Sidecar is a handy new feature in macOS Catalina that lets you extend or mirror the screen of your Mac on an iPad, so you can draw on it, for example. That’s how it works and you can do this with it.
Turn your iPad into a second screen for your Mac
Sidecar is a useful new feature in MacOS Catalina (10.15), the latest version of the operating system. With Sidecar you can use an iPad as a second screen for your Mac. So you suddenly have a lot more screen space. You can also use the second screen as a drawing tablet. Sidecar is included as standard with Catalina, but does not work on all Macs.
Sidecar works on these Apple devices
This has to do with the specifications. Sidecar only works on MacBooks equipped with a so-called butterfly mechanism keyboard. This means that you can get started with Sidecar on the following Apple laptops:
- MacBook from 2016
- MacBook Air 2018 and newer
- MacBook Pro models from 2016
Do you want to use Sidecar on a Mac? Then the support has to do with what kind of chipset is in your computer. The new feature requires a Skylake processor from Intel, or a newer model. In practice, it boils down to the following Macs:
- Mac mini 2018 and newer
- All iMac models from 2016, or the 27-inch iMac Retina 5K from late 2015
- All iMac Pro models
You also need a relatively recent iPad to use Sidecar. Again this has to do with the processor of your tablet. The following iPads can work with Sidecar:
- iPad 2018 and newer
- iPad Air 2018 and newer
- iPad Mini 2019 and newer
- All iPad Pro models
It is also important that both devices are signed in to the same iCloud account. For wireless use, the iPad must be within 10 meters of the Mac. The function can also be used with wire by connecting both devices via a cable. This is useful when the wireless connection is poor. In addition, the iPad is charged immediately.
This is how you activate Sidecar
There are three ways to activate Apple Sidecar.
- Via the AirPlay menu: on your Mac, click the AirPlay icon in the top right corner, which looks like a small screen with an arrow pointing up. Your iPad will appear in the drop-down menu in the list of devices. Click on this and Sidecar will be activated for the iPad;
- Via the traffic light menu in your apps: you can also activate the function via the green-yellow-red buttons in every app window. Click on the green button, keep it pressed and go to Sidecar via system preferences;
- You can also look up Sidecar via Spotlight: press Cmd + space and type in the search field Sidecar. You can then activate it in the display preferences.
You can do this with Sidecar
When you have activated Sidecar, your iPad is a second screen for your Mac. So you can drag applications from the screen of your Mac to your iPad and back again. This way you have extra screen space while you use your computer.
It is also possible to mirror your image with Sidecar. Then you see the same on both screens. This can be especially useful if, for example, you want to give a presentation on a larger screen, but simply use the iPad for operation.
Sidebar and Touch Bar
When using Sidecar, Apple adds an extra menu bar, aptly named Sidebar. That menu bar gives you access to some specific functions while using a second screen. This way you can show or hide the dock or the onscreen keyboard.
For some apps there are special shortcuts available in the Sidebar. For apps with support for the Touch Bar, this appears at the bottom of the screen of the iPad. This also happens if the Mac or MacBook itself does not have a Touch Bar.
Apps and accessories
If you have an iPad Pro with an Apple Pencil, it can be used with Sidecar. Especially since there are a number of apps that offer extra functionality with Sidecar. This mainly concerns graphic apps, such as Adobe Illustrator, CorelDRAW, Final Cut Pro and Sketch.
Designers can then take advantage of the ease of use of their Apple Pencil in those apps, while leveraging the graphics power of the Mac. So you actually have an incredibly powerful drawing tablet at your disposal. Currently the following apps are supported by Sidecar:
- Adobe Illustrator
- Affinity Designer
- Affinity Photo
- Cinema 4D
- CorelDRAW
- DaVinci Resolve
- Final Cut Pro
- Maya
- Motion
- Painter
- Principle
- Sketch
- Substance Designer
- Substance Painter
- ZBrush
More about macOS Catalina
Do you want to get the most out of the new Mac software update? Check out our article about synchronizing an iPhone via Finder, for example. Also new is the Find My app, which makes it easy to find lost devices.
Learn more about macOS Catalina
- Taking screenshots on your Mac (Book): this is how you do it (26-3)
- macOS Battery condition: this way your MacBook battery stays healthy for longer (24-1)
- Is your MacBook getting very hot since the last update? Then try these solutions (10/2/2020)
- macOS 10.15.7 Now Available: Fixes Wi-Fi bug and iMacs graphics issues (9/25/2020)
- Latest macOS Catalina update fixes Wi-Fi and iCloud Drive bugs (11-9-2020)