Apple Universal Control with Mac Air 2017 and iPad Pro 12.9

Question

Level 1

4 points

Apple Universal Control with Mac Air 2017 and iPad Pro 12.9

Hi,

I did all the instructions I found to make my mac air 2017 and iPad Pro 12.9 work for mouse and keyboard sharing. Can anyone tell me how to do that?

I am a bit frustrated about why did I purchase mac air 2017? Sidecar not supported, now universal control not supported!!

Mac air 2017 is not very old, will apple rethink to enable universal control in Mac air 2017, please. I need it badly.

OS versions are:

Mac Air 2017 - MacOS Monterey 12.2.1

iPad Pro 12.9 - iPad OS 15.3.1

If anyone knows any alternatives, please suggest me….

I tried accessing mac air using anydesk but when I use other apps in my iPad, Anydesk running in iPad Pro closes session/connection in 5 to 10 seconds. Apple does not support it running in the background! iPad OS developers should let users choose which apps can be left running in the background and which not.

My desired usage scenario:

Using Magic Keyboard of iPad Pro 12.9 to control Mac Air 2017
Using Mac Air 2017 mouse keyboard to control iPad Pro 12.9

iPad Pro, iPadOS 15

Posted on Feb 12, 2022 7:51 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,580 points

Feb 12, 2022 9:48 PM in response to kmnlive

One thing that you must note and that is that Universal Control is NOT released as of this date. It is currently in Beta and has not been released to the general public. That feature will be available this spring according to Apple.

The second thing to note is that, you are right, 2017 MacBook AIr will not support Universal Control.

You are also correct, that the 2017 MacBook Air does not support SideCar. I recommend that you perform a search on the internet to find third party apps that allow you to use your iPad as a second display.

Axel F.

Reply

Answer 2

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,580 points

Feb 12, 2022 11:25 PM in response to kmnlive

I do not work for Apple. The readers and responders to your post, here, do not work for Apple. We are users of Apple products just like you are and attempt to help each other out. You are mistaken, if you believe that my responses are representative samples from Apple. They are not. The responses are based on my experiences only.

You can provide your thoughts directly to Apple by leaving a product feedback here 👉 Product Feedback - Apple

Axel F.

Reply

Answer 3

kmnlive Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 12, 2022 10:08 PM in response to Axel Foley

Thanks Axel for your reply.

Universal Control is NOT released as of date -> but many people were successful in using it. There are blogs and youtube demo (e. g. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3-2Md-Zt3o).

Mac Air 2017 will not be supported, why? Any logical/technical explanations? Can I return my Mac Air 2017, will Apple take it back?

Sidecar is not supported, why? Any logical/technical explanations? Can I return my Mac Air 2017, will apple take it back?

Suggested me to look for a third-party app which uses second display… I did long time ago, may be not just me, thousands of other Apple users.

I have tried both Yam Display and Duet, are they lag free?

Perhaps, Apple developers should check these out suggest me something seemless like universal control!

Reply

Answer 4

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,580 points

Feb 12, 2022 10:40 PM in response to kmnlive

Those people who are using Universal Control are using beta macOS and iPadOS on their devices. I had explained in my initial response that this feature was in beta.

MacBook Air is not supported due to its hardware limitations. For technical explanation contact 👉 Apple Support Apple is not going to take back your 2017 MacBook Air just because a feature is not issued for it.

SideCar is not supported on your 2017 MacBook Air. For technical explanation contact 👉 Apple Support Apple is not going to take back your 2017 MacBook Air just because a feature is not issued for it.

I have not used Yam Display or Duet and therefore do not know whether there is any lag or not when in use.

Axel F.

Reply

Answer 5

kmnlive Author

Level 1

4 points

Feb 12, 2022 10:59 PM in response to Axel Foley

Thanks again Axel.

It’s an okay explanation - “hardware limitations for sidecar”, interesting to see third-party app developers could get around it, although with some lag!

For keyboard mouse sharing, again hardware limitations? Interesting!

So what about iPad for example, Pro 12.9 does not allow app running in background, for example andesk? Is this due to hardware limitations too? M1 latest processor? Recent iPad suspends in about 30 seconds if not running as foreground process, why? Should the advanced users have the freedom to choose which to keep running which other not? by the way, this problems can also be solved by trick, keeping location service on for that app. So what would be your official comment about it?

I think, our conversation should not be just for a conversation here, please convey my mentioned issues to top officials and top technical person of Apple so that Apple can offer even better products, I am happy to attend an online meeting with anyone from Apple but only with technical developers who wants to disucss and I could share my experiences (upto Apple’s willingness though).

By the way, please try Yam display and Duet too, if not officially, try personally to check their performances, at least for me was not so appealing.

Reply