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Well, I posted this question on the Apple Community site and to my total shock, my post deleted! Apple knows no bounds and I’m learning to hate the company. They just don’t want anyone fixing anything with an Apple logo on it. Here is my question and dilemma. I have a late 2013 intel i7 iMac with a broken display, spider cracked all over. I can’t buy a replacement from IFIXIT because its out of stock and I won’t pay $1200 to Apple for them to replace it. I’m now using a Thunderbolt Display and want to know if I can remove the display from the iMac and just use the Thunderbolt display. Currently, I have no option but to have both displays lit all the time. There are only 2 system board connections on the back of the iMac display. Has anyone accomplished booting into OS-X without a display on an iMac and using an external display from a thunderbolt port? If so, I could just fit a clear plexiglass cover in the place of the iMac display or just leave the connections off the display. It pretty much sucks having both displays running all the time when I only need the thunderbolt display. UPDATE Well apple is trying to make sure i don’t find out if its possible. I did see louis rossman boot an iMac pro with linus with no display attached and he got fan fire up. so he may be the person to ask, but i doubt getting a hold of him would be easy. here is the email i got from apple. it shows what kind of company they really are. I guess they didn’t like the part where i said i will not pay apple $1200 to replace the display. God knows, they wouldn’t want any exchange of knowledge for repair purposes and this is exactly why i will never buy anything with an apple logo on it again. Im thinking its time for a Mackintosh. I have about $10K of apple equipment in my home. They have lost a customer for life. Thanks for participating in the Apple Support Communities. We’ve removed your post Boot iMac with no display ?. For this issue, we suggest you contact our AppleCare support team: http://support.apple.com/kb/HE57 We hope you’ll keep using our Support Communities forums. You can find more information about participating here: Apple Support Communities - Tutorials We’ve included a copy of your original post below. Thanks, Apple Support Communities Staff
You’ll need to fix your display, here’s the needed part display assembly for the Late 2012 iMac 27 - Apple P/N: 661-7169 (they currently have it) and you’ll need to follow this IFIXIT guide: iMac Intel 27" EMC 2639 Display Replacement Don’t forget you’ll need a tape set and I do recommend you get the needed tools to take off the old display and just incase you need to take off your new display later on [linked product missing or disabled: IF174-005-1] and Plastic Cards
hey sorry man, As far as I’m aware you can’t boot the Mac with an external monitor.
