Can an i-Mac monitor (2019) be plugged into a MacBook to provide a larger screen?

I recently bought a Mac Mini + monitor to replace my 2019 i-Mac. Can my daughter use the i-Mac monitor simply as a large screen attached to her MacBook?

Posted on Oct 28, 2025 9:53 AM

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Posted on Oct 28, 2025 10:31 AM

No. The 2019 iMac does not support Target Display mode natively.


She could use a number of third party alternatives such as LunaDisplay to use the iMac as a display for another Mac though, but those can introduce lag and other issues so are not suitable for video editing or high paced games, but can work for things like Word Processing, email and web browsing pretty well.


https://astropad.com/blog/step-by-step-guide-how-to-use-your-imac-as-a-monitor/

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 28, 2025 10:31 AM in response to PCDiddy

No. The 2019 iMac does not support Target Display mode natively.


She could use a number of third party alternatives such as LunaDisplay to use the iMac as a display for another Mac though, but those can introduce lag and other issues so are not suitable for video editing or high paced games, but can work for things like Word Processing, email and web browsing pretty well.


https://astropad.com/blog/step-by-step-guide-how-to-use-your-imac-as-a-monitor/

Can an i-Mac monitor (2019) be plugged into a MacBook to provide a larger screen?

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