then it will be the case with the iMac.
I was thinking it was a bit strange that Thunderbolt wouldn't send audio but it's predecessor would...many are reporting that they aren't getting audio through Thunderbolt, that's all.
I stand corrected
I think this is wrong - My iMac always shows my TV as output when I have my TV on.
I simply plug my adapter into my i2011 21.5 iMac, and then run an hdmi cable to my tv. It carries both video and audio, the first time I had to go into the control panel and tell it to use the displayport for audio, since then my iMac simply remembers to use the tv audio when I plug in the adapter.
(Note, some older mac, and some older display port adapters did not include the audio portion, so that may be where the confusion is.) I purchased my adapter from monoprice, it cost about $8 I think.
(Note, some older mac, and some older display port adapters did not include the audio portion, so that may be where the confusion is.) I purchased my adapter from monoprice, it cost about $8 I think.