Apple offers three ways to connect ipad and computer monitor: you can display ipad content on the mac via airplay, plug a USB-C ipad into the mac, and use it as an external mini-monitor for mac content. With the current beta of macos 12.3 and ipados 15.4 apple expands this possibility and lets mac and ipad merge via universal control . Until then, you can resort to our alternative method. this guide is about the third variant: the connection of a desktop-monitors to an ipad – without mac.
Connecting Ipad to monitor: the right cable
If you have the right cable or adapter, you can easily connect your ipad to an external monitor. It only takes a few seconds, and the ipad image is displayed on the monitor or TV. This is particularly easy with the newer ipad pro models with USB-C and a USB-C or displayport monitor. If you connect a USB-C-ipad with a USB-C-monitor (at amazon), the content of the ipad-display will be shown on the external screen immediately.
Tip : an ipad with USB-C can also be excellently connected to one of the widespread displayport monitors (at amazon). all you need is an inexpensive displayport-to-USB-C cable . the ipad then only runs on battery power.
If you have an ipad with lightning interface, you need an additional adapter, apple has a lightning model for about 55 euro with HDMI and lightning interface as output (the second lightning interface is needed for charging). The resolution here is limited to 1080p.
There are almost no configuration options: only a simple system setting allows you to adjust the display and activate an HDR-10 option, for example. by the way, this system setting is only visible when a computer monitor is connected to the ipad. The sound is transmitted in all cases as well.
Will the ipad become a desktop?
If you have an additional bluetooth mouse and bluetooth keyboard at your disposal, you can almost work like on a desktop pc/mac – after all, any cheap 24 or 27 inch display is far more ergonomic than an 11 inch screen. For example, if you need to spend several hours revising a word or excel document, such a setup can be quite useful. But it remains an emergency solution. In our opinion, such a workstation cannot completely replace a mac, ios has too many limitations – for example, when working comfortably with several apps at the same time. Using an external mouse is also quite awkward and unfamiliar.
The hair in the soup: black edges
In most cases, however, the ipad screen is only mirrored – on the external display with a resolution of 1080p – and you see black borders. This is especially noticeable on a large high-end display, not so much on old HD monitors. Most current desktop monitors have a aspect ratio of 16:9, often 21:9. However, the internal display of an ipad has the page format 4.3 to 3 and therefore displays the ipad screen with wide or. very wide black borders left and right. That is unpleasant, only with the video output the complete screen is used.
Hardware and resolutions
Supports almost all desktop monitors, but also TVs and projectors. that there can be problems with adapters primarily with old projectors is a problem that is probably also familiar from many macbooks. not without reason, some educational institutions with ipads prefer to use an apple tv for presentations, which can be reliably controlled wirelessly.
What is surprising: if one owns an ipad pro with thunderbolt, that is the ipad pro 12.9" (5. generation) or ipad pro 11" the 3. Generation you can even connect it via thunderbolt to the 6K monitor apple pro display XDR (does not get a 6K image though). Per thunderbolt the ipad is also charged. The older ipads pro 2018 can at least also drive a 5K display. One difference: when playing videos in full-screen mode, 4K resolution is offered via display port and USB-C, but only 1080p when mirroring the screen – at least with 60 hertz. With lightning the refresh rate remains limited to a lame 30 hertz. Apple’s own adapter USB-C-digital AV multiport adapter supports only a maximum of 30 hertz with a 4K monitor. Only adapters with support for HDMI 2.0 support more comfortable 60 hertz at 4K.
Presentations
but video output is not limited to videoplayer and imovie, also the presentation apps keynote and powerpoint are supported. When you start a presentation in keynote and powerpoint, the external display is used as an output source. on the ipad you see the moderator view and can control a slideshow specifically. This way, you get your notes or a timer displayed during the presentation.
Imovie
imovie also supports external monitors. here you can use the external monitor as a preview monitor and do the editing on the ipad. You can see the results of your edits immediately and see how the finished movie will look on a 4K display. the internal ipad display is not always the best reference.
Conclusion
The connection of external monitors can be very practical in some cases, as external monitors are cheap and available everywhere. apple, however, treats this topic somewhat neglectfully. Probably it is because for apple monitors are a marginal topic and probably more interested in selling additional macbooks and imacs.