Can iMac be used as an external monitor or in external display mode?

Users, especially those who love computer games, I’m interested in the question: can an iMac be used as a monitor? The answer is simple, you can. Many will say that for these purposes you can buy a separate external monitor, instead of using full-fledged computer. Full monitor Apple having a high resolution will cost around 42 thousand rubles, while on an iMac you will spend from 80 thousand. At the same time, for 80 thousand you will get a full powerful computer with an excellent screen. There is no need to buy anything if you already have old version monoblock, which remained idle.

iMac can be used as a peripheral monitor for Apple devices, because it has a high screen resolution. You need to put the device into peripheral display mode. This mode makes it possible to use the all-in-one PC to display images from another device.

Connecting iMac to Mac

In order to establish a connection you will need:

• Mac computer or laptop. The device must have a Thunderbolt connector. If you don't have one, Mini DisplayPort will do. If your equipment is equipped with a Thunderbolt 3 port adapted for USB - C, use a special Thunderbolt 3 (USB - C) / Thunderbolt 2 adapter from Apple.
• Thunderbolt or Mini DisplayPort cable.
• An iMac that the user plans to connect as an external monitor. operating system must be OS X 10.6.1 or later.

Not every candy bar model can be connected as a peripheral screen. Only models can be connected: iMac with a diagonal of 27″, Late 2009 and Mid 2010. The connection uses a Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt connector. To establish a connection, you will need a Mini DisplayPort to Mini DisplayPort cable. All-in-one PCs with a release date from mid-2011 to mid-2014 are connected. The Thunderbolt port and cable of the same name are used for connection.

Turn on the all-in-one PC that will be connected as a display. Log in on another device in account macOS. Connect the cable to the connectors. After the connection is made, simultaneously press the “F2” + “Command” buttons on the input panel of the peripheral PC. The display will show the operating screen of the second device. To complete the docking process, hold down the “F2” + “Command” buttons.

If "F2" + "Command" doesn't work

If pressing the buttons does not start displaying the screen of another computer, do the following:

• Check if it supports this model peripheral monitor mode.
• Switching to this mode is possible if you have logged into your macOS account on the second PC.
• Check the functionality of the keyboard. Use only your native keyboard. With a third-party input panel, commands may fail to execute.
• If in the “keyboard” section of the system settings there is a checkmark next to the item “Using the “F1”, “F2” and ...” keys, simultaneously hold down the “Command” + “Fn” + “F2” buttons.
• Check the accuracy of the devices connected via cable. Check if the cable is working properly. If you find creases, twists, or bare areas, replace the cord with a working one.
• For PC Windows mode The peripheral screen does not work. The iMac must run on macOS.

How to disable the mode?

To exit, disconnect the cable, or simultaneously hold down the “F2” + “Command” buttons on the input device of the computer connected as a monitor. Disconnection will occur automatically when one of the computers is turned off. The same thing will happen when one of the devices goes into sleep mode.

Settings

To fully use your iMac as a peripheral display, you'll need additional customization screen settings. To adjust brightness external screen use a second PC. In system settings, open the “monitors” section. You can also adjust the brightness level on the candy bar itself via the input panel (brightness control buttons).

To play sound through the monoblock speakers, open the system settings on the “main” PC and go to the “sound” section. In the section, specify audio playback via iMac. You can adjust the volume using the volume keys from the main PC.

You can connect 2 devices as an external screen. Computers must be connected via Thunderbolt ports and special Thunderbolt cables . The aimaks are not connected sequentially in a chain, but only to the main device via Mini DisplayPort or Thunderbolt port . There is a limit on quantity. All processes running on the iMac, which you connect as a peripheral monitor, are saved in background activity during screen mode.

How to connect PS4 to iMac?

You can connect your PS4 to your iMac using the ExtremeCap U3 capture card. With its help, the user can even record games. For correct operation devices, you need to download the firmware for ExtremeCap U3 from the official website. A high-resolution monitor is perfect for gameplay. Resolution plays a big role for very dynamic games, such as fighting games.

