Cast your minds back to the launch of the 27" iMac in mid-2009. One of the new features was Target Display Mode, which introduced the ability to use the iMac as a pure external monitor, bypassing the built-in computer entirely. This could be useful if you wanted to dock a laptop to a big screen temporarily -- or if you were worried that the substantial investment in a 27" screen would, in years to come, be hobbled by the ageing CPU and GPU inside the iMac. The theory was that you could eventually just stop using everything but the display.
However, Apple has quietly dropped the feature on the latest iMacs, which were announced today. For one, the Apple knowledgebase article describing the feature specifically mentions it is for "iMac (27-inch, Mid 2010), iMac (27-inch, Late 2009)," excluding the newest model. For two, whilst this archive of the old model's tech specs page states "27-inch models also support input from external DisplayPort sources," there is no such mention on the updated page for today's model.
This change is probably tied to the mini DisplayPort being replaced by two Thunderbolt ports. Whatever clever hack Apple did to make the mini DisplayPort connection bi-directional in the earlier iMacs is presumably difficult or impossible to replicate through Thunderbolt, as they have less control over the protocol (remember that Thunderbolt is an Intel design, and uses a special Intel communications chip). What do you think, readers -- was Target Display Mode always a pointless curiosity, or do you think this is a loss for the iMac's feature set? Has anyone out there used Target Display Mode in anger?
Target Display Mode missing in action on new iMacs originally appeared on TUAW on Tue, 03 May 2011 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Source: http://www.tuaw.com/2011/05/03/target-display-mode-missing-in-action-on-new-imacs/
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