After having explained how to use the iPad for infotainment in the car, the time has come to delve into another possible use of the versatile Cupertino tablet. Did you know it’s possible use your iPad as a secondary screen for your Mac? We’ll explain how to do it!
As an Apple support page explains, to use an iPad as a secondary screen for your Mac you will have to use the Sidecar feature for Mac and iPad. First, prepare your station. The first thing to do is make sure that the devices are compatible with Sidecar: the iPad must be updated to at least iPadOS 13, while the Mac must have macOS Catalina or a release next one. For the list of devices compatible with SidecarInstead, we refer you to the Apple support page.
Subsequently, Sign in to the same Apple ID on both devices and connect the iPad to the Mac using the connection cable supplied with the tablet. You can also use Sidecar wirelessly, but in this case you must remember that your laptop and tablet must be close to each other and that both must have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi e Handoff active and cannot be connected in Hotspot to other devices.
Once your devices meet the requirements, the Sidecar function will activate automatically. This means that you can move the mouse over the green button for full screen view of Mac apps and, after a few seconds, the “Move to iPad” option will appear, which will allow you to reposition the window on the tablet screen. With the same procedure, you can bring the window back to your Mac.
Once the two devices have been connected, theiPad will become a secondary screen for Mac, and can be controlled via a special sidebar with shortcuts to show or hide the Dock and the Menu bar, to activate the Command button, the Options button, the Shift button or the keyboard. Additionally, the window open on the iPad can be controlled via gestures or Apple Pencil: in this way, Sidecar becomes perfect for taking notes by hand or for artists who don’t have a graphics tablet!