Astropad's New 'Slate' App Lets You Control Your Mac With Your iPad and Apple Pencil
After several months of beta testing, Astropad is today officially launching its Astropad Slate app for the iPad. Slate turns an iPad into a large trackpad for a Mac, complete with Apple Pencil control.
With Slate, you can use an iPad and Apple Pencil to perform several useful tasks. The Apple Pencil serves as a cursor for controlling the desktop mouse, and a tap on the screen is used as a click.
When you write on the iPad, it is translated into typed text on the Mac, and there are two-finger gestures for actions like scrolling and zoom. If you have a newer iPad that supports Apple Pencil hover, you can use the hover gestures. For older iPads, Astropad added a simulated hover option.
In Mac apps that support drawing, sketching, and other creative work, you can use the iPad as a drawing tablet. It essentially serves as a no-screen interface for drawing, with the focus on the Mac.
You'll need an iPad that runs iPadOS 15 or later and a Mac that runs macOS 11 or later to use Astropad Slate. The devices can be connected over Wi-Fi, Peer-to-Peer networking, or an appropriate USB cable.
The Astropad Slate app is priced at $19.99 and can be purchased from the App Store. [Direct Link]
Popular Stories
Apple today announced a "special Apple Experience" in New York, London, and Shanghai, taking place on March 4, 2026 at 9:00am ET.
Apple invited select members of the media to the event in three major cities around the world. It is simply described as a "special Apple Experience," and there is no further information about what it may entail. The invitation features a 3D Apple logo design...
Apple plans to release an iPhone 17e and an iPad Air with an M4 chip "in the coming weeks," according to the latest word from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman.
"Apple retail employees say that inventory of the iPhone 16e has basically dried out and the iPad Air is seeing shortages as well," said Gurman. "I've been expecting new versions of both (iPhone 17e and M4 iPad Air) in the coming weeks."...
Apple plans to launch a rebranded "Sales Coach" app on the iPhone and iPad later this month, according to a source familiar with the matter.
"Sales Coach" will arrive as an update to Apple's existing "SEED" app, and it will continue to provide sales tips and training resources to Apple Store and Apple Authorized Reseller employees around the world. For example, there are articles and videos...
While the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max are still seven months away, an analyst has revealed five new features the devices will allegedly have.
Rumored color options for the iPhone 18 Pro models
In a research note with investment firm GF Securities on Thursday, analyst Jeff Pu outlined the following upgrades for the iPhone 18 Pro models:
Smaller Dynamic Island: It has been rumored...
Apple has a long list of new products rumored for 2026, including a series of home products that will see the company establishing more of a presence in the smart home space. Robots are on the horizon for 2027, but the 2026 releases will be a little tamer.
HomePod mini
We're expecting a new HomePod mini 2 to launch at any time. Apple isn't going to update the device's design, but we could...
