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Air Display review

Zach Epstein

We review Air Display, an app that lets you use your iPad as a second monitor for your Mac

Air Display for the iPad (click to enlarge)

Published on May 27, 2010

At first, I thought it was a ridiculous concept. Who would want to use an iPad as a second display for a Mac?

After spending some time with the app, I haven't completely warmed up to the idea but I will say this: the novelty of Air Display combined with the clarity of Apple's iPad display combine to form a very nifty feature.

Air Display is a solution that comes in two parts -- a $9.99 iPad app and free display support software for your Mac. The former allows the iPad to receive a display feed from a Mac, and the latter transmits the signal.

The two components communicate over Wi-Fi so there are no cables involved. Simply launch the Air Display app on the iPad, enable the Mac software from the menu bar on your computer, select your iPad and boom -- you've got a second monitor.

Air Display

Obviously, your computer and iPad need to be on the same network in order for the app to work.

The Displays menu item within OS X system preferences then allows you to arrange the displays (iPad on the left or iPad on the right) and decide which screen should show the menu bar. Once things are set up the way you want them, you're off to the races.

Don't race too fast, though. The iPad display shows off your programs with beautiful clarity but the refresh rate afforded by Air Display is pretty bad. If you've ever used a VNC app on a smartphone, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. Motion is very choppy and don't even think about trying to watch a video.

On the other hand, Air Display supports a lot of great functionality and can be quite useful at times.

For one, it's running on an iPad so it supports touch. Using Air Display with a calculator or music player is great on the iPad, and you can even draw with your fingers in apps like Photoshop or Illustrator.

Speaking of Photoshop, it was great to be able to move all of my tools and menus over to the iPad display while the images I was editing took up the entirety of my MacBook Pro display.

Air Display also supports rotation so you can swap between portrait and landscape by simply rotating your iPad. When using the iPad as a display and input device however, definitely flip the rotation lock switch. If you have a lot going on, accidental rotations can really slow you down.

In terms of what I'd like to see in future versions of Air Display, it would be great if I could pull up the keyboard when using the iPad as an input device. Also, it would be great if Air Display could display a local wallpaper instead of an image from the Mac. This would significantly improve the lag experienced when multiple windows are open and when things are moving around.

Those who travel with both an Apple laptop and an iPad will find Air Display to be indispensable. Having dual monitors in your hotel room, at a table by the pool or anywhere else you might decide to work is just awesome.

If you are often stationary in an office however, and you're thinking about downloading Air Display as a novelty, it will get old pretty quickly.

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