If the user encounters a slight delay, lowering the graphics level to 720 p will help. The user will find instructions on how to use and connect the gadget in the device package. You can also use the capture card to connect the set-top box to your TV. The cost of ExtremeCap U3 ranges from 10 thousand rubles.

Connecting iMac to TV

You can use Apple TV, but it's not required. Display the all-in-one screen image on a TV monitor without additional gadget. The computer display resolution is high, but watching movies on big screen more pleasant. To connect your PC to your TV you need a Thunderbolt, Mini-DVI or Mini DisplayPort connector. Need Thunderbolt/Mini DisplayPort to HDMI adapter supportive sound. HDMI cable and TV with HDMI connector.

Follow the connection sequence:

• Connect the Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter to the PC, then connect it to HDMI cable. Connect to TV.
• Start your PC.
• Turn on the TV and use the remote control to select the HDMI image transmission interface.

Mirror display broadcasting (one image on two displays) is disabled in the system settings in the “monitors” section. To adjust sound settings, go to the “sound” section. In the “output” subsection, set the audio output via HDMI. You can scale the display using hotkeys after studying them in the “universal access” section.

HDMI– this connector is found on almost all modern video cards. It can transmit both image and sound, while providing high-quality signal transmission.

DVI– this is the most popular connection method modern monitors to the computer. Apple Company uses Mini-DVI for such purposes. Differs from DVI only smaller size.

DisplayPort and Thunderbolt– connectors similar to the HDMI connector. Quite often found on Apple computers. Thunderbolt is an improved version of DisplayPort. At the same time, Thunderbolt monitors can be connected exclusively to Thunderbolt connectors, while DisplayPort monitors can be connected to both DisplayPort and Thunderbolt connectors.

VGA– a fairly old connector that is practically not used today. It was popular during the use of CRT monitors. If your monitor is connected only through this cable, then in addition to the cable itself, you will also need an adapter for another connection to connect, because Apple products simply do not have this connector.

To connect a second monitor, you must purchase required cable and connect it to both the computer and the monitor itself.

Comment! If you connect your monitor via VGA or DVI/Mini-DVI, then before the procedure, it is better to turn off the computer, if you connect via HDMI ports, DisplayPort or Thunderbolt, you don't need to turn off your computer.

Now, in apple menu select an item System Settings – Monitors.

Here you can adjust the screen layout, as well as set the settings for transferring the image to the second screen.

By default, when connecting a second monitor, the desktop expands to cover both monitors. In these settings, you can set the image to be duplicated rather than expanded; to do this, check the box next to Enable video repeat of monitors.

Last week the iMac finally arrived and became the first desktop computer I have. Before this, I usually bought laptops that served well and replaced each other. In the end it all came to MacBook Air, which is my main computer today, both for work and for everything else.


True, in the future the appearance of a separate work computer is foreseen, but in the meantime the idea arose to install additional monitor so you can look at the screen more. Still, although the display on the MacBook Air is not bad and the resolution of 1440x900 is generally enough, there is never too much screen space, I thought. Therefore, it was decided to somehow expand this screen space.

