Universal Control is amazing for my productivity!

[BacioiuC]

I've been using universal control over the past few days on my production/work machines. Normally I keep this machines away from any Beta releases because I rely on day for my day-2-day business but I couldn't help myself not to get Universal Control. So how did it go?

My main work machine is the iMac pro and I use it to make games for my own indie business or for my clients. It's a grunt and it does it's job amazingly well.

My setup also included a M1 Macbook pro + iPad Air 4 combo for when on the go. It's useful for when I'm meeting with a client and I can mirror the display to the ipad so he can hold it and watch what's happening without crowding my personal space when demoing stuff at a coffee shop.

But now with Universal Control these two separate setups can blend together perfectly. My only caveat is that they don't sync up when booting up and I need to type in my password using the regular iMac Pro keyboard.

So why is UC so great for my productivity? First of all, I'm using the M1 Mac as my main control device. I have the AIR 4 to the side and the iMac Pro just behind it.

On the iMac pro it's business as usual. A lot of 3D work, level design and coding.
M1 Macbook pro is used for design documents, spreadsheets and some light GIMP usage for editing textures and images.
The iPad Air 4 does what an ipad air 4 does what the iPad Air 4 does best. I used to use it in side car when traveling (mirrored display) but now it's remains a tablet. And it's perfect for Media (Youtube), eMail, Slack/Discord and gaming (for when I need to review games for my 2nd business).

Here's where UC Shines.

I have to build a massive xcode project or Unity needs to do lightmapping or raytracing and it bogs down the system? I have two more systems left to work with. And this is something no multi monitor setup is going to save you from. I can let the iMac Pro crunch what it needs to crunch and I can continue my meetings/videos/work on the M1 Macbook or the Air 4.

I need to do a build for another project or platform while the iMac Pro is already extremely busy? Instead of waiting for the first build to finish, I can build directly from the M1 Macbook. At this points we're two builds for two happening in parallel.

And I can still hold my meetings if I need from the iPad Air 4. Or take a break and hookup my PS4 controller and play some games on it. It's not in sidecar mode so going to game on it doesn't reset the display and the resolution and won't cause any issues.

Over the past weekend I've been using UC and I don't think I can ever go back to not being able to use it. At this point I'm looking at getting a 12" iPad Pro to replace the Air 4 and a stand for it. And I'll keep the AIR 4 for when on-the-go.

P.s. The Macbook Pro touchpad and an iPad Air 4 go together amazingly. I was using the magic mouse or an MX Master 3 with my tablet and I can say that the iPad was made to be used with a touchpad.

 

[fisherking]

it works great here as well; am copying files between my macbook and imac seamlessly.

one thing i'd like to see: something like 'option-drag' moves a file, instead of copying (so one can literally move a file to a destination, and then not have to delete it from the source, if, of course, that's the intention).

 

[lezmace]

Is it possible to copy between two macs via shortcuts?

 

[BacioiuC]

Is it possible to copy between two macs via shortcuts?

It’s a bit buggy. I just tried it now and it worked without a problem. Last night I wanted to copy something and I had to drag-and-drop it. For the most part, when it works it works but there’s still some work needed.

I’m on my 4th day of Universal Control and the only big problems I see are the following:
* I need to log in on my iMac pro using it’s standard keyboard. I wish It would hook up directly with the keyboard and mouse from my M1 Macbook
* I cannot use the macbook’s touchID to authenticate with the iPad Air 4. I keep in portrait mode and I have to reach out to it’s underside to use touch id. This will change once my Studiodock arrives but still.

There are some minor glitches that require me to go into displays around once / day in order to set the proper positioning. I had it happen a few times where my iPad Air and Macbook Pro M1 displays were “overlapping” in displays and I had to move the iPad Air manually in the display settings to the side.

Other than that, I like it. Thinking I’ll get an iPad Pro 12.9” in the next few months.

