Connecting 2024 Mac mini a Apple Studio Display and an old 2020 iMac 5k with Thuderbolt

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Connecting 2024 Mac mini a Apple Studio Display and an old 2020 iMac 5k with Thuderbolt

I want to be able to use both my 27in Apple Studio Display and my 2020 iMac 27in 5K with my new 2024 Mac Mini.

I want to have both displays at 2560 x 1440 resolution most of the time.

I currently have the main display as the Studio Display connected via the single Thunderbolt outlet with a thunderbolt cable and the extended display as the iMac connected to the USB port on the back of the Studio Display to the Thunderbolt port on the back of the iMac.

It does not appear to matter what order I connect the iMac, I can't get it to offer higher than 1920 x 1080 resolution.

There is only one thunderbolt port on the back of the Mac Mini but two thunder bolt ports on the back of the iMac, and one thunderbolt port on the back of the Studio Display. The cables are new thunderbolt cables.

How can I get maxium resolution through both my displays?

Mac mini, macOS 15.2

Posted on Jan 21, 2025 1:30 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

abrainard01withaMacMini2024 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 22, 2025 4:19 AM in response to tbirdvet

I learned from tech support that a 2020 iMac can’t work as a Target Display and I can only use it as AirPlay.

total bummer, it turns out the iMac doesn’t even need to be physically connected to the Mac Mini to work as a display. I just can’t use it at 5k.

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Answer 2

Jan 24, 2025 2:04 AM in response to abrainard01withaMacMini2024

abrainard01withaMacMini2024 wrote:

total bummer, it turns out the iMac doesn’t even need to be physically connected to the Mac Mini to work as a display. I just can’t use it at 5k.

There is a workaround product called Luna Display that might let you use the 27" 5K iMac as a second display. However, it is not as good as a hardware video connection to a real monitor.

Astropad – Luna Display

Astropad – How To Use Your iMac as a Monitor: A Step-by-Step Guide [2024]

"Like any product, Luna Display does have limitations and it’s not recommended for high-motion content. For example, I wouldn’t recommend using Luna Display for gaming or video editing.

Since Luna Display is squeezing a 5K display through a USB cable, when lots of motion occurs on-screen (like from video playback or moving a window quickly) the screen can temporarily become pixelated before it renders in at full resolution."

It also appears that third-party vendors are finally starting to notice that there is a market for 27" 5K monitors for use with Macs. At first, just Apple and LG offered such displays. Then Samsung offered one. Recently, Asus and BenQ joined the party, and now I see in another thread that ViewSonic is coming out with one.

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Answer 3

tbirdvet

Level 6

16,939 points

Jan 21, 2025 4:57 PM in response to abrainard01withaMacMini2024

You have 3 TB ports on the back of the Mac mini M4 but you cannot use the iMac as a display with the mac Mini M4..

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Answer 4

Jan 24, 2025 1:54 AM in response to abrainard01withaMacMini2024

abrainard01withaMacMini2024 wrote:

There is only one thunderbolt port on the back of the Mac Mini

If this is a 2024 (M4 or M4 Pro) Mac mini, it has three Thunderbolt ports on the back.

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Connecting 2024 Mac mini a Apple Studio Display and an old 2020 iMac 5k with Thuderbolt

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