One app · One cable · No conversion kit

Use your 5K iMac as a monitor for your MacBook.

Connect the two Macs with one Thunderbolt cable, and the iMac becomes a second display in full 5K at 60 Hz. Just an app on both Macs.

Download DisplayBridge

Free for 7 days · $29 one-time afterwards · macOS 13 or newer

Setup

One app. No screwdriver.

No conversion kit, no opening the iMac. The same 6 MB app goes on both Macs, and either one of them can be the screen.

The DisplayBridge window during a live session: this Mac is discoverable as a display, a green Thunderbolt line runs at 40 Gbit/s carrying 5120 × 2880 at 60 fps with 24 ms to an iMac Pro, with brightness and volume sliders, a Disconnect button and a choice of where sound plays.

1
Download it on both Macs

One app, 6 MB. The same file goes on the Mac you work on and the Mac you want to use as a screen.
2
Open it on both

No account, no sign-in, nothing to set up. Just open it on each of the two Macs.
3
Connect the cable

Thunderbolt 3, 4 or 5, or a 40 Gb/s USB4 cable, straight between the two Macs.
4
Click Connect

Each Mac already lists the other. One click, and the second screen is live.

The whole app: 6 MB

One universal build, at full speed on Apple silicon and Intel.
Runs on macOS 13 or newer — the same app on both Macs.

Download DisplayBridge

Free for 7 days, everything unlocked. No account, no credit card.

Only works on macOS, not on Windows.

Full Resolution

5120 × 2880.
Every pixel. Every time.

14,745,600pixels in every frame

× 60 fresh frames a second

That is 884,736,000 pixels every second — uncompressed, at native 2× sharpness, down one cable. It is why the picture looks like a display, not like a stream.

Low latency

From one screen
to the other:

~30ms

One blink of your eye

~150 ms

DisplayBridge

20–40 ms

A hummingbird's wingbeat

~20 ms

Summary

Why DisplayBridge is your best pick.

Latency

20–40 ms.
You move, it moves.

Screen to screen over one cable — a fifth of a blink. No Wi-Fi round trips, no encoder queue.
Resolution

Full 5K.
Uncompressed.

All 14.7 million pixels, raw, 60 times a second. It looks like a display because nothing is compressed away.
Privacy

Your screen never leaves the cable.

Straight from Mac to Mac. No cloud, no servers, nothing crosses the internet.
No account

No sign-up.
No login. Ever.

Download, open, click Connect. Neither Mac ever asks you to create an account.
Free trial

7 days.
Everything unlocked. No credit card.

The full app, every feature, on both Macs — before you pay a cent.
Pricing

Pay once.
$29.

One-time purchase, no subscription. Your license doesn't expire next month.
Native scaling

A real display, as far as macOS knows.

It shows up in System Settings like any monitor — native Retina 2× scaling, every resolution.
App size

6 MB.
Everything included.

Native Swift and C, no bundled runtime. Smaller than one photo from your iPhone.

Impressions

At home on any desk.

Three 27-inch iMacs side by side on a desk, all showing a ringed-planet wallpaper, with a MacBook Pro in front, connected by cables and showing the DisplayBridge window. — **Three iMacs, one MacBook.** Each iMac runs at its full 5K, over its own cable.

Three iMacs as displays for a MacBook Pro: documents on the left, a code editor in the middle and a website on the right, with the MacBook in front. — **Write here. Read there.** Editor on the laptop, everything else on 27 inches.

A 27-inch iMac with a blue wave wallpaper as the second display of the MacBook Pro in front of it, which shows the DisplayBridge window; one cable connects them. — **Start with the iMac you have.** One cable turns it into a 5K display for your MacBook.

Three 27-inch iMacs with colourful wave wallpapers as extended displays of the MacBook Pro on the desk in front of them. — **Drag windows across every screen.** macOS treats each iMac like any other display.

A 27-inch iMac in Mirror mode, showing exactly the same web page as the MacBook Pro in front of it. — **Or mirror your screen.** The iMac shows exactly what is on your MacBook, just bigger.

Three 27-inch iMacs side by side with a swirling wallpaper across all three screens, working as displays for the MacBook Pro that sits closed on the desk in front of them, connected by cables. — **Close the lid, keep working.** The iMacs become your only screens, with your keyboard and mouse.

A Mac mini on a desk under three 27-inch iMacs that work as its displays, with the DisplayBridge window open on the right one. — **Or drive them from a Mac mini.** The iMacs become its monitors, no extra screen needed.

Give that iMac
something to do.

Free for seven days, everything unlocked — then $29, once. Not a subscription.

