Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Video: How to Use an iPad as a Screen for Your Nintendo Switch

I've always wished you could just plug your Switch directly into a Mac or iPad via USB-C and use the Mac/iPad as a display/speakers.

Do it, Nintendo. I'll keep buying your consoles, just let me plug them into my Apple stuff.
 
I've already had my Elgato HD60X Running in FaceTime on Beta 1. It was a reversed image with no audio but I did broadcast it to my friend and it worked so is promising for the future of capturing video with the iPad.

Now using the iPad as a screen would be a terrible idea for all games apart from turn based games that dont need lightning fast reflexes due to latency, however what the article misses is the obvious perfect use case and that is live streaming. Capture cards like the HD60X feature a HDMI passthrough, now imagine an app like Streamlabs being updated to take advantage of external capture and you've got yourself a decent mobile streaming rig for basic live streaming.

One glaring issue that would need to be addressed is being able to change the capture card settings using the app as my HD60X will only downscale and not upscale and when plugged into the iPad it defaulted to its max 4K resolution which meant my Nintendo Switch image didn't display initially until I turned the 4K upscaler on in my AV Receiver an issue that simply changing its capture settings down to 1080p fixes.
On OBS on the Mac I have a 1080p60 scene and a 1440p30 scene, the 1080p60 one is set for 1080p capture and the Switch and my gaming laptop work with that one, and the 1440p30 scene is set to 1440p capture but takes 4K inputs and downscales them from the Xbox and PS5 with full HDR tone mapping too. These settings are done in the capture app and if you move the card to another app or system it will default to 4K30 capture which requires 4K sources which is why any app would need the ability to change the capture card settings built into it.

However as I said before its promising and with devices such as the RODE Streamer X now a thing which incorporates an audio mixer and capture card in one device live streaming from an iPad could actually be a viable option for a lot of people.
 
Last edited:
unashamedgeek said:
I'll use this with NUCs that I work on as my iPad is always near me and this is easier than pulling out a portable monitor and having to put something else on my desk. I will also like to use it on the go when using my NES retro game box. I don't think any lag will be enough to matter on those old games.
Click to expand...
Imagine thinking NES gaming (or any other gaming from that era) didn’t rely on near zero latency reactions via wired controllers, connected to wired consoles, connected to wired displays, with CRT response times.

Games didn’t have save files. You got split-second accurate or died over and over again
 
Apple won't have that, they'll disable that before it's released.
Let me plug my Blu-ray player into my iPad and see if I can watch a movie or plug my Apple TV into my iPad, no I don't think so, apps like Disney or Paramont will shut that down. o_O
It's bad enough the HDMI dongle no longer works with most streaming services.
 
It’ll be more reliable than Sidecar. Sidecar freezes the image after a few minutes, and has done for years if you Google the issue. Apple obviously don’t use sidecar internally or else it’d be fixed by now.
 
For sure doing this.

1) Similar to what others have mentioned, this will be a great way to eliminate the need for a full size static display on a machine I don’t use regularly and use for minor tasks. (My PC for things like ripping CDs, which I do only occasionally).

2) I’ve had a 12.9” iPad Pro since they were first released. Often wished I could use it as a sort of portable display. Playing Switch on the iPad screen with other people while traveling has the potential to be a better experience (so long as the latency isn’t a problem. We’ll see what happens.)

3) I’ll add… sometimes I just don’t want to use my TV. I’ll often watch movies on my iPad rather than the TV if I’m watching alone. Sometimes I’d like to do the same with the Switch — larger screen / better experience than the built-in screen still, potentially.

Someone asked “why not buy a portable monitor”. Well, I already own the iPad Pro, and love the miniLED display. Why spend more money on an additional, single purpose device?

If nothing else… the geek factor is pretty good here. Love tinkering with this stuff. Obviously it’s not for people / games who need zero latency and twitch response.
 
  • Like
Reactions: OferJ
Muzzakus said:
What do you mean by capture card? Is it just any USBc to hdmi converter?
Click to expand...
any device that captures Hdmi video over usb C that uses the standard "usb camera" device setup. Usually that means anything that would also work on a mac with no additional driver (as many, but not all, webcams do)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Muzzakus
blackcrayon said:
any device that captures Hdmi video over usb C that uses the standard "usb camera" device setup. Usually that means anything that would also work on a mac with no additional driver (as many, but not all, webcams do)
Click to expand...
sorry, not 100% clear. i have a usbc to hdmi dongle that allows me to put the iPad onto a tv. Is this this same, works both ways?
 
teh_hunterer said:
I've always wished you could just plug your Switch directly into a Mac or iPad via USB-C and use the Mac/iPad as a display/speakers.

