Sidecar in macOS Catalina Brings Touch Bar Controls to Non-Touch Bar Mac Users

[craigrusse11]

Here is my question, I posted it elsewhere but haven't had a direct response yet...

Do I need a primary display to use SideCar? In other words, can a peripheral-less mac mini use an iPad as its ONLY display using SideCar?

Currently I have two 2010 computers, a mini and a MBP, I'm thinking my new setup will be a new mac mini and a SideCar compatible iPad. Currently I ONLY access the mini through my MBP using screen sharing and I would ONLY want to access the new mac mini using a compatible iPad.

Any help?

Sidecar is controlled via a new feature in MacOS 10.15 Catalina rather than via the iPad using iPadOS.

You can only initiate the new feature from the Mac rather than the other way around. This feature is designed to extend or mirror your desktop rather than work as an independent monitor for your Mac mini, for example.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/news/apple/148262-apple-sidecar-macos-ipados-features-explained

 

[imola.zhp]

Sidecar is controlled via a new feature in MacOS 10.15 Catalina rather than via the iPad using iPadOS.

You can only initiate the new feature from the Mac rather than the other way around. This feature is designed to extend or mirror your desktop rather than work as an independent monitor for your Mac mini, for example.

https://www.pocket-lint.com/laptops/news/apple/148262-apple-sidecar-macos-ipados-features-explained

Thank you for the link, I am actively reading it. I currently have an emulator plugged into the HDMI port of my current peripheral-less mini, which fools the mini into thinking there is a display connected. This section...

"
Use iPad as a mirrored desktop or secondary display
As you can with current secondary displays you can choose to use your iPad to expand or mirror the desktop."

...gives me hope that my proposed setup will work by choosing to mirror the desktop as opposed to expanding it.

 

[bennett_langdon]

I wonder which iPads it will work with. Will my old first gen iPad mini finally have a new life as a side screen for my iMac??

Unfortunately your iPad mini won't work with the new sidecar feature as I believe that device stopped getting updates after iOS 9, but all iPads capable of running iPadOS will have the feature!!

 

[4487549]

This is a wild guess but I can actually see this being Apple’s “soft landing” for the Touchbar apps. If it is going to get discontinued, Apple can say: “well, these are still useful they just live in sidecar now.

However, I suspect if this becomes the case it will end up only marginally supported and eventually die completely.

Hopefully, the irony of implementing the Touch Bar on a touch screen isn't lost on anyone.

 

[bennett_langdon]

Just MacBooks?

No, the new Mac Pro, iMac Pro, and iMacs will all work aswell.

 

[4487549]

They weren't the first to get sherocked and they won't be the last.

Apple also ripped off Moom. The UX of clicking on the green radio button, the UI of the drop down sheet... As a Moom user, hoping I can still use their far more robust implementation that's been around since 2011.

 

[Dc2006ster]

I have been using Duet Display since it was first introduced. I am guessing that Sidecar will effectively kill Duet and I feel bad for the Duet people. They saw a good idea, built the app and now see it being taken over but I guess they are not the first to have this happen to them and will not be the last.

 

[QCassidy352]

That explain why I wasn't able to see how to use this! I have a late-2013 rMBP 13in.

I have the same Mac. This is the first time I’m going to miss out on a feature I’d really like.

 

[rjbruce]

Nice.... but sucks for the Duet Display people..... talk about getting your business gutted....

Imagine being a Duet developer sitting in the WWDC audience when it was announced... I felt bad enough just being a Duet customer. Great idea and great product.

 

[Dc2006ster]

Trying to wrap my head around how this will work. I presently use both Duet and Reflector. Will Sidecar supplant both of these apps?

 

[CLS727]

Imagine being a Duet developer sitting in the WWDC audience when it was announced... I felt bad enough just being a Duet customer. Great idea and great product.

I'd hope that Apple at least gave them a heads-up.

 

[xJus10x]

AstroPad is also screwed big time. They have a similar feature and it works super smooth.

Yeah, AstroPad seems super screwed. At least Duet Display has a Windows version to differentiate themselves a bit.

Trying to wrap my head around how this will work. I presently use both Duet and Reflector. Will Sidecar supplant both of these apps?

My understanding was that it's essentially a first party replacement for Duet Display/AstroPad. The settings are baked into System Preferences on the Mac and then I think we'll need a Sidecar app on the iPad to launch. Please correct if I'm wrong, anybody, I'm interested too.

I've been using Windows a lot lately and Duet works pretty well. I'm curious if the performance of Sidecar will meaningfully trump Duet. If so, it would make a Mac laptop more appealing for my next purchase. As it stands now, though, I think I want a Mercury White Razer Blade.

 

[rodpascoe]

The touchbar is obnoxious for users, who would prefer an actual touch screen and physical function keys, and for developers who have better things to do than support the touchbar for the small percentage of users who have them. At the very least apple should make real function keys an option on all configs of the MacBook Pro, not just the wimpy one with inadequate cooling and slower WiFi.

