- Have you ever needed to use a second display
with a MacBook on the go?
Or do you want a smaller display for desktop use?
Well, there are two great options to choose from.
You can either use a portable display powered via USB-C
or you can use Sidecar with an iPad.
So which one of these is a better second display?
(light electronic music) Hey, I'm Jerry.
And after working on my last video showing you
how I was using this Dell Portable Display
with my Mac Studio and Studio Display,
somebody posted a comment
referencing an iPad with Sidecar, but wired.
So I did my research of a simple Google Search
and found that indeed you can use Sidecar wired.
And I totally do not know how I missed that
over all of these months.
And it blew my mind.
I've had a number of reliability issues
with Sidecar wirelessly, and that's why I started looking
at this portable display to begin with
to use with my Mac Studio.
But a second small display is perfect
for working on a laptop on the go
where you need a little extra screen real estate,
or even if you're just a laptop user at home.
If you're using a desk setup at home with a large display,
you can get multiple large displays,
but for me, I like the setup with one large display
and a smaller display below
like using a MacBook with a big display.
This is perfect for a secondary stuff like research, notes,
simple web browsing, remote desktop, whatever,
while keeping my main display for my primary tasks.
So now if I can use an iPad with Sidecar wired,
how much different is that than using a portable display?
Well, as it turns out, there are a number of differences.
So let's take a look at the strengths and weaknesses
of these two devices as a second display for your Mac.
Looking at pricing first, the 14-inch Dell C1422H
comes in just under $330 on Amazon today
and comes with the display, a USB-C cable and a wool sleeve.
iPad start at $329 for the 9th Gen model
with a home button and can go all the way
to 1099 for the base, 12.9-inch iPad Pro.
Now iPads do go on sale frequently.
So if you're interested in that, check the links below.
When it comes to the design, you know what an iPad is.
iPads are generally a slab of glass,
clad in aluminum back and sides.
There's buttons on the sides for sleep and wake and volume
along with cutouts for speakers and USB-C or Lightning.
Mostly the physical difference in iPads
resides in screen sizes, camera bumps and display features.
The Dell is a 14-inch matte finish display on the front
with minimal modern bezels on three sides
and the Dell logo at the bottom.
The display sits on a base
that allows you to adjust the angle
to find exactly what feels comfortable.
The base also houses two USB-C ports,
along with a power button,
a rocker switch for adjusting brightness
and a button for comfort view.
The case is all plastic with a space gray color on the back.
The design benefit of the Dell display
is that it has that integrated built-in stand,
which is nice for adjusting
so you can actually see it comfortably.
With any iPad, you're going to either need
a case of some kind like the Apple Smart Folio,
which is quite expensive and has limited angle options,
or a cheaper case or stand.
Right now, I'm using this MoKo aluminum stand
which is actually pretty good and light
and has five different angle options,
but that is another added cost
and another thing to toss in a bag,
if going portable.
Having the built-in stand is a pretty valuable addition
in my opinion.
Let's look a little bit more at the displays themselves now.
The Dell Portable Display has a 14-inch, 1080p display.
This translates to 157 pixels per inch
which is quite a bit lower
than the minimum 264 pixels per inch for iPads.
However, Apple basically doubles the pixels
so the working resolution of a 12.9-inch iPad Pro,
for example, is 1366 by 1024,
where this MacBook Air is running at 1440 by 900.
What this means is text icons, everything,
is just a little bit bigger on the iPads with Sidecar
than it is on the native resolution of the Dell display.
And the 12.9-inch iPad nearly matches the size
of the Mac Display.
This makes text and everything slightly easier
for me to read and interact with on iPads
compared to the 1080p display.
The iPad in Sidecar just looks sharper
and right sized to me,
but it may not be that much of a difference
for many people.
And here's the difference between the Dell display
and the regular 10.2-inch iPad for comparison.
When it comes to colors,
I use the SpyderX Elite to calibrate both displays
to get a reading of the colors each display outputs.
I expected that the iPad would get very good results here,
because they have P3 panels.
