Universal Control and Extended display to Middle Aged iMacs.

Question

Created Mar ’22

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It would seem that my new 2021 MBP and universal control is quite capable, however extending the display to my late 2015 iMac to use it as a secondary 5k display is still not a reality.

I have understood that this has never been possible before, but with the new universal control feature, it really sounded like it was going to be. Alas, I still cannot use the iMac as an extended display from the new MacBook Pro.

Will this continue to always be impossible? Will this be a possibility once universal control is out of BETA status? Seeing how this can be accomplished by other means, sure seems like this limitation is a choice by the developers and not an insurmountable limitation of old designs being incapable of new tasks...

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Answer 1

artecolote OP

Mar ’22

i was very disappointed i couldn't extend to the iMac. the other way around (iMac to MacBook) is pretty useless. I don't need my slower computer with the big screen to show up all tiny on my faster computer that i can't use.

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Answer 2

robnotyou OP

Mar ’22

Universal Control document, including "Supported Devices":
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT212757

Specifically:

iMac introduced in 2017 or later, plus iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015)

extending the display to my late 2015 iMac to use it as a secondary 5k display is still not a reality.

It sounds like this should work...
...so it might be worth double-checking that everything is set up correctly (as explained in that same link).

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Answer 3

robnotyou OP

Mar ’22

Interestingly, the list of iMacs that can connect to the new Studio Display includes the "2017 or later", but not your "Retina 5K, 27-inch, Late 2015". I wonder if this might be related, and the "Late 2015" is missing something critical?

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