The easiest option is to connect an external monitor. However, buy apple monitor For 40-45 thousand rubles, I somehow couldn’t raise my hand. Yes I understand that good IPS monitors this size cost a lot, and Apple Thunderbolt Display, in addition to a good matrix, there are all sorts of nice things like a bunch of ports that make it a high-quality docking station for a laptop, but the toad is a strong animal, so it strangled it mercilessly. It was difficult for her to explain that there was so much stuff crammed inside this Thunderbolt Display that add a processor, disk and memory there and you get an iMac... Hmm, that’s an idea, I thought.
There were several other fairly strong arguments in favor of the iMac, the main one being this moment called... Battlefield 3. I pre-ordered this toy back in March, when I had MacBook Pro, and it was quite possible to play it on it. However, I have since downgraded to more light laptop, and it turned out (as expected) that you can’t play Battlefield 3 on a MacBook Air (although Modern Combat: Domination runs quite quickly). Yes, yes, PS3, that’s all, but I don’t like playing shooters with a joystick, and for some reason Move doesn’t support Battlefield 3, plus the graphics on PS3 are worse than on PC. It is clear that not only Battlefield, and further iMac yet useful for watching movies on quiet winter evenings, or even watching TV - VLC plus an Internet stream are quite capable of replacing a TV set-top box. In general, if not a monitor, then an iMac, I decided. Yes, the iMac costs more than a monitor, but you get a lot more in return than just an extra screen. And if you look further, you can find an iMac in the right places (thanks, MacSolutions!) for not much more than a monitor, and you will enjoy it much more. There was only one little thing left - whether the iMac could work as an external monitor for the MacBook Air. On this occasion, I dug up a video on the Internet that showed that it could, and I decided that this would be enough.
As a result, last week a handsome 27″ with a fiery engine in the form of Intel Core i5 2.7GHz, with 8GB random access memory, hard drive in 1TB, a video card with 512MB of memory and everything else that an iMac requires. The only thing that confused me was that he ended up with 10.6 instead of 10.7, but since I have Mac App Store Lion already exists, so I quickly downloaded and installed the new OS there. It seems to me that there is no particular point in reviewing the computer - this is not some kind of new product, and the iMac in this form has been on the market for a couple of years. I can only say that in terms of performance I have no issues with my computer, and even Battlefield 3 on Windows (after I installed the 64-bit version) at 1920x1080 produces quite playable results. I liked the Magic Mouse, which I hadn’t really used before, and I didn’t like the Russian keyboard - its cut-down left Shift, stupid placement of the tilde (~) and scanty Enter on the right really infuriate me, although this may just be a matter of getting used to the American layout, which I have it almost everywhere. But I noted that my old Wireless Keyboards use 3 batteries, and the keyboard that comes with the iMac uses 2 batteries. It's a small thing, but nice.
But most of all I was interested in the question of using the iMac as an external monitor with a MacBook Air. I remember that, based on the reaction on Twitter to this use of the computer, I was branded a pervert, but in fact this is a completely normal function of the same iMac - it is called Target Display Mode and has existed in the iMac since the Mini DisplayPort appeared there. With the addition of the Thunderbolt port to the iMac and later the MacBook Air, this functionality expanded even further, and I was really looking forward to it.


(not my hands, if so, these are the dudes from iFixit)
Actually, in the best Apple traditions everything turned out to be as simple as possible - just connect two computers with a Thunderbolt cable ($49 for 2 meters of cable, but it’s justified - see the picture above, the cable has two such chips), on the iMac, press the Command+F2 combination on the keyboard and boom! (© Steve Jobs), iMac turns into an external monitor for MacBook Air. And everything is in the same exact mode as when connected regular monitor- can be controlled from system settings the location of the monitors, designate one of them as the “main” one, and enable “duplication” of the picture. Permission to iMac screen The laptop supports native resolution - 2560x1440. I don’t really like the dual monitor mode, so I made it simpler: after setting the Target Display mode, I simply closed the MacBook Air, and after that the iMac began to work as the only monitor for the MacBook Air. But the pleasures don't end there - because Thunderbolt is more versatile than just an image cable. In particular, you can assign iMac speakers as a means of outputting sound from a laptop, or even connecting speakers to it and playing sound from them. Unfortunately, in reverse side this doesn't work - MacBook Air doesn't support Target Display mode. I read somewhere that the MacBook Air uses a stripped-down Thunderbolt chip, but this, however, is understandable - it is a laptop after all. By the way, when the laptop is closed, only the same microcircuit in the Thunderbolt cable heats up, otherwise temperature regime, according to the sensor, has not changed. In terms of performance, I also had no questions about the MacBook Air.
One of the nice bonuses of Thundebolt was that it supports not only Target Display Mode, but also regular Target Mode - this is a legacy from the Firewire era. Then, let me remind you, it was possible to press the T button on the keyboard when the computer was loading and the computer would boot into a mode in which it actually became “ external hard disk." It could be connected with a Firewire cable to another computer and copy the data. With the gradual disappearance of Apple computers Firewire ports (by the way, this iMac has it), this feature also disappeared, but Apple implemented it in Thunderbolt and it turned out to be very convenient for fast transfer file. For security enthusiasts, I can note that if FileVault is used (and I use it on my laptop), then when you connect the laptop in Target Mode (both iMac and MacBook Air support it), you are first asked for a password, and then the disk is connected after entering correct password. By the way, speaking about disks, I would like to note that if you connect to the iMac HDD via USB, it does not appear on the MacBook Air when connected via Thunderbolt, unfortunately.
So, to summarize, I want to say that the iMac turned out to be exactly what I needed - both an independent power-house and convenient extension for MacBook Air. Plus, the iMac's design can brighten up any room, especially if it has 27″ of beautiful screen space. True, after the MacBook Air I got used to silent computers, but the fans and disk in the iMac are still audible (albeit quietly), but I’ll get over it somehow. Periodic sessions in Battlefield 3 compensate especially well for this.
PS As a bonus, here is the same video that shows how iMac and Thunderbolt live in friendly symbiosis:

