New Mac Mini linked to old iMac Mid 2011

While your old 2011 supports Target Display Mode, a newer Mac mini running Big Sur or later does not.

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

What I suggest, is to look at is a refurbished Mac mini and a modestly priced external display.

see > Refurbished Mac - Mac mini - Apple

y021ahe wrote:

Hi

I have a mid-2011 21.5” iMac running high sierra 10.13.6. It’s expensive to replace it with a new iMac so for what I use it for I am considering a Mac mini and connecting it to the iMac display

Depends on what Mac Mini you are considering. For the current M1 Mac Mini's it is not supported. For older Mac minis it would need to be running Catalina or earlier for that to work. Link-> Use your iMac as a display with target display mode - Apple Support

I do however have a couple of questions

1) when the mini is connected to the iMac, can I use the imac dvd drive?

2) I have a number of usb devices connected to my iMac, but the mini only has 2 ports - can I plug in a multi port usb hub and plug and plug those usb devices into that ?

3) the mini I am looking at comes with big-sur .. I assume I will be able to upgrade to later MacOS versions as I would be able to do with an iMac ( up to a point obviously) and I am not always stuck on the big-sur without later patches or version.

4) can I access the disk drive of the iMac to act as additional storage to the mini or is it lost once the Mac mini is connected - I understand that the iMac is still a computer in its own right if I disconnected the mini, but that’s not what I am saying here.

4) what cable do I need to connect the mini to the iMac ?

5) any other compatibility issues I should consider ?

thanks for all advice

rich

1. Different connections and also not supported on current M1 Mac minis. On an older Mac mini you may be able to use the Remote Disc feature over the network. Link-> Share DVDs and CDs on Mac - Apple Support
2. Yes. You can use a USB hub to add more ports. Either USB-C to regular USB or just a regular USB-A hub.
3. Yes. you can update to whenever else the specific model of Mac supports. An M1 Mac mini can be updated to the current macOS 13 Ventura.
4. Yes. You can share the iMac's drive over the network and store things on it. I do just that with an old 2011 Mac mini that has much more storage than my current MacBook Air has.
5. None. You cannot directly connect it to the iMac, as mentioned, but you can access it over the wi-fi or ethernet network.
6. Not really beyond what was already stated.

Sorry to be late to the party. An update on your #1:

when the mini is connected to the iMac, can I use the iMac dvd drive?

A computer lacking a DVD drive must be running macOS 10.14 Mojave or older to use another Mac's optical drive per this recently updated (24 Oct 2022) article on DVD/CD sharing:

Share DVDs and CDs on Mac - Apple Support

Near the top of the article is this:

So an M1 mini will ship with too high an OS version to use DVD/CD sharing.

I found this out when a friend bought a new Macbook Pro running Big Sur and ask me to help install software that was on a DVD using my 2012 Macbook Pro with and optical drive. Althoug DVD/CD sharing was properly activated and available to my 2017 iMac running Mojave and on the same network, the new Macbook Pro could not access the disk in the 2012 Macbook Pro's drive.

y021ahe wrote:

That is true Den, but I would have access to my iMac hard drive and dvd drive if I connected to that one

If you are using it as a display, that will not work!

You would need to boot into Target Disk Mode to access those devices, it which case it becomes useless a display.

A lot of work and waste of energy when external DVD/CD drives are so inexpensive as well as external hard drives.

You're welcome.

Plus if your energy conscious, using an external display uses a lot less power than using a second computer.

mind you using an imac as monitor use a lot! more power than using a normal monitor as the imac's computer part would also be running beside the mac mini, a bit wasteful

why that kind of money?

you can get any old 27" monitor, optical drive, keyboard, mouse, external hd for much less money than that

these things need not be apple branded you can use any brand really