I still think iPadOS should evolve into MacOS or add a Mac layer, especially for pro-level iPads. Macs are overdue for some touchscreen experiences, too. While Universal Control doesn't do that, it makes the devices feel so much more connected. I can even bring some things across the divide: A file can be dragged across from my Mac desktop, but it needs to land in a particular app to finish transferring (like Apple's iPadOS Files app). Yet, I can't drag windows or apps or browser tabs with me, though, like I always do on monitors with the Mac. So close, and yet so far.
iPads still don't extend to other monitors except with a few apps. But what if they did? And what if iPads ran an OS ecosystem similar to Macs? Complete the journey, Apple, and revamp iPadOS at WWDC this year. The pieces are all there. The job just needs to be finished. Let these worlds merge, because the walls are already growing thinner than ever.
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Find the best phones, apps and accessories with our CNET Mobile newsletter. Delivered Tuesdays and ThursWith all of Apple's expected visions of AR, including a reported headset sometime in the next year, being able to remotely access and dovetail devices will be critical. In fact, cross-device relationships are at the heart of what the current metaverse hype cycle is all about. But, even if you don't ever wear an Apple VR/AR headset, expanding the ways that iPhones, iPads, Macs and Apple TVs feel like interlinked nodes of one ambient super-device seems like the way forward. Not just for Apple, but for tech in general.
Universal Control isn't intuitive to set up, though. It doesn't "just work" when you update your OS. Instead, you need to make sure both devices have Bluetooth on, are on the same Wi-Fi network, are near each other and have some particular settings toggled on. For the Mac, in Display settings, Universal Control has three particular settings that need to be checked off, all listed as "beta" features, allowing the Mac to have its cursor/keyboard extend, push through the edge of the display and reconnect to a nearby device. You can add the iPad as a display after that, and rearrange the two displays like any set of monitors with a Mac. The iPad needs to have "cursor and keyboard (beta)" enabled in the Airplay and Handoff part of settings, too.
After that, it seems to work, but sometimes I find when I wake devices up from sleep they don't automatically seem to activate. I'm still getting used to it. Also, it's a beta feature. And while the MacBook Air's trackpad seems to work fine on the iPad Pro, the iPad Pro's Magic Keyboard trackpad seems to track slowly on the Mac.
But, is it fun to leap across both devices with one keyboard and trackpad? Yes, yes it is. And sometimes, controlling the iPad or Mac from the other device, it feels like mind-reading. Or remote telepresence. And with a monitor connected to the MacBook Air, plus the iPad nearby, it's now a three-screen system of sorts that I control with one keyboard/days.
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