SideMini

Sidecar basics

Which Macs and iPads support Sidecar, and what else has to be true

SideMini3 min read

Most “Sidecar is not working” problems are not faults at all: one of the two devices is simply not on Apple’s list, or one of the four settings Sidecar quietly depends on is off. This page is the compatibility check, in the order worth doing it.

The Macs

Apple’s list starts around 2016: MacBook Pro from 2016, MacBook from 2016, MacBook Air from 2018, iMac from 2017 (plus the 27-inch Retina 5K from late 2015), iMac Pro, Mac mini from 2018, Mac Pro from 2019, and every Mac Studio. Anything Apple has released since is included.

Apple silicon is not a requirement. A 2018 Intel Mac mini runs Sidecar perfectly well, which is what makes those machines such cheap headless servers.

The iPads

The rule of thumb is Apple Pencil support: every iPad Pro, iPad Air from the 3rd generation, iPad from the 6th generation, and iPad mini from the 5th generation. If your iPad takes a Pencil, it takes Sidecar.

Screen size changes the experience but not compatibility. An 11-inch iPad is a usable second screen for one app; a 13-inch is a usable only screen for a Mac mini.

The software versions

macOS Catalina or later on the Mac, iPadOS 13 or later on the iPad. In practice both devices are on something far newer, and the versions only matter when someone is deliberately keeping an old Mac alive.

The four settings people forget

  1. Both devices signed in to the same Apple Account, with two-factor authentication turned on. Different accounts is the single most common cause of an iPad that never appears.
  2. Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth on, on both devices, even when you plan to use a cable.
  3. Handoff enabled on both. It lives in General → AirDrop & Handoff.
  4. Neither device sharing its internet connection. Personal Hotspot on the iPad will keep it out of the list.

For wireless use keep the two within about ten metres. A USB cable removes the distance and the Wi‑Fi quality from the equation, keeps the iPad charged, and is noticeably smoother for video.

The thirty-second check

Unlock the iPad, put it next to the Mac, then open Control Center on the Mac and click Screen Mirroring. If the iPad is listed, everything above is already true and you can stop reading. If it is not, work down the four settings before suspecting the hardware.

If it appears and then drops after about ten seconds, that is a different problem with a specific cause, covered in Sidecar not working.

If your Mac is too old

Sidecar is the only option that costs nothing, so an older Mac means paid software: Luna Display uses a hardware dongle, Duet Display sells a subscription. Both work on machines Apple has left behind. We compare them in Sidecar vs Luna Display vs Duet.

What compatibility does not tell you

A supported Mac and a supported iPad still cannot start Sidecar when the Mac has no monitor at all. Someone has to pick the iPad from a screen that already works, and a headless Mac mini has no such screen. Compatibility is necessary and not sufficient.

That gap is the reason SideMini exists: it gives macOS a display to draw on, connects the iPad at every boot, and reconnects it when the iPad wakes.

Sources

SideMini makes your iPad the screen of a Mac that has no monitor, and connects it at every boot. See iPad as a Mac mini display, or try it free for three days; $9 once, no subscription.

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