It’s not a small percentage, it’s been out years and hundreds of thousands of them will have been sold.

Also, some people (like me) absolutely love the Touch Bar and use it daily.

 

[raccoontail]

It’s not a small percentage, it’s been out years and hundreds of thousands of them will have been sold.

Macs represent about 7% of global computer sales, so even if 1/4 of macs sold have a touchbar, it means developers of cross-platform applications have to do extra work to support 1 in 50 users (and even then how many regularly use an external keyboard & monitor?). Of course some apps have a much larger share with a touchbar depending on the audience, but it's not a huge number. Some devs have done a fantastic job of leveraging the touchbar, but overall I'd rather have an actual touchscreen, and map those touchbar features to traditional function keys so devs can put their efforts into improving other areas of their software.

 

[tekfranz]

I actually think we will see more in-keyboard screens. Check out some of the latest Asus laptops with screens built into the lower half of the laptop.

I think the touchbar is a very nice touch.

 

[PSCConMP]

Interesting that Apple is already stopping support for the 2013 MacPro.

 

[cult hero]

I personally like the idea of the touch bar on the MacBook pro, but currently VERY limited. If they would introduce more functions (especially in Logic Pro X and FCPX) with customizations (make your own short cut key) it would make it a good asset.

I do like it more than what it replaced. A volume slider > volume buttons (especially with the wonky volume on the LG 5Ks).

I think another huge issue is that I rarely use my laptop as a laptop. It's a mobile workstation. It's a laptop when I am on the road, which is rare. Since the only place the TouchBar is available is on the laptop keyboard, the adoption is kinda... there's only so many people that are actually using it.

I work in a web development department and while we all have laptops, most of the crew plugs into desktop setups at the office and has similar setups at home.

So this gives those controls another place to do something. It's a chicken and egg issue. Who is really using the functionality? At the same time, why would anyone make heavy use of it in their workflows if developers don't create anything particularly useful. In theory, this gives the TouchBar controls another place to exist and be used.

 

[matrix07]

Thank you for the link, I am actively reading it. I currently have an emulator plugged into the HDMI port of my current peripheral-less mini, which fools the mini into thinking there is a display connected. This section...

"
Use iPad as a mirrored desktop or secondary display
As you can with current secondary displays you can choose to use your iPad to expand or mirror the desktop."

...gives me hope that my proposed setup will work by choosing to mirror the desktop as opposed to expanding it.

In a sense you want to use your ipad as a “Screen Sharing” monitor?

 

[jst_testing]

What do you think

(In a less sarcastic way, no, and never......)

Lol almost rhetorical. Guess I'll continue using Duet

 

[SRLMJ23]

Anyone else notice in the screenshot that the MacBook Pro being used is a 15" Mid-2014 MacBook Pro? I thought any MacBook Pro before 2016 would not work with Sidecar? I hope for the sake of users with pre-2016 MBP's that this is true and Apple will allow pre-2016 MBP's to use Sidecar.

 

[manu chao]

The touchbar is obnoxious for [the 1% of] users, who would prefer [...] physical function keys.

Corrected that for you.

 

[BigBoy2018]

The touchbar is obnoxious for users, who would prefer an actual touch screen and physical function keys, and for developers who have better things to do than support the touchbar for the small percentage of users who have them. At the very least apple should make real function keys an option on all configs of the MacBook Pro, not just the wimpy one with inadequate cooling and slower WiFi.

Well said sir!!!!
[doublepost=1560090973][/doublepost]

Corrected that for you.

Um yea .... no. Btw, inventing fake statistics out of thin air doesn’t make your argument seem any more compelling. Just makes the person making that argument look foolish.

 

[manu chao]

Um yea .... no. Btw, inventing fake statistics out of thin air doesn’t make your argument seem any more compelling. Just makes the person making that argument look foolish.

How many people do you know that use computers? Subtracting developers, how many of those use the function keys as function keys?

I have never seen anybody apart from developers use the function keys as function keys, and I have been around more than just a handful of people using computers over the years. And, apart from not having witnessed the general population using function keys as function keys, I have also never heard any of them discussing using function keys as function keys.

And btw, you implicitly also invented fake statistics. By saying that function keys matter, you assume that a significant number of all computer users use them as such. Unless of course you know deep down that most people don't care about function keys but you simply don't care and your point is merely that you want function keys and that it doesn't matter how many people want them, for you it only matters that you want them.

 

[SRLMJ23]

I mentioned this before, but the MBP in the screenshot is a mid-2014. How is it using Sidecar if it is supposedly only for 2016 machines and up? Just curious.

 

[imola.zhp]

In a sense you want to use your ipad as a “Screen Sharing” monitor?

Yes, as the only monitor for the Mac mini.​