How to Use an iPad as a Nintendo Switch 2 Display

When you're away from home and want to play your Nintendo Switch 2 on a larger display, you can do so if you have a USB-C iPad. All you need is an app and a couple of accessories to get everything connected, as MacRumors videographer Dan Barbera demonstrates.


To use this setup, you need a USB-C ‌iPad‌ that's able to run the latest version of iOS, and a Nintendo Switch. We're demonstrating with Nintendo's new Switch 2, but it also works with the original Switch, plus other Playstation and Xbox consoles.

Along with the ‌iPad‌ and the Switch 2, you need to pick up an HDMI cable and a video capture card dongle, which is easy to get on Amazon for around $20. Along with the hardware, you need to get an app that captures the video feed from your Switch and sends it to your ‌iPad‌.

We tested Orion, which is free to use, but has a one-time $5 upgrade for extra features like 4K upscaling.

When you have all the components and the software, plug in the Switch 2 dock, then plug the HDMI cable into the dock. The other end of the HDMI cable connects to the video capture card, and the capture card's USB-C cable plugs into the ‌iPad‌. From there, put the Switch 2 in the dock and power everything on.

You should see your Switch 2's display come up on the ‌iPad‌, and you're ready to play. There is a little bit of input lag, but it's minimal. You may not want to play online shooters, but offline games should be fine.

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Top Rated Comments

Nickerbocker Avatar
7 months ago
I would imagine playing through a capture card would introduce a ton of lag.
Score: 22 Votes (Like | Disagree)
dontwalkhand Avatar
7 months ago
Isn't the entire point of a Nintendo Switch, is that you can undock it and it has a screen built in, so you shouldn't need an external screen like an iPad? :p
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Arislan Avatar
7 months ago
Why? This needs the Switch 2 dock which completely defeats the purpose of it being easy to travel with. The screen on the Switch 2 is giant compared to the original so you really don't gain much going to an iPad screen. If the Switch 2 could output over USB-C without the dock and the iPad could digest it natively without a dongle, then this wouldn't be a bad idea. This is just a mess of cables that no one needs.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Surf760 Avatar
7 months ago
If I'm on the road and I have a dock and hdmi cable with me... why wouldn't I just plug into an actual TV and / or portable / external laptop monitor?!?
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
edrozenberg Avatar
7 months ago
All capture stuff introduces horrible and unacceptable amounts of lag. None of them work for any games that aren't just interactive slideshows. The dream of using existing iPads/iMacs/iAnything as a gaming display is no. Nope. Noway.

Get an ASUS or ViewSonic or Lenovo or LG or whatever portable display (1080p or hard-to-find 1440p) or a desktop 1440p display with 120 Hz or faster refresh (120/240/360/480). Watch out for non-standard resolution displays because some of them (like the ASUS portable 2560x1600) will not properly handle 1440p and will instead stretch the content to fit the display and butcher the aspect ratio and provide no settings to deal with this. Make sure whatever it is has HDMI input, some portable displays are USB-C only.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
SanderEvers Avatar
7 months ago
So a capture card for an iPad... That is going to add at least half a second of input lag, and well... the Switch 2 already has a screen. It's like connecint an iPhone to an iPad.
Score: 6 Votes (Like | Disagree)