#Luna display for mac Bluetooth#
#Luna display for mac free#
#Luna display for mac mac#
#Luna display for mac windows#

It also enables you to move the Sidebar to the left or right of the screen, and put the Touch Bar on the top or bottom. It lets you toggle the Sidebar and Touch Bar on or off. You can configure these control strips in System Preferences > Sidecar.

At the bottom of the Sidebar are an Undo button, a Keyboard button to show and hide a small floating keyboard (which appears to be the stock iPadOS 13 virtual mini-keyboard), and a Disconnect button to end a Sidecar session.

An additional tap will deactivate the key. Double-tapping a modifier key will keep it active, allowing more prolonged work without the need to hold it down. While sculpting a model in ZBrush, an artist can use the modifier keys in the sidebar to zoom, rotate, and pan around their model as they draw with Apple Pencil. These are mostly for specialized users, like artists who need to engage a modifier key with one hand while using an Apple Pencil with the other.

In the middle of the strip is a quartet of modifier keys: Command, Option, Control, and Shift.

#Luna display for mac mac#

The top two buttons show or hide the Mac menu bar on the iPad screen when a Mac app is in full-screen mode and shift the Dock between the Mac and iPad screens.

The vertical strip, called the Sidebar, does a number of things: The MacвЂ™s screen will blink momentarily, and then the iPadвЂ™s screen will be replaced by an extension of the Mac desktop, just as youвЂ™d expect. Regardless of the connection method, to begin using Sidecar, click the Display icon in the menu bar, and choose your iPad from the menu. The USB-C or Lightning cable must connect directly to a Mac, not indirectly via a hub. I resorted to this approach on a number of occasions when the wireless option inexplicably failed me.

If the wireless mode doesnвЂ™t work for you, try a physical cable.

#Luna display for mac Bluetooth#

In wireless mode, Sidecar uses Bluetooth for initial iPad detection and a point-to-point hookup for data transfers once connected, with an effective range of about 10 feet (3 meters). Both devices must have Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and Handoff (in Settings > General > Handoff) enabled. The wireless option isnвЂ™t bad, though-when it works at all.ДЇor a wireless connection, your Mac and iPad must be using the same iCloud account.

Tethering the tablet to the Mac via a USB-C or Lightning cable provides the best performance and reliability. Sidecar works over a wired or wireless connection. You need a Mac with a Skylake processor or newer running Catalina-this leaves out plenty of older Catalina-ready Macs-along with an Apple Pencil-compatible iPad, which also must be running iPadOS 13. Sidecar isnвЂ™t for everyone, thanks to stringent hardware requirements. Be warned, though, that Sidecar is still a bit rough around the edges, so expect to see glitches. With Sidecar, Apple mostly delivers on its promise to readily transform an iPad into a Mac screen with little fuss and a grab bag of unique capabilities.

#Luna display for mac windows#

The fact that itвЂ™s built into macOS means it may relegate some third-party competitors to niche status (or the pursuit of other markets, such as Windows and Android.)

#Luna display for mac free#

ThatвЂ™s something TidBITS has been interested in for years-see вЂњ Build Your Own 23-inch MacBookвЂќ (5 February 2007) and вЂњ Tools We Use: TeleportвЂќ (27 August 2007)-and we hope to evaluate Luna DisplayвЂ™s Mac-to-Mac mode soon.ДЄppleвЂ™s Sidecar feature, though, is free (assuming users already have all the hardware pieces). Most recently, AstroHQ announced a Mac-to-Mac mode for Luna Display that can turn one Mac into a second display for another.

Indeed, the Luna can do things Sidecar cannot. AstroHQ even came up with a hardware approach, in the form of its $69.99 Luna Display dongles for Mac, to provide better performance and reliability (see вЂњ Luna Display Turns an iPad into a Responsive Mac Screen,вЂќ 7 December 2018).ДЄstroHQ recently lamented that it had been вЂњ SherlockedвЂќ by Apple and Sidecar, but insisted it was still in the game. Third-party software, such as Duet Display and Air Display, has turned iPads into Mac monitors for years. Turning an iPad into a secondary display is not a new idea. That is handy for extending the Mac desktop to gain added workspace, or for mirroring a MacвЂ™s desktop on a second screen to share information with others more conveniently. One marquee feature in macOS 10.15 Catalina is Sidecar, which enables the use of an iPad as a second Mac monitor.