Buying advice: Old 2009-2013 iMac as a secondary screen for photo editing with Macbook Pro 2020

[GMShadow]

“Horrible” is relative, but I don’t think there are many people that think the iMacs’ displays are bad.

I personally think the display looks gorgeous compared to even new mid-range displays.

Even if they were 100% on spec when new, they'll have drifted over the last decade. And good brightness then is mediocre today.

 

[BeatCrazy]

I tested with a 2015 MB running Big Sur and it worked. So the source doesn’t need to be running Catalina or an older version of macOS. I was running Snow Leopard on the iMac FWIW.

Right but that's at least Intel. I get the impression that @hunk143 is using Apple Silicon.

 

[vaughas]

I have been using 2009 iMac 27" as second screen to MacBook Pro 2019 for Lightroom and Photoshop for 4 years with great success. iMac is turned on of course and Cmd + F2 toggle between screens. Absolutely no issues with the screen.

 

[afd]

Saw this on YouTube I think https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/juicycrumb/juicy-crumb-upgrade-logic-board unfortunately it’s a dead 2011 iMac with a 20.5” screen I have. Have also thought of stuffing a raspberry pi into it.