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iPad USB-C to 4k Monitor: What is your use case?
- Thread starter MareLuce
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When i am traveling i am using PLEX to sync movies and tv-shows to my iPad so i can watch them offline. I will bring a USB-C to HDMI cable so i can plug in my iPad to a TV and watch my content on a bigger screen.
I am doing this at the moment with my iPad Air and lightning to HDMI adapter.
I am doing this at the moment with my iPad Air and lightning to HDMI adapter.
Syncing with Plex?! I thought the iOS client only lets you stream from the server?! Apologies, new Plex user here.
It’s not a feature that is useful for me at the time. Things could change, but for now I can take it or leave it.
New usb-c monitors are widely designed to output power for charging the device they are connected to.
To be honest right now I can't come up with a lot of ideas on how to use it, but at least one came to a mind. I personally use the iPad at work during meetings. We have monitors (not 4K, but still big external monitors) and with HDMI anyone in the meeting room could share their screen to others participating in the meeting. That for me would be an useful feature. I am not talking about working with an external monitor 8 hours a day. That for me denotes the purpose of the iPad. Being able to share your screen during meetings though is useful. Especially with the pencil. In my line of work we use a lot of diagrams to discuss processes and ideas about software architecture. Being able to draft this on an iPad with apple pencil for me seems pretty neat.
I will use my iPad as my Mac replacement, because iOS and all Apps will switch to Desktop/"Marzipan" versions when connected to my 4K Monitor and Keyboard/Trackpad with Bluetooth.
Using iPad Display as a "Trackpad" is a really bad experience and idea, if a cable is connected and with the camera bump.
Using iPad Display as a "Trackpad" is a really bad experience and idea, if a cable is connected and with the camera bump.
Mobile sync is a think on Plex but it requires Plex Pass. Its a really awesome feature. And one of the reason i am looking forward to the new iPad Pro is that the later versions of iPads and iPhones support H.265 so you no longer need to transcode the video, with the iPad Pro i will also be able to get one with more storage, thinking about 256 GB so i do not need to transcode them to a lower quality.
PS. I also hope USB-C to ethernet is supported, then it will make it faster to sync movies and tv-shows from Plex to the iPad.
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I don’t have a use case for something I cannot buy.
However, streaming video is for ages already done with my Apple TV and AirPlay.
It's very useful for anything work-related or professional:
Photoshop/photo editing
Graphic design
Art
Video editing especially if they come out with fcpx for iPad, with the timeline on the iPad and the monitor/tv for media
Split screen work (video on monitor/tv, office apps etc on iPad display
You gotta welcome stuff like this. I'm dreaming, but imagine if Apple came out with fcpx and you could access external hard drives via usb-c. Or through the files app. The need for a computer would really start to disappear.
Photoshop/photo editing
Graphic design
Art
Video editing especially if they come out with fcpx for iPad, with the timeline on the iPad and the monitor/tv for media
Split screen work (video on monitor/tv, office apps etc on iPad display
You gotta welcome stuff like this. I'm dreaming, but imagine if Apple came out with fcpx and you could access external hard drives via usb-c. Or through the files app. The need for a computer would really start to disappear.
Both FCPX and Logic X on iOS would benefit from an external monitor—although a bit more in the case of FCPX because it would be the output display which is crucial but doesn’t require any touch puts to be useful.
A simple video out as always will be that solution. Hardly a market that’s bigger than selling a hdmi adapter.
Surely more functionality will be useful for the pro market, but it’s too early to say what will be possible.
Streaming services work with the current lightning to HDMI adaptor, why would USB-C be any different?
Correct, that’s a software limitation that won’t go away just because of usb-c. If the app doesn’t want to allow mirroring then they can disable it. I would expect even if this new usb-c external monitor mode was introduced, Apple will still implement this option some way or another for applications that wish to disable it.
As good as usb-c could be on an iPad, I think people are quickly forgetting that the next biggest limitation of lightning is actually the software side. Just because you could plug any number of accessories into the port doesn’t by any means mean they will magically work, e.g. external storage - without the driver support and power restrictions lifted from iOS, they still won’t work.
That’s what I do now but 4K would be a welcome addition
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It will be interesting to see how much Apple and developers will allow. It would be awful nice if they were to open it up.
I love the iPP and I am curious about its next steps. But sadly I doubt they involve grand plans for external monitors. The whole OS is built for touch, and apple is quite clear they’re not messing with that logic. So it’s gonna be limited to mirroring, or at best a dedicated video/photo/drawing preview mode as some of you said.
But any active interaction will always require your eyes to be on the iPad, not on the external display.
But any active interaction will always require your eyes to be on the iPad, not on the external display.
I Hope. This is some kind Samsung DEX use case. Where when connected via USB-C to HDMI. We can use the iPad Pro as some type of Mac OS or iOS Desktop PC interface with Keyboard and mouse.
Heck if my Note 9 can do it.
And or use the new Apple Pencil with 3D Gyro motion sensors as some type of hand held mouse.
Like a WiiMote type use.
