iPad Blown away by "Sidecar"

[Rhyalus]

Hello All,

I am still an avid Windows PC user for work and gaming, but I also have a 15" MBA M2 for "mobile" work around the house with the other laptops on docks.

I just wanted to say how amazing "Sidecar" is - without any setup whatsoever, my 11" iPad Pro 1st gen acts as a 2nd screen.... I suppose I can pay to do this with Duet on PC, but this standard Mac/iPad experience is amazing.

I can leave the iPad locked and standing next to my MBA, and if I need it, I merely hover over the green button and move the window over to the iPad. No need to even log in to the iPad.

If you do not use this feature, you should try it!

R

 

[phrehdd]

Sidecar does quite well for most of us. You might (for fun at least), check out Astropad and their product “Luna.” I say this as it can add to the experience.

 

[Username-already-in-use]

I find Sidecar to be useful but it has some weird quirks. For example it used to freeze constantly unless I disabled Face ID on the iPad. Continuity Camera doesn’t work with Sidecar enabled - and strangely the Udemy learning platform refuses to work when Sidecar is running also.

I do appreciate it though when I need another screen.

 

[sweealamak]

Sidecar is wonderful... when it works. I pair my M1 MBA (8GB RAM) with M1 iPad Pro. The screen hangs or mouse cursor stutters once in awhile during usage.

Apple tech support wasn't helpful. The only solutions provided were to restart devices, pair again, install latest OS... Turns out the main culprit was memory. RAM usage is high when using Sidecar and increases over time which has been documented on other threads here in the Forums. Once you start multi-tasking, RAM begins to dry up and surpass 8GB (Memory Used + Compressed) freezing the iPad.

To get the best Sidecar experience, spec up you Mac to at least 16GB

 

[Digitalguy]

For me the big dealbreaker with sidecar is that you cannot use the touchscreen in the iPad (other that for a couple of gestures). Third party solutions, including free ones, do support multitouch.
Also on Windows + Android solutions support Audio, so I can use my tablet speakers as speakers for my PC, including wirelessly (very useful to "bring" the desktop around the house).

 

[MBAir2010]

Yes these ipad-macbook, mini features are great!
i just wished we used these more
as yesterday was the first time i was drawing on the iPad to a graphic on the mac mini, in real time.

 

[sbdyontheweb]

You can’t even use the magic keyboard trackpad or a mouse attached to the ipad, for me this feature is useless.
Also the sound from mac is not redirected, touch doesn’t work unless you pay for a pencil even if you don’t need one.

I was trying to use it to work around how crippled ipados is but apple made sure no workaround is possible, well done apple.