Hi, this is Gary with MacMost.com. Let's take a look at using Universal
Control between a Mac and an iPad and another Mac.
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So Universal Control is a new feature of macOS 12.3 and also iPad OS 15.4. So you need to update
to those new versions of the operating system to use this. The basic idea is that you could use one
trackpad or mouse and one keyboard and control multiple Macs and also iPads with them.
So if you have a MacBook Pro next to your iMac you don't actually have to reach and use two different
trackpads and two different keyboards. You could use one set of trackpad and keyboard and move the
cursor across all those screens. It's not sharing the screens. Each device has its own separate
display. You just don't have to move your hands to new controls to control both at the same time.
You could also do something like Drag and Drop and Copy and Paste to go between the machines.
Okay. So this shows you my setup. I've got a MacPro with two big screens, one in portrait mode.
Those are both always connected and always going on my MacPro. But I also have here my iPad
and I've got a MacPro here. Those are separate machines, and I've got this one set of controls,
a mouse and keyboard. Now to get this going I want to go to System Preferences
and then Displays. Then the first thing I need to do is Universal Control and make sure I turn
on Universal Control and select the other options that I want like being able to push
through the sides of the display to connect another device. So once I've got that going
then I'll see on display the same things I always see. Just my two regular displays. To
add something else like the iPad Mini I'd go here and I'll see two different sets here. I'll see
the iPad Mini and MacPro under the Universal Controls. I'll also see the displays I could use.
Mostly Apple TV's here though also I've got the ability to use Sidecar to connect, of course, to
the iPad. This is not Sidecar. We're not actually sharing screens. We're just sharing Controls.
So I'm going to add the iPad Mini right here. There you see it appears. Notice how it's detached
from the other two screens. So kind of indicating that it's only control that's being extended
to the screen, not the actual use of the screen itself. It's not part of the displays for my Mac.
Now that I've got that I can use the Trackpad here and the keyboard across both. This map here shows
me where I can find the iPad Mini. I'm going to keep it there on the left. I could put it
anywhere I want. If I move the pointer all the way across and out the side you can see now it appears
on the iPad Mini. I can use it as a pointer there like I was using the Trackpad on the iPad Mini.
It can go over buttons and kind of merges with the buttons in the way that
it works if you use a Trackpad with the iPad. I can also click and then type. Of course you use
the keyboard on my Mac. Notice how the virtual keyboard goes away when it recognizes I'm using
my Mac keyboard. I can type right there. I can select text. I can do everything I can as if I
had a Trackpad and keyboard hooked up to the iPad. I can Copy, Command C, move back to my Mac and go
into TextEdit there and Paste. Copy and Paste works very well between these. I can even do it
right here where I can type some more in TextEdit, Select All, Copy and then I'm going to go over
back into Notes on the iPad and Paste in here. There you go. So Copy and Paste works great.
Now let's go and add the Mac, the MacBook, there as another device. So if I go over here,
and note that I have turned on Universal Control on the MacBook Pro as well. So I will see it here.
I'll turn that on here and add that as a third device. I'll see it appear.
There it is. I can drag that into any position I want. I'll put it right there next to the
iPad Mini. So now I can drag across the two screens of my Mac Pro, the iPad Mini, all the
way to the MacBook Pro. I can use the keyboard that's here for my MacPro to type and in this
case Paste in what I have copied before. I can go all the way back and forth between all of these
screens, four screens on three different devices. Notice what happens here if I use
the Trackpad and keyboard on the MacBook Pro. It splits them and I get control back
from my MacBook Pro. But now my MacBook Pro I can go and scroll across and take over my
MacPro with the Trackpad of my MacBook Pro. So it kind of works really naturally. If you grab
one keyboard and Trackpad and start using it, it will split them and then it instantly kind
of joins them together again no matter which one you're using as you drag the pointer.
Here's another view of all this. I'm going to Drag and Drop some files. I'm going to
Drag and Drop a file from my MacPro all the way over to my MacBook Pro. I'm going to Drag one
from the MacBook Pro all the way across over to my MacPro. I'm going to Drag this image
onto the iPad. I'm in the Notes App. I'm going to Drop it into a note there. You
can see how it seamlessly Drag and Drop works with Universal Control.
So not only is it nice to be able to use one keyboard and Trackpad for multiple devices that
happen to be sitting on your desk but it makes sharing things between those devices really
super easy thanks to Copy and Paste and Drag and Drop. So if you have devices that have
been updated to use the latest versions of the Operating System give this a try. See if
it's something that could be useful to you and make you more productive. Thanks for watching.