The iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 betas that Apple released today introduce support for Universal Control, the long-awaited feature that's designed to allow multiple Macs and iPads to be controlled with a single mouse and keyboard.
There are Universal Control settings available on both the Mac and the iPad, and the feature is enabled by default after updating to the new betas. On the Mac, the settings can be found under Displays > Advanced, and on the iPad, the AirPlay & Handoff section under General has a new "Cursor and Keyboard (Beta)" option.
With Universal Control, you can use the same cursor and keyboard on any nearby Mac or iPad that's signed into your iCloud account. So, for example, if you have a MacBook and an iPad next to it, your MacBook's trackpad and keyboard can be used right on the iPad.
Apple introduced Universal Control in June at the Worldwide Developers Conference and initially said that it would be introduced this fall, but the company was not able to meet that deadline and ultimately delayed the launch.
In December, Apple updated its macOS Monterey feature page with a "spring 2022" release date for Universal Control, which is aligned with when we are expecting to see iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3 launch.
It works with an external display - just a generic 4K LG in my case. It works in clamshell and in non-clamshell mode. It works with the Apple Magic Keyboard & Mouse. It works with a generic cheap Logitech keyboard and mouse too.
And here's the real surprise... You can extend your MacBook display to the iPad to use as a second monitor then keep pushing towards the edge of the iPad screen to move from macOS to iPadOS on the iPad itself.
Got it working here. I had to explicitly link my iPad and Mac under the "Add Display" option in my mac's System Preferences to get it to work, but once I did it works as expected.
Dragging and dropping files between devices works, too.
Note it appears this is *not* compatible with Wacom tablets. I can only jump control and drag files if I use my mouse.
Thursday January 27, 2022 3:01 pm PST by Juli Clover
Apple today released new developer betas of iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3, and the updated software adds the long awaited and highly anticipated Universal Control feature. We tested out Universal Control, and even in an early beta form, Universal Control is an easy to use and convenient multi-device control option. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. To use...
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Tuesday February 15, 2022 10:13 am PST by Juli Clover
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Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the Software Update...
Monday December 13, 2021 10:55 am PST by Sami Fathi
Apple has officially delayed Universal Control, a hallmark feature of macOS Monterey and iPadOS 15 announced in June, until Spring 2022.
In an update to the iPadOS 15 and macOS Monterey feature pages, Apple now indicates that Universal Control will be "available this spring." Universal Control, which allows users to use one mouse and keyboard across all of their Macs and iPads, has been...
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Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.2 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming three weeks after the first beta and a month after the release of macOS Monterey 12.1.
Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the...
Wednesday February 9, 2022 10:25 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the second beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to its public beta testing group, with the new software coming a week after the first macOS Monterey 12.3 public beta.
Public beta testers can download the macOS 12.3 Monterey update from the Software Update section of the System Preferences app after installing the proper profile from Apple's beta software website.
...
Apple today seeded the release candidate version of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming a week after the release of the fifth macOS Monterey 12.3 beta. The RC represents the final version of macOS Monterey 12.3 that will be released publicly next week. Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer...
Thursday January 27, 2022 10:20 am PST by Juli Clover
Apple today seeded the first beta of an upcoming macOS Monterey 12.3 update to developers for testing purposes, with the new software coming just a day after the release of macOS Monterey 12.2.
Registered developers can download the beta through the Apple Developer Center and after the appropriate profile is installed, betas will be available through the Software Update mechanism in System...
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Top Rated Comments
It works with an external display - just a generic 4K LG in my case. It works in clamshell and in non-clamshell mode. It works with the Apple Magic Keyboard & Mouse. It works with a generic cheap Logitech keyboard and mouse too.
And here's the real surprise... You can extend your MacBook display to the iPad to use as a second monitor then keep pushing towards the edge of the iPad screen to move from macOS to iPadOS on the iPad itself.
Crazy.
Dragging and dropping files between devices works, too.
Note it appears this is *not* compatible with Wacom tablets. I can only jump control and drag files if I use my mouse.
it looks like it works pretty good