SideMiniSidecar basics
How to use your iPad as a second monitor for your MacBook or Mac
An iPad is the cheapest second monitor most Mac owners already have, and on a MacBook it is the only second monitor that fits in the same bag. Apple’s Sidecar feature sends your Mac desktop to a compatible iPad over USB or Wi‑Fi, with Apple Pencil support and almost no lag. This guide covers what you need, the exact clicks, and how to stop doing those clicks every day.
What you need
Sidecar needs a Mac and an iPad that Apple lists as compatible: broadly, Macs from 2016 onwards on macOS Catalina or later, and iPads that support Apple Pencil on iPadOS 13 or later. Both devices must be signed in to the same Apple Account with two-factor authentication turned on.
For wireless use, keep the devices within about 10 metres, with Wi‑Fi, Bluetooth and Handoff enabled, and make sure neither device is sharing its internet connection. For USB, any data-capable cable works, and the iPad has to trust the Mac the first time you connect it.
Connecting in four clicks
- Unlock the iPad and place it next to the Mac, or plug it in with a USB cable.
- On the Mac, open Control Center from the menu bar and click Screen Mirroring.
- Choose your iPad under “Mirror or extend to”. The iPad lights up with your desktop.
- Open System Settings → Displays to choose Extend or Mirror and to arrange the screens the way they sit on your desk.
On older macOS versions the same option lives in the AirPlay menu or in System Preferences → Sidecar. The result is identical: the iPad becomes a real display that macOS treats like any other.
Extend or mirror?
Extend adds space: drag a reference document, Slack, or a video call to the iPad and keep your editor on the main screen. Mirror shows the same picture on both, which is useful when you are showing someone something or when you want to draw on the iPad with Apple Pencil while looking at the big screen.
If the pointer disappears off the wrong edge, fix the arrangement in System Settings → Displays: drag the iPad thumbnail to the side where the iPad physically sits.
The Sidebar and the Touch Bar
Sidecar can show a Sidebar on the iPad with the modifier keys and a Touch Bar strip at the bottom. Both are handy for Pencil work and pointless for a second monitor full of windows. You can hide them in System Settings → Displays → your iPad, or let SideMini hide them for you every time it connects.
Cable or wireless?
Wireless Sidecar is convenient and good enough for documents and chat. A USB cable is noticeably smoother for video, keeps the iPad charged, and does not depend on the quality of your Wi‑Fi. If the iPad lives on your desk, use the cable.
Making it automatic
The one real annoyance with Sidecar is that it forgets. After a restart, after the iPad sleeps, after a dropped connection, you are back in Control Center clicking. SideMini is a small menu bar app that connects your iPad at login, keeps it connected, and applies the resolution and mirror settings you chose. Turn on “Connect even with a monitor” to use it as a second screen, or “Only use iPad screen” to make the iPad the only display of a Mac mini with no monitor.
It has a free three-day trial and a one-time price, no subscription.
If the iPad does not show up
Nine times out of ten it is one of these: the iPad is locked, the two devices use different Apple Accounts, Bluetooth is off on one of them, or one device is sharing its internet connection. The full checklist is in our Sidecar troubleshooting guide.