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

AdonisSMU

macrumors 604
Original poster
Oct 23, 2010
7,327
3,085
i was wondering if it's possible to use this as an external display for my Mac as well?
 
Have you tried Astropad? Wondering how this compares - I just spent $19.99 on Astropad.
I have not, although it looks pretty sick. I might get it once they release their iPad Pro update, tell me what you think about it!
 
So, iFixit has finished their teardown and the iPP has a Fresco Logic FL1100 4-port USB 3.0 Host Controller, so USB 3.0 speeds are possible which would make all of these programs more responsive. CNET reported that USB 3.0 speeds would need an adapter, so it will be interesting to see if Apple implements target display mode on a later version of IOS or if you will need to use a third party application, but at least the hardware is capable.
 
A friend, who is much more knowledgeable than I when it comes to hardware, said that the Lightning cable isn't capable of sending huge amounts of video data across the wire. Is this true? I'm not sure, but my experience using Astropad on the Pro backs it up. It was pretty laggy in two ways:

1. the stroke lags behind the brush by a second. This is alleviated by the purple line that immediately forms.
2. the stroke is drawn in as a series of low-quality pixels. a second later, it gets re-drawn hi-res.

The combination of the two delays was super distracting to me, and made it hard to use the Pro for drawing for more than a few minutes.

Maybe if they switch to USB-C in future models it'll be faster? Or maybe it's software? I'm not too sure.
 
Your friend is right about a standard lightning cable. It's based on USB 2.0 high-speed and is only capable of a theoritical 480 Mbit/s. USB 3.0 has a theoretical max of 5.0 Gbit/s which is why I'm excited that iPP seems to have the capability to support USB 3.0. Using a standard Lightning cable on the port will still only give you USB 2.0 speeds. My guess is that Apple will release an adapter that allows you to use a standard USB 3.0 cable or USB-C cable to give you USB 3.0 speeds. Apple hasn't shared all the capabilities of the iPP yet. I'm sure they are waiting on the hardware and software to be ready and well tested, before it drops. The implementation looks a lot like USB-C where the port is bidirectional allowing charging of the iPP or supplying power.
 
I want to try to use the iPad Pro as a default screen for a Mac Mini,
DuetDisplay seems the best options while it has less lag with lightning cable attachment instead of Wifi connection with other apps.

I now have an Imac in my living room, and is just a bit too big, and the iPad would make it a minimalistic option :)
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.