Laptops today have replaced desktop PCs for many. With them you can be as mobile as possible and work anytime and anywhere. Especially when it comes to Macbook Air, which has become a legend thanks to its “airy size” and performance.

How to connect an additional monitor to a MacBook.

Ease of use and portability are great, but there are many situations when it is necessary to display information on a classic monitor or several.

For example:

• for a more comfortable viewing of movies and cartoons;
• during presentations and conferences;
• for simultaneous solution of several tasks. For example, tracking information in several tables at once.

Now that it’s clear why you need to connect a monitor to a MacBook, all that remains is to figure out how to do it correctly.

What you need to connect

An adapter is required to connect the monitor. Which one depends on what model of MacBook you have. In the latest line, devices have a Thunderbolt port, older ones have Mini DisplayPort, and the very “ancient” ones have Mini-DVI. In a number of models you can find HDMI connector. Second thing to check before choosing the required adapter or cable, this is the connector on the monitor to which the connection will be made.

What is the difference between an adapter and an adapter?

The adapter cable has extremely simple function, it connects two connectors of different configurations, transmitting signals from one contact to another according to a certain scheme. The adapter acts on the signal itself, changing it as needed.

As a result, you may need:

Adapters:

• Mini DisplayPort - VGA;
• Mini DisplayPort - DVI.

• Apple HDMI - HDMI;
• Belkin Mini DisplayPort - HDMI.

This set will be enough for MacBook connections Air to most monitors. The undoubted convenience is that any of them can be purchased on the Apple website. If you want to save money, you can buy more cheap analogues in regular online stores, but their quality may also be noticeably lower. A common mistake is buying a DisplayPort adapter when you need a Mini DisplayPort - watch this carefully.

MacBook Airs released before 2011 did not support HDMI audio, so an adapter or adapter must provide this feature. If we are talking about connecting the latter Apple displays Cinema or Thunderbolt, you won’t have to buy anything extra, since they already have built-in cables with the necessary connectors, plus it will be possible to recharge the laptop from the monitor via MagSafe.

Operating modes

It is not enough to simply connect the monitor to MacBook laptop Air, you still need to choose the right operating mode for it.

There are only three options:

• video replay of monitors;
• extended desktop;
• lid closed mode (system unit).

This mode is the most popular. Its essence is extremely simple. The image on the monitor is completely duplicated MacBook display. This is the very option that is needed for making presentations and working with a projector. The limitation is that the resolution of the connected screen cannot be greater than that of the MacBook.

Don't have enough laptop screen space to accommodate all the necessary tabs? The problem can be solved very easily by expanding it by connecting an external monitor. At activated mode desktop you can work on two monitors simultaneously. In this case, the main screen is set in the settings, on which the menu bar will be located.

Note. For OS X Mavericks and later, the menu bar will appear on both screens.