But what I found was that due to
whatever compression Apple is doing for Sidecar,
the colors are actually worse on all of the iPads
compared to the Dell.
The Dell gets 98% of the sRGB range,
where the iPads will only get about 95%.
With P3, the Dell gets 75% and the iPad gets just 73%.
To my eyes though, the iPad looks better,
even though the colorimeter says otherwise.
My guess is that this has more to do
with the glossy panel on the iPad
compared to the matte display on the Dell.
But this just tells me that you should not rely
on either of these two displays or options
when doing anything that requires color accuracy,
like photo or video editing.
And speaking of video, the response rate
on the Dell is very poor.
Both of these displays have 60 hertz panels,
but when it comes to how fast
the actual pixels can change colors,
the Dell is pretty bad.
Just look at this example of the Dell display
scrolling up and down, and you will see the trail.
It leaves as the letters move.
Then look at this shot of the 10.2-inch iPad
that does not exhibit an issue anywhere near that level
and the pixels change much quicker.
This pixel response issue also translates
just to watching video on the Dell display
which exhibits tearing in other distortions,
but the iPad actually plays video pretty well.
The Dell display gets up to 300 nits,
but iPads can get 400, 500 or more depending on the iPad.
And if you need to reduce blue light,
you can enable either Night Shift on the iPad
or ComfortView on the Dell.
Either of these devices, the iPad or a portable display
can help you get stuff done,
but they're better suited more for office work
like notes or web reference material or whatever.
They're not the best for multimedia^,
or photo, or video editing,
or anything that requires color accuracy or precision.
And each of these devices has benefits over the other
like how the iPad can do iPad stuff, just disconnect it
and you have a fully functioning device.
You can also use the Apple Pencil if you really want to
when using Sidecar, or enable a Touch Bar at the bottom
I don't use either of these features, but it's an option.
The iPad can also be used wirelessly with Sidecar
if you don't want to connect or don't have a spare cable.
I found that wireless Sidecar is not as stable
as wired and can sometimes disconnect
or not even reconnect automatically when you wake the Mac.
But since I've been using this wired Sidecar,
has been extremely stable for me.
The Dell Portable Display can do pass through charging
at up to 65 watts, because it has those two USB-C ports
which may be important depending on your setup.
It has a good base that allows for good angle adjustment
and comes with a protective sleeve.
So which one of these two devices is a better second display
for a Mac and which one should you get?
Well, if you have an iPad of any kind, give it a shot,
but because both of these devices frequently run below $330,
I think the iPad actually provides a better value.
You get a brighter display that looks better
and performs better,
even if slightly less color accurate in Sidecar.
And you can use it both wired or wirelessly in a pinch.
You will however need a case or a stand
to prop the iPad up to use it, which adds to the cost,
but considering that the iPad is an iPad
and can do iPad things when not being a second display,
I think that trade off is pretty well worth it.
Yes, the base iPad is a smaller device,
but you can also look at the iPad Air and the iPad Pro
if you need something a little bit larger
to get a little bit closer to that 14-inch display,
but because these are secondary or portable displays,
maybe the screen size doesn't matter that much.
There are other portable monitors
other than this Dell display
that offer different port options,
different sizes, different refresh rates
and some are even touchscreen,
but that stuff may not necessarily work with the Mac
and they're more expensive.
So the only reason that I can really see wanting to go
with a portable display this Dell or otherwise
over an iPad with Sidecar,
would be if you're using this at a desk set up all the time
and you never want to deal with disconnecting it,
or if you're going mobile and you absolutely need
that pass through charging
from the Dell display to a laptop.
Otherwise, I would just choose an iPad.
The iPad has better performance
as a secondary display for your Mac,
but it's also an iPad and does iPad stuff.
But what do you guys think?
Have you been using Sidecar
and were you completely oblivious like me
that you could use it with USB?
Or have you been looking at portable displays
to go with your Mac?
Let me know below.
Also, YouTube knows you better than me
or maybe better than you know yourself and is confident
that you're gonna love this video right over here.
So definitely check that out.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked it,
hit subscribe if you want
and I'll see you next time.