One of the handy features of older iMacs was Target Display Mode, an option that allows you to use an iMac as an external display. Although the feature has not been offered in iMacs since 2014, in the Apple community there was hope that it could return with the new M1 iMacs. Unfortunately, the new all-in-one Macs do not list support for target display mode, but there is a third-party solution.
The new iMacs feature what looks like a very nice display. At 4.5K (4480 x 2520), the 24-inch Retina panel is lighter than the 24-inch 4K UltraFine 4K and has P3 wide, True Tone color, 500-rivet brightness and anti-glare coverage, all in a super-thin Chassis of 11.5 mm.
And with a starting price of $ 1,299, this 4.5K display level, along with the Mac M1, Apple has managed to fit inside feels great (the 27-inch LG UltraFine still sells for $ 1,299 ) – all the more so if users have managed to use it as an external monitor.
The target display mode was last accepted in mid-2014 iMacs and earlier (non-Retina models), and Apple officially killed this feature with macOS Mojave and later.
Although it was probably a long shot to raise hopes that the Target Display Mode will be revived with the new M1 iMac (and Big Sur), it would certainly have added value for those with more Macs.
In the technical specifications for the new M1 iMac, Apple only details support for video output, not input:
However, even though there is no official support for Target Display Mode, the Luna Display third-party software / hardware solution has a Mac-to-Mac mode that seems to work with new iMacs.
Extend your display to any Mac using Luna Display’s Mac-to-Mac mode. Need a larger display option? Use any additional Mac computer as a secondary or extended display of your primary Mac computer. Remove your old Macs and use them as an external monitor!
This requires a $ 80 Luna Display USB-C dongle (just one of them), but it’s a nice option to bring that target display mode / extended desktop flexibility into the workflow with two Macs.
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