 

[fisherking]

ha! i tried moving both cursors to the other mac at the same time (i expected all hell to break loose... or at least have the cursors work on each other's screen)... but the system is smart enough not to allow that, and the cursors then work on their original screens.

between copying files between macs, and being able to cut & paste between them (which has existed for a long time),
am pretty happy, and doubt i'll need airdrop again. progress!

 

[hellfried]

UC for the win! Nowadays my iMac is becoming more and more of a storage. Whenever I download big files to my laptops I will quickly move them to my desktop using UC so that my laptops are never overloaded. Some people will point out that Airdrop can also get the job done but UC is so much easier. No opening a new finder window to get to Airdrop. UC just works smoother and better. I love it!

 

[BacioiuC]

I really cannot look back at using my macs without Universal Control. Small kinks are left to iron out but outside of that it really changed the way I work.

I'm setting up a new office for my business and I'm done signing the lease and all that. Next month I'm getting the furniture for what I need but what I'm actually waiting for is the new iMac's (hopefully pro). Gonna setup an iMac Pro (hopefully) desk there and use my M1 Pro on the go coupled with a 12" iPad Pro.

Client meetings in town? Here, follow me on my iPad Pro with screen mirroring.
I'm at the desk in the office? I have 3 screen with their own operating systems that can crunch numbers and do heavy liftings.
I want to relax? Undock the iPad and I can handle my emails from the beanbag or watch video on it.
I want to take notes/draw a plan/do a sketch of a character? Draw on the iPad Pro.

Leaving the office? Dock the iPad pro back on the stand, take my M1 Pro and go to town. When I get home I dock it to the iMac Pro from my home office and I can do work without issues.

The only thing that annoys me with UC is that I need to keep a keyboard for my iMac Pro so I can log in when I power it on. I wish there was a way to couple the Macbook Pro keyboard to it from the get go.

 

[fisherking]

one thing i love; i used to airdrop files from my macbook to my imac, then copy them to an external drive connected TO the imac. now i can just drag directly to the external...

 

[hellfried]

I really cannot look back at using my macs without Universal Control. Small kinks are left to iron out but outside of that it really changed the way I work.

I'm setting up a new office for my business and I'm done signing the lease and all that. Next month I'm getting the furniture for what I need but what I'm actually waiting for is the new iMac's (hopefully pro). Gonna setup an iMac Pro (hopefully) desk there and use my M1 Pro on the go coupled with a 12" iPad Pro.

Client meetings in town? Here, follow me on my iPad Pro with screen mirroring.
I'm at the desk in the office? I have 3 screen with their own operating systems that can crunch numbers and do heavy liftings.
I want to relax? Undock the iPad and I can handle my emails from the beanbag or watch video on it.
I want to take notes/draw a plan/do a sketch of a character? Draw on the iPad Pro.

Leaving the office? Dock the iPad pro back on the stand, take my M1 Pro and go to town. When I get home I dock it to the iMac Pro from my home office and I can do work without issues.

The only thing that annoys me with UC is that I need to keep a keyboard for my iMac Pro so I can log in when I power it on. I wish there was a way to couple the Macbook Pro keyboard to it from the get go.

Agreed about the last point. Quite annoying but that's just 1st world problems I guess. But after you have made the initial link between the desktop and the laptop, you can use UC to wake the secondary computer up.

 

[BacioiuC]

Agreed about the last point. Quite annoying but that's just 1st world problems I guess. But after you have made the initial link between the desktop and the laptop, you can use UC to wake the secondary computer up.

Yep but I don't like putting my iMac Pro to sleep. There's a bug with it specifically where video starts to lag and get interrupted, all kinds of videos from youtube to zoom and a restart usually fixes it. I cannot reproduce it 100%, the only thing is it needs to stay on for a while for it to happen.

So as to not have problem with a client meeting I usually close it when not using it. So sleep and waking up from sleep with UC is useful but not for people who shut down their computers.

 

[fisherking]

the one thing i have to get used to is... working close to the window side that leads to the other mac. sometimes i move the cursor to the other screen unintentionally. but will adapt, and it's worth it, for the functionality...