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Duet Display Offers Tethered Solution to Turn an iPad into an Extra Display for Mac [Updated]

Using for about half and hour. Happy with the initial release (being an initial release) with both settings on high performance
rMBP, Iris Pro, 10.10.1
iPad Air 2, 8.1.2

Definitely need to be plugged in while using it, but much better than any of the wireless offerings before.
 
I'm using a late 2013 15" MacBook Pro 2.3GHz i7 on Mavericks (10.9.5) and gave it a whirl on my iPad 2. Not bad. Ran YouTube full screen in Chrome at 60Hz Retina.

Attached a screenshot of CPU usage in Activity Monitor when the video had been running for about two minutes. Fans were going quite a bit, but not full-tilt.

It was a little buggy trying to get the screen shot. Activity monitor was on my primary display and the first two times I did the Option-Shift-4 trick I ended up getting a black png. There was also a flickering "ghost image" of the screen shot that didn't go away until after Option-Tabbed to another app.

So there are some issues, but it's very promising. I can definitely keep Evernote or a web browser open on the iPad while typing on my primary display. Yes, you could do that with the native apps on the iPad, but it's much faster with a keyboard and mouse available. Remote desktop and terminal windows are another use case for me.

Fans were only running about 25% when doing text/typing related tasks on iPad display.
 

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pshifrin said:
On 2014 rMBP 15 2.8 using 100-200% cpu usage. Fans going nuts. Not sure this is ready for primetime.
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That's strange, I have a slightly older rMBP and haven't had the fan speed up. Activity Monitor is reporting that duet uses about 25-28% of the CPU. Obviously a lot compared to a standard external display, but not bad.
 
dwsolberg said:
Apple doesn't allow you to specify a device.
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Apple does allow you to specify an iOS release. If that is too restrictive for your future plans, Apple allows you plenty of space for text, like "original iPad support coming soon!". Did not happen. What *was* done was plenty of flogging in the media about how this worked with "all iPads". Not some, but all. It is right there in the MacRumors article*. iOS 5.1.1 or later. What runs 5.1.1? The original iPad.

It is not like the app blows up. It just opens, and exits, as if perhaps it discovers that it is not on a supported platform. The developer says "I do plan to support it very soon", which to me means "I do not support it now". Which means all that happy noise in the media was a lie. I really hate that.

So, I am out (temporarily, I imagine) $10, and (permanently) an hour or two of my time.

A.

* I should say "was", as the article has been updated now.

For reference purposes: https://web.archive.org/web/20141215154238/http://www.duetdisplay.com/

Addendum: After reading the entire twitter history for DuetDisplay, I found a very early tweet that indicated that the developers had one (1) original iPad as a test platform. Taking that on faith, I apologize for espousing the idea that the developers deliberately misled customers. On the other hand, I think it is clear that they need to take a page from the book of "Under-promise, Over-deliver" book of marketing, not to mention working on their due diligence in the QA department. -- A.
 
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Right now I'm watching Gardians of the Galaxy using VLC media player on an iPhone 6+, latest gen rMBP, and I'm using 13-15% CPU at lowest res/30fps. The video is perfectly watchable. Really happy with this setup thus far!
 
fxmx42 said:
I wonder if I could use Photoshop/Illustrator with a nice Jot stylus through this Duet thingy.
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Yes you can. I just tried it in Illustrator CS6 on my late 2013 15" MacBook Pro. I moved the page and the color palette onto the iPad display. Then I used the paintbrush and selected colors with my GoSmart stylus and it worked quite well with little lag in Retina mode at 60fps.
 
Application works as described. It does list (on their compatibility matrix) that iOS 6.0+ is needed.

Now I can see what a touch screen Mac OS X experience is like - just need a much longer LIGHTNING cable to reach my couch!

The app from the store is $9.99, but the app for your Mac is free.

Pretty Cool!
 
D-a-a-n said:
Stupid idea for a problem that doesn't exist.
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Pack it up folks, D-a-a-n does not see the use in this product and therefore by logic so can no one else.

D-a-a-n said:
Btw why would you need 2 screens "on the go"? OSX solved this already with multiple desktops.
Click to expand...

You have clearly not been working with multiple displays. The amount of extra efficiency you get out of having more space visible at the same time is huge for many type of work.
 
So I have a handful of headless mac servers at work. Would this app allow me to use my iPhone as monitor in a pinch? Does tapping the screen work as a mouse click?
Click to expand...

Yes it does work if you want to use it as a screen for a headless server but you will need a trackpad or mouse to control the cursor. I connected the screen to my wife's Mac Mini and basically the iPad screen became the monitor for the Mac Mini.
 
MacRumors said:
[url=http://cdn.macrumors.com/im/macrumorsthreadlogodarkd.png]Image[/url]


While there are several apps designed to turn the iPad or iPhone into a secondary display for a Mac, the most popular options use Wi-Fi, which can render them all but unusable at times due to unavoidable lag. A new app from developer and former Apple Engineer Rahul Dewan aims to solve these lag problems with a tethered solution that turns an iOS device into a more reliable secondary display.

Duet Display, which is launching today, is the one of the first apps that transforms the iPad and the iPhone into an extra display for the Mac using a Lightning or 30-pin cable. By sending data over a cable instead of Wi-Fi, Duet Display is able to greatly improve on the lag is typically present when an iOS device is used as a secondary display.

Duet Display offers both a Retina mode and a non-Retina mode, along with options for 30 or 60 frames per second, and it's easy to install and setup, requiring just the Mac app, the iOS app, and a cable to connect the two devices.

