I expend an unhealthy amount of meter lollygag in biotic community where people share aesthetic desktop setups . One of my friends recently set the mathematical group chat on fervency with a triple monitor frame-up that had two perpendicular screens and an ultrawide cut gore at the center . An impulse swipe later , I achieve a like makeover for my desk at abode .
Here ’s the trouble , though . My $ 600 workstation overhaul did fetch me visual joy , but not much utility . For reportage assignment , I spend the majority of the year away from home base , work from abandoned coffeehouse or by artificial means uncomfortable nonsense beds . I do miss the convenience of tumid secondary silver screen . Interestingly , that hungriness is addressed by a rather unconventional gimmick — the small iPad .
Over the past span of years , I have carried iPads in all form and size . From the tinyiPad miniand the ingress - spirit level iPad tothe 13 - inch iPad Pro . I have used them extensively for television redaction , picture touch sensation - ups , gaming , and show comics . But the best public-service corporation that I ’ve get from Apple ’s tablet is push it as an external monitor .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
The problems an iPad solves
There is no dearth of minimalist proctor out there . Some are even thinner than theMacBook Air , while a few snap right to the lid , like some protective typesetter’s case . However , there are a few fundamental outlet with external monitors , even if you are n’t vexed by choke up one around in your bag .
First , they weight you with the hassle of a pumped-up connection . That , in itself , is troublesome for a couple of reasons . It lead to unneeded conducting wire mare’s nest . Plus , plug in an extraneous monitoring gadget mean you fall back one port , for as long as you are working .
In the age of radical - aerodynamic laptops , ports are a luxury . The MacBook Air , for example , only features a couple of ports . That means you will have to juggle between charging and peripheral connexion with the other USB - C larboard , but ca n’t do any of it simultaneously .
Yes, that is a full-fledged macOS running on the iPad mini.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
If your professing entail handling heavy media files , stop up in ( or out ) external storage is a part of the casual routine . And that means you really a free port wine always at your disposal . The answer ? Of course , fix to dwell the dongle lifetime . Or pitchfork out extra immediate payment for a dongle .
The biggest problem of them all ? Power attractor . You may not always have a tycoon issue at your garbage disposal , especially if you are someone who works on the move or away from home . I recently tried a silky extraneous monitor from Arzopa , and quite liked it . But booking up to my laptop computer drained its electric battery , and I quickly found myself hunting for a power port .
So there I was , juggling with king brick , wire , and port anxiety , once again . The iPad solves all those problems in one go . You do n’t need any cables . You are n’t burden by a king - sip computer peripheral . You are n’t task with handling a clunky third - party app . The iPad is just ready .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
The world’s most convenient monitor
The Apple ecosystem is just unseamed .
No situation exemplifies the above line better than pairing an iPad to your Mac . Actually , no pairing physical process is involved . As long as your Mac and iPad are sign up in with the same Apple report , you ’re serious to go . No pain - in - the - back Bluetooth pairing or manual Wi - Fi tethering is ask .
Just bring the two devices close , and it ’s a smooth - navigation journeying from there . All you need to do is flourish the control eye , select the screen mirroring icon , and select your iPad from the drop - down bill of fare . Heck , you may hop-skip that , too .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
Just hover the cursor over the dark-green window shortcut in any Mac app , and you will see a dedicated selection that enounce “ move to iPad . ” A click is all it contract to move that app to your iPad ’s screen . That ’s it . Your external display is now in action modality .
In fact , you do n’t have to care about unlocking your iPad . Even in a locked country , you just have to get across on the aforementioned window control on your Mac , and it will open up on your iPad ’s screen right away . No unlock or preparatory setup is needed across either equipment .
There is nothing that comes even close to this kind of unlined interplay between two whole different classes of equipment — separate across operating systems — except the Apple ecosystem .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
Pushing an iPad as a secondary screen
My workflow is divided across more apps than I ’d like . Technically , I can access a levelheaded few of them across web internet browser tabs , but juggle between them is a dogfight . I ’d much rather rack up the Command+Tab crosscut to shift between apps than head back to the computer mouse , find the appropriate tablet , and switch back and forth . Apps , or entanglement example running as apps , do the job for me .
Moreover , with browsers , it becomes a chore to track the notifications on platform such as Slack and Discord , where multiple buzzy channels can cursorily shake off your zen into disarray . It becomes hard to traverse such conversations spread out across multiple browser app check .
Apps , therefore , are the most commodious pick for me . Of course , that means dedicated windows for each of them . But there ’s only so much filmdom real estate you have on a 13 - inch laptop computer , even with Stage Manager , you only get a partial reprieve .
I love that the macOS clipboard works just fine with iPadOS, too.Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
With an iPad coming into the picture , I can safely switch at least two non - important or chat apps , in split - screen mode on the iPad . That leaves wme ith a near obstructed view of the apps that make up the volume of my work flow , right in front of my eye on the laptop screen .
In my case , Teams and Slack usually go on the iPad . Off the work minute , it ’s usually a no - beguilement slate for write article . When I have the iPad Pro handy , photo and video editing is deployed on the tablet ’s OLED CRT screen due to the superscript coloration output .
In the lowest - stakes scenario , the iPad mini simply serves as a CRT screen for medicine playback control , watching lecture videos , or prevent an eye on my social media provender for gathering discover news program event .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
A surprising OS versatility
One of the nicest things about Sidecar — the inherent tech that allows an iPad to crop well alongside a Mac — is the o flexibleness . you’re able to choose to either wirelessly mirror or widen the screenland of your Mac to an iPad . But here ’s the nice part .
Apple ’s Universal Control tech tolerate you to utilize the Mac ’s monitor as the input origin on a nearby iPad . And once again , there ’s no complex setup involve . All you postulate to do is hang back the cursor towards the screen sharpness near the iPad , and voila , your Mac ’s keyboard and touchpad now serve as input machine on the tablet , too .
That means I can control the pad running iPadOS , and interact with nomadic apps in their natural DoS . It may not fathom like much from a operational perspective , but this contraption slowly grow on you . For object lesson , social media platforms such as X or TikTok piece of work better as an app .
Nadeem Sarwar / Digital Trends
compare to desktop apps , especially task direction platform where the workflow is updated in the cloud , I ’ve find mobile apps to be the spiffy selection . What they lack in features , they make up for with speed and fluidity .
Plus , it ’s prosperous to track notifications on a mobile equipment compare to a background environment . Despite the OS disparity , there is nearly no stimulus , and I can easily copy - paste material across both machine .
I do a lot of standalone work on my iPad Pro , and even used the baseline iPad for the dependable part of a whole twelvemonth , but the built-in limitations of iPadOS often repulse me . Overall , my iPads — of which I have an unhealthful number lie on my desk — have notice more usefulness as a petty screen for my Mac than standalone tablets .
I just wish could solve some of the scaling and sieve rotation bugs . And while at it , maybe , enable Stage Manager for the iPad miniskirt , now that it is technically ready from a computer hardware perspective .
