SideCar unstable in Monterey

Hello,

I finally made some change to my wireless network (5ghz band - 160 Mhz channel bandwidth - Asus router RT-AX58U) and for now, it seems to be stable.

To be continued ...

I have a Mac mini (2018) and an 8'th Generation iPad. In my case, SideCar works well over WiFi. Having said that, I did first re-establish the trust relationship between the devices with a wired connection.

Also, I routinely use Airplay (over WiFi) to mirror the iPad on the Mac (and then share the Mac's desktop via Skype).

- Pie Lover

I am also seeing this on Big Sur 11.6.1 on a 2019 16" MacBook Pro with a 3rd generation 12.9" iPad Pro running IOS 15.1. My issues started when I upgraded IOS, so I believe that at least part of the problem lies there.

Tried the usb-c cable suggestion: worked for as long as the cable was plugged in. After that, trying to revert to a wireless connection like before, I was unable to make a Sidecar connection between MBP and Ipad Pro.

I hope Apple will start to take this seriously in due time. Or are they preparing us for discontinuing Sidecar in favor of the option of using you MBP keyboard and pointing device on the Ipad (in iOS)?

Yes, the same has happened to me. I have a 16" MacBook Pro bought earlier in 2021 (not Silicon) and a 1st generation 12.9" iPad Pro. I use Sidecar when editing films - the iPad carries the preview while I work on the content on my computer. They were working very well together before I upgraded to Monterey with the iPad on iOS14. I upgraded the iPad about a week ago and the MBP just a couple of days ago. Unfortunately I didn't try Sidecar between the two upgrades, so there's a remote possibility it could be the iPad upgrading to iOS 15 causing the problems; but my MBP seems to be struggling since I upgraded to Monterey so my money would be on that upgrade that caused the problem.

I have to give plaudits to the 1st generation iPad Pro, though - it's really quite old in digital terms now and yet still performs like new. I wish I could say the same for my Apple Watch!

Hey Melanoids,

Whilst being very unfortunate too, the problem you're describing here seems to be related but still distinctively different from the problem that is discussed in this thread.

Have you posted this as a new thread on discussion.apple.com as well? If not, my suggestion would be to do so

good luck

pascal

I'm also seeing this issue with a 2020 MBP 16" and a 2020 iPad Air (iOS 15.1)

Also having problems with my 2017 MacBook Pro using sidecar with iPad Air 4. Was absolutely fantastic on Catalina (just upgraded a couple days ago). Hopefully devs already know its a problem and are working on it!

I have M1 MBA and iPad Pro. SideCar is very unstable through AirPlay so I do so with USB-C and it's been OK. However, it gets super unstable even with USB-C after upgrading Monterey. It can be disconnected in a few seconds again and again. This is almost unsable. I would like to have some update or fix from Apple asap. It cannot be used as a second display for conferences.

I experience the same thing. Even when I use sidecar via cable (iPad M1) the screen on my iPad would freeze or just disconnect. Eventually I'll just have to connect an reconnect mirroring. It's much worse when I mirror wirelessly.

I'll give the usb-c cable suggestion a try. Thx.

I managed to get a stable connection for 22hrs after restarting the Ipad, but the Sidecar-screen is frozen again. I can still switch to other apps on the Ipad, though..

I am having a similar problem after upgrading my My MacBook Pro 2018 to Monterey (version 12.0.1), my iPad (8th Gen) running iOS 15.1 the SideCar screen freezes (when connecting wirelessly). This is a new problem. It worked great before the updates (both moving my MacBook to Monterey and the iPad to 15.1). Apple, please fix this problem!

I have this issue as well with a brand new 2021 14" MBP and Monterey. I had/have an active case with Apple along with several hours with tech support invested before being recommended to go to a Genius Bar appointment. After a 3hr diagnosis in store, hardware checked out OK and was advised that they sent the case to Apple's engineers.

I'd really like to see a response from Apple on this on timeline - sidecar is a huge part of my workflow, that I almost use my iPad exclusively for nowadays. Thanks!

Hatrick5, that is awesome to hear that the issue is now in the hands of the apple engineers. If you have any communication open with your case, sending them a link of this thread would help them get an idea of the scope of the issue.

(I do wonder that when Universal Control is available I'll still feel the need for Sidecar like I do now: the macOS apps I run on the sidecar-desktop have an inferior UX than their ipad counterparts -- we'll see)

https://www.theverge.com/2021/6/8/22523613/macos-monterey-wwdc-apple-ipad