The Duet Display app is inarguably an improvement over other options today, but it is not a perfect solution. As detailed in the video walkthrough of the app below, MacRumors experienced some issues when testing the app. On a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, Duet Display's Retina mode caused a significant amount of cursor lag, rendering the app nearly unusable, and the CPU usage climbed to well over 200 percent.

YouTube: video​
Non-Retina mode (which is enabled in the app by default) offered a more lag free experience, but the trade off caused the secondary iPad Air 2 display to look fuzzy -- a disappointment given the inherent clarity of the screen on Apple's newest tablet. Non-Retina mode in Duet Display degrades the quality of all Retina displays to a noticeable degree.

According to the developer, performance is better on Macs released in 2013 or later, and users who only want to view one static window may not have any problems. Furthermore, many users may find the utility of a secondary iPad or iPhone display to be enough to outweigh the lack of a Retina experience.

Though the iPad Air 2 and other Retina devices don't look good in non-Retina mode, Duet Display is a great solution for older iPads that people might have little use for. An original iPad or iPad 2 does not have a Retina screen, and will work well with older Macs as secondary displays. iOS 5.1.1 is not yet compatible with Duet Display, but the developer is working on a fix.

Along with the Retina issue, potential buyers should be aware of some other small issues that we ran into. Even in non-Retina mode, on a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro, there was some slight cursor lag, and we also had problems with visual artifacts on some apps. When watching YouTube videos, for example, there were some occasional performance blips.

The developer assures us that he is working on improving Duet Display, and he plans to release iterative updates in the months to come to clear up lingering problems. As he suggests, it's better to have an app that works most of the time with just a few problems rather than one of the existing Wi-Fi solutions that can be almost non-functional.

YouTube: video​
The Duet website claims that all Macs using OS X 10.9 or later work with the app, as well as all iPads and iPhones, but MacRumors was unable to get the software to work with a 2010 MacBook Air running OS X 10.10.2. According to the developer, the issue was due to the 10.10.2 beta software, which does not work with the app.

Duet Display may not provide the perfect secondary display experience, but in our testing, we found that it was more reliable than current Wi-Fi options, and we believe it's a fantastic way to make good use of older iOS devices.

Duet Display for the Mac can be downloaded from the Duet website for free. The accompanying iOS app can purchased from the App Store for $9.99 for 24 hours, and then the price will go up to $14.99. [Direct Link]

Update 12PM PT: Some of our forum members have not been able to get Duet Display to work on an iPad running iOS 5.1.1, and the developer has asked people who want to use it with an iPad running iOS 5.1.1 to wait for an upcoming update before purchasing.

Article Link: Duet Display Offers Tethered Solution to Turn an iPad into an Extra Display for Mac [Updated]
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:mad:...Your video showcases the use of an iPad Air. Not the :apple:iPad Air 2 described. This may account the lag experienced. :eek:

:(
:(
 
duetapp said:
Don't use if you are on the 10.10.2 beta. It is buggy, not duet. Hopefully those get sorted out soon.
Click to expand...

So the fact that it only works for 15 seconds at a time is due to a bug in Yosemite 10.10.2 beta, and it *will* be fixed, either by you or by Apple? And I do not need to request a refund because it is entirely unusable at present?

It looks promising. It just doesn't work for me at the moment.
 
jeremypodom said:
Look in the toolbar and find the duet app icon. There's a gear in the bottom left when you click on it that has an uninstall link.
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Try using the native retina resolution on your mac or the first one above it (The Looks like 1440x900 option). For me, the highest resolution makes it crash.
 
Your feedback is really informative.
The advantages seem to outweigh the negatives. Deciding on buying now.
Hoping the developer keeps improving on it. Thanks
 
duetapp said:
Hey Guys,

I'm the developer the app. Glad to see so many people like it, and just some heads up:

Don't purchase if on iOS 5.1.1. I do plan to support it very soon, but test flight is sadly only iOS 8. Was only able to test on a handful of devices and there are issues that you should wait for to be fixed.

Don't use if you are on the 10.10.2 beta. It is buggy, not duet. Hopefully those get sorted out soon.

Obviously the better your Mac, the less lag and CPU drain. This is not mentioned enough. Also there are several optimizations I put in that greatly reduce this. I think the effect is pretty overstated.

If you run into any issues, email me. I'm sorry if it takes a bit right now, it's just me and launch day can be hectic. But I promise I will resolve all of your issues.
Click to expand...

How much do you think is possible to improve on the cpu cycles to run the display driver? I'm really interested in this and will keep following this app it looks like its the one right app for the job. Nice job and keep it up!

If in the next releases the cpu strain gets lower I will gladly pay the normal price.
 
What a piece of drek

I hope the developers are reading this. Ex-Apple, huh? Yeah, based on this I'm guessing the "ex-" wasn't voluntary.

Like any good early adopter I downloaded the app to the mac, and it doesn't work, after almost bricking my air with a "needs a graphics adapter" message. WTF is this, Windows?

Then the little "d" icon is stuck on my screen, blinking, with no way to remove it, since I cannot access the menu.

Then I try to delete this little piece of kludgeware, and I cannot--the air says the "app is open." Of course (what else) it doesn't appear in the force quit menu.

So I go back to the duet website, and buried in the FAQ is the note that it may not work under 10.10.2. Why not put this out prominently on your webpage front. Because it would interfere with the cute graphics, I'm sure--another instance of "big hat, no cattle."

So then I try to send them an email asking for help from their webpage. Guess what, no surprise, it cannot send email.

FAIL on just about every front possible.

To get rid of this kludge I'll try to boot in safe mode and cross my fingers, but I just have to vent.

Thanks for nothing, Macrumors, for promoting this nonsense. NOT.
 
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