Download

Runs on: macOS 13 or newer, on both Macs — one universal app for Apple silicon and Intel.
Connected by: One Thunderbolt (Thunderbolt 3 or higher) or 40Gb/s cable, straight between the two Macs.
The license: $29 paid once for a lifetime license for the sending Mac. Receiving Macs need no license.

Requirements

Thunderbolt 3 or higher.
Or 40 Gb/s USB4.

Sending a full 5K picture sixty times a second is roughly 10.6 Gbit/s of data. Thunderbolt is the only cable on a Mac that carries that much. That single restriction is what buys you the whole picture — and a connection that behaves the same on the hundredth day as on the first.

Both Macs, sending and receiving

macOS 13 Ventura or newer (the two Macs may run different versions)

Supported Macs

MacBook Pro, 2017 or newer
MacBook Air, 2018 or newer
Mac mini, 2018 or newer
iMac, 2017 or newer
iMac Pro
Every Apple silicon Mac

Cable Thunderbolt 3, 4 or 5, or a 40 Gb/s USB4 cable, directly between the two Macs.

Questions

FAQ

Which Macs are supported?

Every Mac with Thunderbolt 3 or newer and macOS 13 Ventura or later: MacBook Pro from 2017, MacBook Air from 2018, Mac mini from 2018, iMac from 2017, the iMac Pro and every Apple silicon Mac, Intel or Apple silicon on either end. For 5K at 60 Hz the display should be a 5K iMac from 2017 or later or an iMac Pro; a 14- or 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021 or later as the display gives you 120 Hz.

How much does it cost?

$29, paid once, for the Mac that sends its screen; the Mac you use as the display never needs a license. The first 7 days are free, with everything unlocked and no credit card.

Does it work with a Mac mini and an iMac?

Yes: the iMac becomes the Mac mini's monitor over one cable, even if the Mac mini has no screen of its own. My guide Use an iMac as a monitor for a Mac mini shows the whole setup.

All questions, answered in full →

Setup video

The whole setup,
in six minutes.

Everything from the download to the arranged display: the cable, installing on both Macs, the two permissions, Connect. Six minutes, start to finish.

An iMac next to a MacBook Pro, showing the MacBook's second desktop

Plays in YouTube's privacy-enhanced player — nothing loads until you press Play. Open on YouTube

On YouTube

Use your 5K iMac as a monitor for your MacBook.

One app. No screwdriver.

Download it on both Macs

Open it on both

Connect the cable

Click Connect

The whole app: 6 MB

5120 × 2880.
Every pixel. Every time.

From one screen
to the other:

Why DisplayBridge is your best pick.

20–40 ms.
You move, it moves.

Full 5K.
Uncompressed.

Your screen never leaves the cable.

No sign-up.
No login. Ever.

7 days.
Everything unlocked. No credit card.

Pay once.
$29.

A real display, as far as macOS knows.

6 MB.
Everything included.

At home on any desk.

Give that iMac
something to do.

Thunderbolt 3 or higher.
Or 40 Gb/s USB4.

FAQ

The whole setup,
in six minutes.

More videos on YouTube.

Thanks for downloading!

AirDrop it to your Mac

DisplayBridge is a Mac app

Use your 5K iMac as a monitor for your MacBook. Use your 5K iMac as a monitor for your Mac mini. Use your MacBook as a monitor for your new Mac. Use your 5K iMac as a monitor for your MacBook.

One app. No screwdriver.

Download it on both Macs

Open it on both

Connect the cable

Click Connect

The whole app: 6 MB

5120 × 2880.Every pixel. Every time.

From one screento the other:

Why DisplayBridge is your best pick.

20–40 ms.You move, it moves.

Full 5K.Uncompressed.

Your screen never leaves the cable.

No sign-up.No login. Ever.

7 days.Everything unlocked. No credit card.

Pay once.$29.

A real display, as far as macOS knows.

6 MB.Everything included.

At home on any desk.

Give that iMacsomething to do.

Thunderbolt 3 or higher. Or 40 Gb/s USB4.

FAQ

The whole setup, in six minutes.

More videos on YouTube.

Use your 5K iMac as a monitor for your MacBook.

5120 × 2880.
Every pixel. Every time.

From one screen
to the other:

20–40 ms.
You move, it moves.

Full 5K.
Uncompressed.

No sign-up.
No login. Ever.

7 days.
Everything unlocked. No credit card.

Pay once.
$29.

6 MB.
Everything included.

Give that iMac
something to do.

Thunderbolt 3 or higher.
Or 40 Gb/s USB4.

The whole setup,
in six minutes.