Can I Use iMac As Monitor For Mac Mini ?

I'm unfamiliar with that third-party app.

The traditional Target Display Mode won't work here: Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support — your iMac is too new.

Your gear is also too old for AirPlay to Mac: Continuity features and requirements for Apple devices - Apple Support

If your iMac hardware is failing, whether the hard disk drive or something else, it's anybody's guess what happens.

Diagnostics won't find transient errors, but might find some errors: Use Apple Diagnostics to test your Mac - Apple Support

If the iMac hard disk is failing, a potential workaround: How to Setup and Use an External SSD as your startup disk… - Apple Community

macman1585 wrote:

so if hard disc fails then my imac can still work with an external ssd?

Maybe, maybe not. I ran an old iMac for a long time off an external SSD, with the internal HDD ejected and spun down. There came a time when the internal hard drive started spinning up by itself anyway. Eventually the Mac suffered several crashes, which could well have been the result of the internal hard drive throwing errors despite not being in use. Then the external SSD got corrupted and became useless as a boot drive.

I may try to resurrect that Mac at some point, to run old 32-bit applications, but after getting nearly 14 years of use out of it, it seemed like time to move on.

how about the OS..Ventura is the last one on it and from what i read it will be outdated from updates ,in about 2-3 years meaning my imac wont work properly after these 2-3 years ,meaning get a new one.so is it worthy to give an extension of life to my imac investing to an external ssd?

No, it doesn't mean that your Mac "won't work properly after 2–3 years." It does mean that after 2-3 years, you will find it harder to get new applications that are compatible with that Mac … and you won't be getting security updates. The best time to buy/get the applications that you need is while your Mac is running one of "the most recent three", but there are some applications (like Firefox and LibreOffice, whose current versions only require Catalina or better) that you may be able to add to an old Mac to make it useful longer.

i think that with a new ssd i cant have the latest OS even if i wanted to bcs my hardware can't support it anymore.or am i wrong?

Adding a new SSD will not change the maximum version of macOS that your Mac supports. It won't allow you to install Sonoma or Sequoia.

macman1585 wrote:

just remembered , my nephew has a 2011 imac which failed from motherboard. is its hard disc alive? its been 4 years since it has been used.will it fit to my 2017 imac if i try? well not me ,but a tech guy.

You can use a 2011 iMac as a Target Display for a 2017 iMac if

• Both are working
• The 2011 iMac is running High Sierra or earlier (which it will be – it can't run anything later)
• The 2017 iMac is running Catalina or earlier
• You make a Thunderbolt connection (e.g., with the aid of an $50 Apple Thunderbolt 3-to-2 adapter and a $30+ Thunderbolt 1/2 cable)

2017 iMacs are able to run Ventura, so unless you were already deliberately holding one back on a pre-Catalina OS (to run 32-bit software), you'd be crippling the 2017 iMac by downgrading from Ventura.

$80+ on specialized Thunderbolt connection hardware (that you're likely to never use again) is a good fraction of the cost of a new standalone monitor that would use less electrical power, be more convenient to operate, and be more likely to survive for another 10 years.

Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

Servant of Cats wrote:

…If this thing is squeezing a 5K signal over a plain USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode) connection, what changed, and how would that affect Mac compatibility?

Mac mini (2024) - Tech Specs - Apple Support

Mac mini 2024 with M4 Pro supports USB-C DP 2.1, and 8K 60 Hz HDMI 2.1, among other options, and other Mac models.

I didn't mean physically. I know what a cable with USB-C connectors on both ends is.

I mean in terms of bandwidth, since Macs have traditionally supported connecting

• A single monitor with a resolution of up to 4K @ 60 Hz over USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode)
• A single monitor with a resolution of up to 6K @ 60 Hz, or two monitors with resolutions of up to 4K @ 60 Hz, over Thunderbolt 3 (a.k.a. USB-C (Thunderbolt Alt Mode))

If this thing is squeezing a 5K signal over a plain USB-C (DisplayPort Alt Mode) connection, what changed, and how would that affect Mac compatibility?

Do keep current backups obviously, as a failing hard disk degrades into doom.

First, don't sleep the iMac. Just have the screensaver go on and after a set time go blank. Do not sleep.

Also is the hub self powered? If not that may be why you're having problems, i.e. overloading the current draw on the port the hub is plugged into. Solution: get a self powered hub.

Have you installed and run any "cleaning", "optimizing", "speed-up", anti-virus or VPN apps on your Mac? If you have, that may be part of the problem.

Do you have a Fusion drive?

I have a 27" 2017 iMac but with a SSD boot drive. It runs fine on the latest Ventura.

For an excellent view of your system and hardware's health do these two things and post the results in your reply:

1 - download and run DriveDX (the free version is sufficient.

2 - download and run Etrecheck.  Again, the free version is sufficient.

Copy the report as shown in this animated screenshot

and use the Additional Text button to paste the report in your reply.

Then we can examine the report and see if we can determine the cause of the problem.

If that Mac was working, you could use it as a second screen using Luna Display (Astropad). That workaround is not as good as a hardware connection to a real display – and the Astropad site itself says that Luna Display is not suitable for high-motion content such as from gaming or video editing.

However, if the iMac is failing, there's no guarantee that it would even work with Luna Display. It has bo be able to run, to run the Luna Display software.

It sounds like you need to buy a real monitor for the new Mac mini.

I know of only three 27" 5120x2880 (5K) monitors on the market – the Apple Studio Display, one from LG, and one from Samsung. The LG and Samsung ones list for more than $1000, but often sell for a street price of about $800 to $950, making them less expensive than the $1600+ Studio Display.

If you're willing to compromise a bit on the resolution, there are plenty of 27" 3840x2160 (4K) monitors – and you can get some with IPS panels and near-100% coverage of sRGB for as little as $300 - $350.

Servant of Cats wrote:

...I know of only three 27" 5120x2880 (5K) monitors on the market – the Apple Studio Display, one from LG, and one from Samsung...

ASUS ProArt PA27JCV, and the just-announced BenQ PD2730S, too.

MrHoffman wrote:

Servant of Cats wrote:

...I know of only three 27" 5120x2880 (5K) monitors on the market – the Apple Studio Display, one from LG, and one from Samsung...

ASUS ProArt PA27JCV, and the just-announced BenQ PD2730S, too.

It's good news that more are coming out.

I wonder how that Asus ProArt PA27JCV connects. The description mentions USB-C (DisplayPort) but doesn't say anything about Thunderbolt. The BenQ PD2730S connects via Thunderbolt 4.

macman1585 wrote:

just remembered , my nephew has a 2011 imac which failed from motherboard. is its hard disc alive? its been 4 years since it has been used.will it fit to my 2017 imac if i try? well not me ,but a tech guy.

If you are talking about pulling the hard drive from the 2011 iMac to try to recover data from it, you could use something like this:

Other World Computing – OWC Mercury Elite Pro

Specifically, the "DIY Enclosure (Add your own 3.5-inch drive)".

Servant of Cats wrote:

I wonder how that Asus ProArt PA27JCV connects…