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I use a USB-C powered monitor from AOC (I1601FWUX) successfully with my MacBook Pro 16" 2021. But it doesn't work on my M1 iPad Pro - no signal there.
Do USB-C powered monitors work on M1 iPad Pro in general? If so, which ones do?
iPad Pro (5th generation)
Apple do invite submission of comment and feature requests via its Product Feedback portal. For iPad and iPadOS:
If you’d like to see change, or have strong opinion, this would be the most appropriate channel to make your voice heard with Apple.
The AOC monitor supports Thunderbolt3 and DisplayPort over USB-C. As such, in theory at least, the monitor should be compatible with the M1 chipset and USB-C port.
Does the monitor power-on? Given the monitor is powered over its single USB-C port, your iPad might be unable to provide sufficient power without utilising a Thunderbolt hub.
Since your post earlier today, I’ve been researching portable monitors. I’ve not found a single example for which the associated manufacturer claims suitability/compatibility with iPad.
For iPad, perhaps the “ideal” would be a USB-C powered monitor - this port being connected directly to a Power Adapter. The monitor would require a USB4/Thunderbolt3 port to which the iPad is connected and charged using USB PD (Power Delivery). This is the arrangement is already used by some high-end desktop-class monitors such as Apple’s current Studio Display panel.
This arrangement resolves the existing power problem - where you are instead attempting to drive a large LCD backlight over a USB connection from a battery-operated device. I note that at least one of the third-party manufacturers that I researched warns of insufficient power - requiring that the monitor is powered-on in a “safe mode” with reduced brightness.
I (and no doubt others) will be intrigued to hear more of your tests.
Wonderful news: The "cocopar USB-C Portable Monitor" works with my iPad Pro M1! It doesn't even need extra power through the second USB-C connection: Just connect it to the iPad through the USB-C cable, and the iPad recognizes it as an external screen. Yay!
I used the same cable to connect the iPad to my existing screen, the "AOC i1601Fwux". And still no luck there! So it really depends on the screen.
That’s certainly useful information - being based upon on an actual test with both the iPad and monitor. This will doubtless be very useful and helpful to users seeking a portable monitor solution for use with the iPadOS16 Stage Manager feature.
For completeness, how about sound from your iPad? Are the iPad’s internal speakers muted - or can you still hear sound from the iPad?
I didn't test the sound, as the iPad does sound much better. And now I already moved the screen back into the box, as I found a cheaper one: The ARZOPA A1 GAMUT. Also works out of the box with the iPad. It did flicker a bit initially, but that was gone. Not sure where that came from.
It could be that the cocopar screen has better colors or a better gaming experience. I don't care about this, as I'll use the external screen mostly for looking at documents and web pages, not for gaming. So the fact that it's nearly 100 pounds cheaper right now won me over.
So to be entirely clear, with the Cocopar monitor connected to your iPad, you still have sound from the iPad speakers?
The reason for this clarification is to address a frequent observation that we see within the Support Communities. We often see complaint that, when an external monitor or TV is connected to the iPad, all sound from the iPad speakers are silenced.
This information will be important to others that need to use an external monitor - and require audible sound from the iPad.
Here's what I found for both screens: When connected, they automatically became the audio output. I think they showed as "Dock Connector". The iPad was not present anymore in the audio output menu, so audio was forced on the secondary screen. This confirms your reports.
I don't know if this "mandatory audio redirect" depends on the screen, the iPad, or iPadOS. I suppose iPadOS 16.4 will arrive next week. I'll check again then.
This is all essential information (derived from actual hardware testing) that will be useful to anyone looking to connect an external monitor to their iPad - be it portable or otherwise.
iPadOS currently appears to direct audio to the connected monitor (or TV) - whether or not the monitor has internal speakers. Your practical testing serves to reinforce this information.
Given that your iPad Pro already has an excellent four-speaker audio system, the OS unconditionally directing audio to an adjacent connected monitor (with likely inferior speaker system) appears to many to be a sacrifice too far. If the monitor doesn’t have built-in speakers, with audio being suppressed, output is not available from the iPad.
Whether or not this is an oversight or conscious decision, by Apple, is unknown. It will certainly be interesting to learn of any changes to established behaviour are noted for future releases of iPadOS.
At present, your demonstration of two portable monitors (the Cocopar USB-C Portable and Arzopa A1) that will successively work with iPad may help many with future decisions. Similarly experimenting with one of the few available portable 4K monitors would also be interesting - such as the EVICIV 15.6”:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08CXQ8Z5F/ref=ox_sc_saved_image_1?smid=A1REG3POHLH9QH&psc=1
Whether intentional or not: Forcing iPad audio to a connected monitor is a mistake IMHO. The iPad will sound better than most external monitors, especially small ones. Do you think you can get good audio from a monitor that costs just 130 British Pounds? Yeh, didn't think so, either.
Thank you for the suggestion! Here's what I posted there:
Connecting an external monitor to my M1 iPad Pro directly via USB-C disables the iPad speakers and automatically redirects the audio output to the external monitor. And the iPad disappears from the audio output selection menu.
I think the iPad speakers should remain the default audio output. Why?
- As a user, I expect the iPad to remain as an audio output source. It does when I connect headphones.
- The speakers of most monitors are worse than the iPad ones.
It's probably the lack of power: For one reason or another, the iPad doesn't power the monitor. I just ordered one with external power and can tell you if that makes a difference next week.
The one I ordered does claim compatibility with iPad (see below). That's only when it's powered externally, I guess.
I'll check tomorrow, pretty busy today.
Do USB-C powered monitors work on M1 iPad Pro?