Now the additional monitor will become a continuation of the main one and you can simply drag objects between them with the mouse. In any of the main monitor options, you can use a trackpad or laptop keyboard to enter information.

Setting up advanced mode

Sequencing:

• connect an additional monitor;
• select system settings in the menu;
• go to the “Monitors” section;
• select the "Location" tab.
• The item “Enable video repeat of monitors” should be disabled (no checkbox).

How to set display layouts

To make working on two screens as comfortable as possible, you need to configure them mutual arrangement, so that the windows between them move either vertically or horizontally to one side. This is not difficult to do. On the “location” tab you can see a schematic arrangement in the form of blue rectangles, and their size will be proportional to the resolution. By dragging the rectangles with the mouse, you can set the desired location.

System unit

At a stationary workplace in the office or at home, you can use the MacBook Air as the system book of a regular PC. To activate the mode, just put your MacBook into sleep mode and close its lid.

Since there will obviously be no access to the keyboard, in addition to an additional monitor, you will have to purchase a mouse and external keyboard. It is recommended to connect Charger so that the battery does not run out at the most inopportune moment. OS X in its default settings does not support waking from sleep when commanded from devices via Bluetooth. Therefore, you need to activate this option in advance.

Is it possible to connect a TV

Yes. To quickly connect modern TV high definition or Apple TV, add a status menu and set the connected device as the main device. A selection menu will appear when connected; to do this, you need to check the “Show video replay options in the menu bar, if available” in the settings. After this, you can watch your favorite movies and any video from your MacBook on the big screen.

How to connect 2 monitors to Macbook Air

If one additional monitor is not enough for you and you need to connect two to your MacBook, then there will be no problems only with new models that have Thunderbolt and an HDMI port. Some MacBook Airs have 2 Thunderbolts at once, so theoretically you can connect not 2, but 3 additional monitors to it at once, although the performance will drop significantly, which will be very noticeable when running different videos on each. For older models, you will have to come up with “collective farm” solutions, and if you manage to connect two monitors, it will be in video replay mode, and not in desktop extension mode.

What they say at Apple

There are several official documents regarding connecting external monitors to latest models MakBook Pro line. They talk about connecting via a connector USB Type-C monitors with 4K and 5K resolution. Thus, the 15-inch MacBook Pro can work with two additional 5K monitors or four at once with a 4K resolution. But for 13-inch models the quantity is 2 times less. The company also confirmed support for the Dell UP2715K monitor with a 5K resolution and a 27-inch diagonal.

Conclusion

Many users are not even aware of how convenient it is to work on multiple monitors at once, since they have never tried it. Meanwhile, the efficiency of work, when primary, active tasks are displayed on one monitor, and on the other everything secondary - chats, monitoring, etc., is several times higher. Especially if you use programs like Mission Control, which make application management easy different screens even more convenient.

Learn how to connect an additional monitor to your MacBook Air using our tips and enjoy the results. If you have any questions or technical problems, write about it in the comments and we will help you solve them.

Fair, not overpriced and not underestimated. There should be prices on the Service website. Necessarily! without asterisks, clear and detailed, where technically possible - as accurate and concise as possible.

If spare parts are available, up to 85% of complex repairs can be completed in 1-2 days. Modular repairs require much less time. The website shows the approximate duration of any repair.

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A guarantee must be given for any repairs. Everything is described on the website and in the documents. The guarantee is self-confidence and respect for you. A 3-6 month warranty is good and sufficient. It is needed to check quality and hidden defects that cannot be detected immediately. You see honest and realistic terms (not 3 years), you can be sure that they will help you.

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Good service values ​​your time, so he offers free shipping. And for the same reason, repairs are carried out only in the workshop of a service center: they can be done correctly and according to technology only in a prepared place.

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If the Service works for you, and not for itself, then it is always open! absolutely. The schedule should be convenient to fit in before and after work. Good service works on weekends and holidays. We are waiting for you and working on your devices every day: 9:00 - 21:00

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