Do it, Nintendo. I'll keep buying your consoles, just let me plug them into my Apple stuff.
Click to expand...

That's on the laptop side to support really, not the source device, and sadly very few have ever supported hdmi input to display.
 
iMacDragon said:
That's on the laptop side to support really, not the source device, and sadly very few have ever supported hdmi input to display.
Click to expand...

It's on the source device too, or even mostly - the Switch won't output video or behave as if it's in docked mode if you plug it into anything but the dock, or something that emulates the dock.

Compare that to the Steam Deck or ROG Ally, where it is willing to output video over non-proprietary USB-C.
 
teh_hunterer said:
It's on the source device too, or even mostly - the Switch won't output video or behave as if it's in docked mode if you plug it into anything but the dock, or something that emulates the dock.

Compare that to the Steam Deck or ROG Ally, where it is willing to output video over non-proprietary USB-C.
Click to expand...
Oh, yes, true, I completely forgot the switch needed the inbetween device.. I agree, that is a stupid limitation.
 
Or you wait until the EU & others force apple to allow sideloading, then just play all your favourite emulators directly on the iPad with no input lag!

To be honest I would love that tablet manufacturers be forced to enable a target display mode for their usb c devices. This is such a gigantic waste of screen space not to have it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
iMacDragon said:
Oh, yes, true, I completely forgot the switch needed the inbetween device.. I agree, that is a stupid limitation.
Click to expand...

Yeah it's annoying. However it was a different time when the Switch came out. I wonder what the next one will be like.

But yeah, I'm not sure how it would work on the Mac side if Nintendo were to release a new Switch that could do this tomorrow.

You would think that with USB-C being standard everywhere, you'd be able to do stuff like this easily.
 
George Dawes said:
Or you can dock it and play on a giant tv screen as usual

Don’t see the point of this set up tbh
Click to expand...
It sounds like this is basically an extension of the support for USB video capture feature that is coming in iOS 17, which, amongst other things, allows for external webcams to work with any iPad sporting a usb-c port. Video capture cards basically fall under this category, therefore allowing them to turn your iPad into an external monitor of sorts.

www.theverge.com

iPadOS 17 finally supports external USB webcams and cameras

iPad owners can use cameras, webcams, and even USB capture cards
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com

I agree that a portable monitor seems cheaper and more versatile in every way, but I see this more as a side-effect of the aforementioned feature, not so much the main intent. Just cool that it's possible, I suppose.
 
Abazigal said:
I agree that a portable monitor seems cheaper and more versatile in every way, but I see this more as a side-effect of the aforementioned feature, not so much the main intent. Just cool that it's possible, I suppose.
Click to expand...

For me it's about what you've got with you. If You already have your MacBook and your Switch with you, why not plug the Switch into the big screen and great speakers you already have with you?
 
...and they quietly forgot to mention that the HDMI port is on the Switch Dock, which requires AC power...
 
  • Like
Reactions: Razorpit
So I've been doing testing and I'm impressed, both my Elgato HD60X (USB3) & my AverMedia Live Gamer Portable 2+ (USB2) work perfect on my 2018 iPad Pro 12.9"

As I said above I wouldn't use the iPad as a screen for live gameplay as the HD60X which is uncompressed video sometimes stutters and hitches on the preview whilst recording is perfect and this is a behaviour that is present on the iPad/MacBook/PC and the AverMedia is a compressed signal which adds slight latency to the input, but for game recording and potential live streaming this is a game changer and could work very well.

IMG_0513.jpeg


Here are some test recordings, now take into consideration YouTube compression as the originals do look significantly better but these are promising.

This is the HD60X without commentary as no way of mixing Mic input with gameplay on the same audio input


This is the AverMedia Live Gamer Portable 2+ with commentary as the card has an inbuilt mic port and basic mixer, word of warning a slight bit of hum on the mic. I've never used the mic port on this card before and I was using a long extension on the mic.

 
  • Wow
Reactions: Pinkyyy 💜🍎
scheinderrob said:
who would be this desperate? anyone going through this effort probably has video game addiction...
Click to expand...
fail to see how this is "desperate"............you're traveling and want a bigger screen for your switch. Or maybe you wanna free up the TV...idk...maybe you don't play video games?
 
  • Like
Reactions: rumz
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back