I just recently received my 2012 macbook pro with retina display. I am wondering if I will be able to connect a standard mini-display port cable from the thunderbolt port of the retina MBP to the mini-display port on the late 2009 iMac so that I can use the iMac as an external display for the MBP? I can't find much on the internet about this being possible unless you have an adapter, but I thought I'd ask here anyways to see if someone has a solution or can answer if it's possible. Thanks again.
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 late 2009 iMac with Retina Display MBP
- Thread starter bearvsshark
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Thanks for the speedy reply. I actually checked out that page earlier, but I couldn't find any info on the thunderbolt port and if this only applies to devices with mini-display ports. Like I don't want to fry either device by connecting a thunderbolt port to a mini-display port.
Thunderbolt is completely backwards compatible with Mini-DisplayPort. A male-to-male Mini-DisplayPort cable should work just fine for your purpose.
Alright, that's all I wanted to know. Didn't want top fry my MBP after just getting it. Thanks again guys for the feedback. Much appreciated.
Sure thing.
I use this. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0032ANCIW/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00 and it works perfectly well for me.
Are you connecting a retina macbook pro top a late 2009 iMac too? I just tried to method posted in the link(using a retina macbook pro as the source and connecting it to a late 2009 iMac with a male to male mini-display port cable and when I connect it, the only thing that shows on my iMac's display is the galaxy background, not what's on my macbook pro's display? Any suggestions? Thanks.
No, I'm using an rmbp on a 2010 iMac.
Boot order is important. See below.
Connect a Mini DisplayPort cable to the ports on each computer.
Boot primary computer (rMBP).
Boot target computer (iMac).
Press ⌘-F2 on the keyboard of the external display computer.
*
The boot order is important - boot the target computer first and Target Mode won't work. This isn't apparent from the documentation.
*
Audio pass-through worked great too. Yay for Thunderbolt!
Will try. I didn't mess anything up by having both on at the same time when I connected the mini-display port did I? Thanks again.
Did what you said and still getting the galaxy background when I hit command + f2. It wouldn't be because the rMBP has thunderbolt and the iMac has mini display?
No, it's backwards compatible.
Try command f1 which should mirror th display. Or it may be f7 alone. I am not sitting at my desk so can't test it
No, it's backwards compatible.
Try command f1 which should mirror th display. Or it may be f7 alone. I am not sitting at my desk so can't test it
For sure. I am actually going to hit the hay, have to be up early, but I'll try to test it out in the morning and post my results. Thanks again guys for all your help.
Ok. Finally got it working. Here's what I had to do. The boot order no longer matters after an update because all I did was connect the mini-display port cable to both devices when they were both on. Then, I simply hit Command + f2 on the iMac which brought me to the galaxy wallpaper on my iMac's background. After that, I hit command + f1 on my retina macbook pro which then put what was on my retina mbp on my iMac's display. It auto-changed the resolution on my retina mbp so that it would look best on my iMac. To get sound from my retina mbp so that it would come out of my iMac's speakers, I went into the system preferences, then to sound and changed the output from internal speakers to display port. PROBLEM SOLVED. Thanks again guys for all your help.
To get native resolution on both devices you probably don't want to use mirroring.
You can also use extended desktop mode, where both screens run at native resolution and you can drag apps back and forth between the displays. You can also choose which screen the dock and menu bar appear on in display preferences. I think this is what was going on when you saw only the desktop background on the iMac.
Another option is clamshell mode, where you attach a keyboard and mouse to the MBP, attach it to the iMac, close the MBP, and then use the mouse or keyboard to wake it up. The MBP's display then stays asleep and the iMac is your only display.
Ooooh good question, in theory it should just work as a thunderbolt display hub type thing if connected with thunderbolt shouldn't it, thats worth buying an old iMac for....
damn just had a thought it would have to be new enough to have a thunderbolt port and the 2010 was display port only I think.