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iPadOS 26 external display

I

Ipadonly1

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 8, 2023
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I've seen little about iPadOS 26 and external display support if I'm honest, even amongst all the 'ipads now replace Macs' hype. These discussions or videos often focus on the iPad on its own, then often conclude that actually they don't quite replace Macs for most people, but disregard one of the ways iPads now become even more like a Mac.

Has anyone settled into using the new windowing system with an external display? If you have, how are you finding it?
 
I'll give my limited experience with it. Firstly, Stage Manager in iPadOS 26 has significantly changed my experience with multitasking. I felt it was limited before because of the restrictions with windows and sizes. Now I've had it in full Stage Manager mode since installing Beta 2 and it's a game changer for me.

Regarding external monitor, I have a 16" portable monitor that I use for remote work outside of home and I will also use it with the iPad when I want to watch some TV and my wife is hogging the big TV :) So my experience is limited to mainly streaming apps but it's been great. Unfortunately going full screen seems to be limited to the app so some apps don't go full screen on the external display (i.e. ESPN). But my cable TV app does. I've had no problem having a streaming app open with a messages and social media app on the external monitor while still having all of my stages on the iPad. I'll go full screen Safari on the iPad with mail/calendar/contacts in a different stage.

This setup has been really stable and for me has made my decision to upgrade to an M4 iPad (giving the M1 to my son for college) instead of going with an M4 Macbook Air. Even my son, who's used his 2018 iPP throughout high school, says he has no desire for a Mackbook now unless it's required for school.
 
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Thank you for sharing this - it's useful to hear! Glad it's holding a lot of promise for you.

I just went in to a flagship Apple Store wondering if they might have an iPad on 18 hooked up to a Studio Display. I never saw this before in an Apple Store, but half wondered if in a flagship store this might be different and if Apple might be planting the seed in shopper's minds ahead of the launch of 26. I guess Studio Displays are overkill for most people not running Mac Pros, so there's that, but when I asked a Genius he was a bit confused why anyone would connect any monitor to an iPad. He told me that there would be black bars on the monitor anyway. I started to mention external display support, but gave up, thanked him and left. I was able to try out a Studio Display with a Mac and get a feel for 27", but I think the scaling differs between MacOS and iPadOS, so not an accurate comparison. I feel like Apple could at least have one iPad Pro hooked up to a Studio Display in their stores, especially when 26 is released. Maybe they will...
 
I really enjoy using my iPad Pro M4 13” with my Pro Display XDR. The updated Stage Manager in Beta 2 makes it significantly more productive. I just wish they would implement Clamshell Mode and also support Touch ID when paired with the Apple Magic Keyboard. Those would make the iPad even more useful for me when docked with an external display.
 
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citivolus said:
I really enjoy using my iPad Pro M4 13” with my Pro Display XDR. The updated Stage Manager in Beta 2 makes it significantly more productive. I just wish they would implement Clamshell Mode and also support Touch ID when paired with the Apple Magic Keyboard. Those would make the iPad even more useful for me when docked with an external display.
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Did you use your iPad with the Pro Display before 26 much?

Yes those would be good changes.
 
Ipadonly1 said:
Did you use your iPad with the Pro Display before 26 much?

Yes those would be good changes.
Click to expand...
Yes I did… I would always have to fiddle with the window settings to take advantage of all of the external monitor’s real estate effectively. It is much easier to do that with 26 as it seems stage manager on the iPad now works just like it does on the Mac.
 
citivolus said:
Yes I did… I would always have to fiddle with the window settings to take advantage of all of the external monitor’s real estate effectively. It is much easier to do that with 26 as it seems stage manager on the iPad now works just like it does on the Mac.
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ah that's great! May I ask, on the 32" Pro Display, how many apps do you keep on the display and how many do you keep on the iPad screen?
 
I usually keep two windows open side by side per stage. One stage with two Safari windows. One stage with Messages and Notes. For work, I have two stages defined. One stage with Outlook and Teams and one stage with two Microsoft Edge windows. I don’t typically open any apps on the iPad screen itself when connected to an external monitor.
 
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