As part of the new macOS Catalina release, there is an exciting new feature that a lot of Mac users have been waiting for – Sidecar.
The concept of dual screens has been around for years, and many of us couldn’t function at work with just one. Sidecar is designed to be used as a secondary display, either as an extension of the primary display or as a mirrored screen. Your iPad can be used as your second screen, and when you are ready to finish up, you can just disconnect and use your iPad as normal again.
To wirelessly pair (up to 10 metres away!), the simplest way is to use the AirPlay settings on your Mac, and pair to your iPad. However, with a compatible cable, you can have a wired connection. Testing by some IT bloggers have revealed that the responsiveness is better with a wired connection, but if you don’t have a wire but have a good wireless connection then you should not see any issues.
As part of the Sidecar functionality, the iPad is given a new Sidebar which has lots of useful commands on it; for example, calling up a screen keyboard, accessing the command key and buttons such as Undo and Redo. You can also use your Apple Pencil with your iPad whilst it is being used in Sidecar, although some of the iPad functionality is pared back to allow for a smoother experience when using it as a second screen.
Sidecar isn’t ready yet, it’ll be out with the release of macOS Catalina and we will be doing a full review of it when we can!
