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Oneechan69

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Mar 29, 2022
264
31
US
I would like to be able to control my MacBook with my iPad Pro either outside or on a bus using one of those keyboard and trackpad cases. I carry my iPad in a handbag so it should be fine to carry a keyboard case in it too, and it would take too long to take out and put back my 16 inch MBP from my backpack. I would also want be able to control it using touch during walks, again with my MBP in my backpack (and connected to my 4G / 5G phone hotspot). In those cases, I would have the display scaled way down to make the Mac UI a good size for the iPad.
I don't have much experience with remote desktops, other than Chrome Remote Desktop - which has been a little jittery in my experience, definitely not good with video playback. In the contexts I described, I would want like at least 30FPS I think, something I would be fine with looking at and interacting with for long periods of time. Though, I do understand that remote desktop software is inherently a demanding task and hard to get right technically speaking, needing to compress video frames and send them to another device.
I just spent a bunch of time researching software and have heard good things about Jump Desktop for the situations I described, but I feel like I shouldn't get my hopes up about it being smooth enough, and I'm very reluctant to buy apps from the App Store since I can't get refunds just for not liking or wanting them. I bought a few during the spring to try out and had refunds for them rejected by Apple.
Would Jump Desktop work well for me? And or is there anything else you would recommend?
 
You want to run your MacBook in a fully packed backpack with almost zero airflow? Seems like a good idea. 👍
(Not that something would happen, but personally i wouldn't risk it)
 
Why wouldn't it be a good idea? But anyway, what are your answer(s) for my post?

For anyone else reading this, I want this to be a discussion about what I asked and not just about the claimed lack of airflow in my bag!
 
I can only report my experience with Jump, which has been excellent. I've both both the iOS and MacOS versions and it has been the only one to correctly handle trackpad scrolling when connecting to Windows. I no longer have an iPad but as far as I can remember it was the best. It's a shame they don't do a lite or trial version for you to try.

Have you tried Microsoft's RDP? It's free so worth a shot.
 
I’ve been a long time TeamViewer user. Works great. I use it from my iPad to connect to my MBP, Mac Mini, Winderz machines and several Android digital signage players.
 
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