The Best Way to Use a Mac Laptop or iMac with a Broken Display

(In point of fact, in the absence of a paid AppleCare+ for Mac package, the expenses of repairing a display often surpass the worth of a Mac, assuming that a repair shop can locate a reconditioned or salvaged display.) It's possible that purchasing a secondhand Mac of the same generation that has a display that still works will be less or not much more costly.) An external monitor is compatible with all Mac laptops and iMacs released in the last number of years; however, the specific adapter and type required are different for each generation of Mac:

• Determine the model of your Mac computer and the kind of monitor and connection you need.
• If the Mac is active, be sure you power it down. (If you can't see the display well enough to pick Shut Down, press and hold the power button until the device shuts down, which should take around ten seconds.)

Put the Monitor on Its Stand

Turn on the Apple computer. You could get fortunate and find that the monitor supports display mirroring, which allows you to view precisely what you would see on the device's internal display on the monitor itself. If the picture on the external monitor seems to be that of a second screen rather than a reflection of the one on the internal display:

• Check to see if you can bring up the Displays preference pane, and then check the box next to the Arrangement tab that says Mirror Displays in iMac. You may be able to grasp the top of the window on the monitor that is invisible to you and drag it to the monitor that you can see by using the cursor on that monitor; this is true even if you can't see that display! It's a little like those awful claw toy machines, and only you can't see the claw or the toy when you play it.
• When using a laptop computer with a Mac, you may move the display to an external monitor by closing the machine's lid. In addition to that, you'll want an extra keyboard. First, try to restart the Mac, and if that doesn't work, follow the steps provided by Apple to reset either the NVRAM or the PRAM. This may switch to mirrored displays. If either of those things works, you may continue to use the Mac as usual, or you can utilize the second display to oversee the process of transferring data from the Mac.

Connect Via the Use of VNC

If you activate Screen Sharing in the Sharing preference pane in macOS, it is possible to view a distant screen via a local network using Bonjour. However, this feature is only available if Screen Sharing is enabled. If this is the case, please proceed as follows:

• Turn on the Mac computer.
• Look in the sidebar of any window in the Finder on any other Mac connected to the same network and see a section labeled Locations. Is there a mention of the Mac anywhere?
• If that button is there, click it, and then when the Screen Sharing software begins, input your account details there. You ought should have access at this point. If you do not enable a password for VNC viewers, you will not be able to use this software.

Use Target Disk Mode

Target Disk Mode is a potential savior if all other options are exhausted. This enables a Mac to be mounted on other Macs in the same manner as a hard disc. On its website, Apple provides a comprehensive set of instructions, but the general outline is as follows:

• Power down your damaged Mac.
• Connect it to the Mac you wish to mount it on using the cable designed specifically for that computer model.
• Keep holding down the T key when turning on your faulty Mac as it boots up.
• If everything works as it should, the Mac with the damaged display will show up as a mounted disc on the other Mac that it is linked to.

Ask Mac 911

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