Wow, Sidecar is Useless...

[jjudson]

What a hokey piece of software. I have a Gen 2 iPad Pro and a 2018 Macbook Pro with the two hardwired through a USB-C to Lightning connection. Sidecar -- when it works -- is jerky, the mouse pointer movements are hesitant, but worse of all, the iPad continually locks up when it sits for more than a few moments (and yes, I have auto-lock disabled).

I'm pretty surprised at how bad this really is, especially having been available now for a while. I did a search on the internet, and this seems to have been a known issue for quite some time. With this behavior, Sidecar is virtually an unusable joke.

Anyone else seeing this?

 

[Ben J.]

Yes.
I'm just beginning to try it out, and my first problem was that the pointer froze just seconds after moving it to the ipad. I found a tip about disabling "Keep Today on Home Screen" in Settings > Home Screen & Dock, it helped, but the cursor/pointer is so laggy/jerky that it's really unusable.

This is with a 2017 imac and brand new ipad, wireless.

 

[Ben J.]

I don't know what I did, but after a few disconnect/reconnects the pointer is responsive and Sidecar is working like it should.

 

[Starfia]

My experience with Sidecar has been smooth – closer to an HDMI monitor than AstroPad or Duet. I'd try to troubleshoot if that were happening with me.

 

[Ollé]

My experience with Sidecar has been smooth – closer to an HDMI monitor than AstroPad or Duet. I'd try to troubleshoot if that were happening with me.

Same here. I’ve got a 16” MBP and a second gen iPad Pro and all is smooth here - a much better UX than what I was having with Duet.

 

[zhenya]

No problems here. I tried multiple 3rd party apps over the years that were all promised to be essentially like a real monitor and found them useless. Sidecar with my 2019 iMac is near flawless whether wired or wireless.

 

[Ben J.]

Just as an extra plus info; I have a iMac connected to a 50" TV, with a 32" calibrated Benq for photo editing, with the TV as main monitor. So, three displays PLUS the iPad Sidecar, and Catalina is handling connecting and organization of all four pretty smoothly.

 

[ParagJain]

Is it possible to get sidecar with unsupported macbook pro's? I have an early 2015 version, wandering if there is any setting/hack that I can try out to get the sidecar working?

don't like to install 3rd party apps - if anything can be done via terminal window or something, it would be great.

thx.

 

[CalMin]

No problems using it here either but I've only really used it to test out. My iPad has too many other duties to be used as a 'dumb' display (even as a touch-enabled display).

I mean why use a $1000+ iPad pro as a monitor when you can get this portable display for well under $200 https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Monitor-15-6-Inch-Speakers-Protector/dp/B07YTNYT11. I have an Asus Zenscreen (same idea) and its a much better experience than Sidecar. Sure, it doesn't have the gimmick of being a touchscreen, but there aren't many truly useful use cases for that in OS X yet.

 

[zhenya]

No problems using it here either but I've only really used it to test out. My iPad has too many other duties to be used as a 'dumb' display (even as a touch-enabled display).

I mean why use a $1000+ iPad pro as a monitor when you can get this portable display for well under $200 https://www.amazon.com/Portable-Monitor-15-6-Inch-Speakers-Protector/dp/B07YTNYT11. I have an Asus Zenscreen (same idea) and its a much better experience than Sidecar. Sure, it doesn't have the gimmick of being a touchscreen, but there aren't many truly useful use cases for that in OS X yet.

Well, the obvious point is who wants to spend additional money to buy another portable display, and carry the bulk and weight, when you are already carrying the iPad?

When paired to a powerful Mac, Sidecar's performance is nearly indistinguishable from a native display, and the quality of any iPad display will smoke that Asus!

The genius of Sidecar's implementation is that the iPad simply treats it as another app. You can swipe back and forth between your regular iPad apps and the Sidecar display instantaneously. If you are working with your iPad next to you it performs the duties of both devices very elegantly. This really has nothing at all to do with extending touch to MacOS.

 

[kohlson]

I mean why use a $1000+ iPad pro as a monitor when you can get this portable display for well under $200

I suspect you're not a corporate drone. Those of us who have been, have been waiting for something like this as an acceptable solution. Here's the situation: (Pre-pandemic) Many now work in what in gloriously known as an open environment. You get a laptop and are free to sit wherever you want in a giant open space with no walls! No anchoring please! <--This is aka personalizing your workspace with pictures, doo-dads, etc. What's missing from this hyper-efficient center of productivity are external monitors. A $300-ish iPad works wonders, and is there when you need it.

 

[CalMin]

Well, the obvious point is who wants to spend additional money to buy another portable display, and carry the bulk and weight, when you are already carrying the iPad?

When paired to a powerful Mac, Sidecar's performance is nearly indistinguishable from a native display, and the quality of any iPad display will smoke that Asus!

The genius of Sidecar's implementation is that the iPad simply treats it as another app. You can swipe back and forth between your regular iPad apps and the Sidecar display instantaneously. If you are working with your iPad next to you it performs the duties of both devices very elegantly. This really has nothing at all to do with extending touch to MacOS.

Oh sure for occasional use I agree. It's convenient, plus the best portable display is the one you have with you - and since I always have my iPad, I know I will use sidecar from time to time. I'm just saying that it's not for me on a regular (daily) basis because it ties up my device and for me, Laptop+iPad > Laptop+sidecar. Yes - the Asus IQ sucks vs the iPad, but so does my Dell (ugh) work monitor and my need for a second display is for MS Office type productivity vs. color-accurate graphics work.

I guess that my point is that I've seen discussions about Sidecar being an everyday second display. I tried that with Duet display for a while and realized that I hated having to lose my iPad all the time just to have a second monitor. Then someone introduced me to these cheap external displays and it's been a whole new world when traveling. They go into a backpack, they're light enough to carry, and 15.6" beats the 12.9"/11" for most use cases.

I suspect you're not a corporate drone. Those of us who have been, have been waiting for something like this as an acceptable solution. Here's the situation: (Pre-pandemic) Many now work in what in gloriously known as an open environment. You get a laptop and are free to sit wherever you want in a giant open space with no walls! No anchoring please! <--This is aka personalizing your workspace with pictures, doo-dads, etc. What's missing from this hyper-efficient center of productivity are external monitors. A $300-ish iPad works wonders, and is there when you need it.

Correct on all counts and I'm not bashing sidecar for "emergency" use. I just think these USB-powered displays offer a better experience for me AND still get to use my iPad.

 

[SaSaSushi]

I've been using Sidecar with my iMac and 3rd gen 11-inch iPad Pro for a few months now and it works flawlessly. I've had zero problems with lag or disconnections and use it long hours daily for my work.

I wouldn't be using the iPad for anything else while I work anyway so no problem there.

 

[throAU]

My experience (MBA 2020, iPad Pro 2017 10.5) has been mixed.

I haven't had any lag or responsiveness issues, but via WIFI have had a couple of random disconnects/app crashes.

I haven't used it much though. I'd class it as alpha software.

For me the killer feature (as I see it, for others) vs. a cheap USB monitor is the tablet -> Mac stuff for drawing, but I'm not an artist so...

 

[yurc]

Not so fancy, but I am exploiting sidebar as glorified touch bar on compatible desktop Macs using iPad. It was better experience rather than true touch bar on MacBook Pro I think.