MP All Models Did Apple WWDC Universal Control kill off Mac Pro benefits?

[Fastball32]

I have two M1 MacBook Pro's and one 2019 Mac Pro, with three LG Ultrafine's and two Apple XDR displays.
I held off on upgrading to M1 iMac and M1 Mac Mini due to the lack of multidisplay support, with both only supporting 1-2 external displays.

I've decided to keep my 2019 Mac Pro with Vega II and W5700x only because I like to drive 3-5 monitors for my desktop, but with Apple's announcement of Universal Control, I see benefits of having multiple computers working with each other. I can now see myself selling my Mac Pro and get a 24" iMac now, then get the next generation bigger iMac when they come out later this year, then with the possibility of being able to control 3 devices, get another iMac in the future and control all 3 computers with one keyboard/mouse and switch between all three seemlessly. Or I can sell my Mac Pro and just get 3 24" iMacs all right next to each other and each screen has it's own M1 chip, but they all talk together. I could have each computer set up for specific tasks, much like I have certain apps open in each external display but all with fast single-core scores that m1's offer.

Basically, I was going to hold onto my 2019 Mac Pro due to multidisplay support, but now I see an immediate path to having multidisplays with multi-CPU's that I never considered before the WWDC announcement.

Anyone else hang on to their Mac Pro's due to multidisplay support?

 

[mattspace]

Anyone else hang on to their Mac Pro's due to multidisplay support?

Can universal control span a document across multiple devices' screens? Or, can it provide a way to have palettes on one screen, with the document being worked upon, on the others?

The multiple screens (without having to buy one from Apple) is literally my "why I switched from Mac Minis to Mac Pros" use-case.

 

[deconstruct60]

I have two M1 MacBook Pro's and one 2019 Mac Pro, with three LG Ultrafine's and two Apple XDR displays.
I held off on upgrading to M1 iMac and M1 Mac Mini due to the lack of multidisplay support, with both only supporting 1-2 external displays.

….
Basically, I was going to hold onto my 2019 Mac Pro due to multidisplay support, but now I see an immediate path to having multidisplays with multi-CPU's that I never considered before the WWDC announcement.

Anyone else hang on to their Mac Pro's due to multidisplay support?

This tech makes for a nice demo . It has substantive limitations . To move data from one screen to another is a WiFi transfers . If grab some 3GB data model from one screen to another that isn’t going to be the same transfer time as the touched up photographer for a powerpoint presentation .

Copying and paste text and generic photos is fine . But if get to large video , data sets , and/or big RAW photos that is something different . If data is all small didn’t really need the Mac Pro 2019 .

The M1 is did backslide on external monitor support ,but by time macOS 12 ships it’s 2nd or 3rd bug fix in Fall Apple probably have a less gimped M series SoC out. I doubt universal control is going to suppress that .

IMHO this will probably help cross sell iPad and Mac users . Get more of folks that have one buy the other . Maxed out your M1 mini on external displays …… get an iPad . ( if turn on sidekcar can get a Touch Bar too )

 

[deconstruct60]

Can universal control span a document across multiple devices' screens?

No . But sidecar mode can if pairing up an iPad

Or, can it provide a way to have palettes on one screen, with the document being worked upon, on the others?

No. The apps on each system are running independently

The multiple screens (without having to buy one from Apple) is literally my "why I switched from Mac Minis to Mac Pros" use-case.

This is more advanced visual Handoff than a run one app in multiple places thing. The core here is mostly about buying more Apple stuff .

It should work if Mac system has multiple screens . Although it really doesn’t know where the “ additional“ screen actually is . If put iPad on left side of Mac and stretch off the right side of screen the cursor will show up on the left .

How Universal Control works on the Mac and the iPad - 9to5Mac

We got a demo of how Universal Control works during Apple's demo yesterday, but it left a few unanswered questions. For example, how does ...

9to5mac.com

 

[deconstruct60]

P.S. Universal control is more akin to a virtual KVM switch than another external screen .
( it has drag and drop also but I think missing main point if just focus on that aspect. ) . As a KVM switch it is a lot less of a gimmick .

Avoiding keyboard and mouse clutter on a limited sized desktop space .

 

[mattspace]

No . But sidecar mode can if pairing up an iPad

Last I looked at it, sidecar didn't function as a separate standard display, it was only a dedicated functional area for the current app - eg a dedicated graphics tablet area for a painting app - though i didn't pay much attention once it became apparent it didn't allow an iPad to be the sole monitor for a headless mac, the way a Wacom Cintiq can be.

This is more advanced visual Handoff than a run one app in multiple places thing. The core here is mostly about buying more Apple stuff .

So it's more the thing we see in The Expanse, where people flick current apps / documents in line-of-sight directions from device to device - open file on phone, flick up on the screen pointing towards the tv the appletv is plugged into (cause find-my can do directional detection), and it appears on the appletv, without having to go through the rigmarole of going through airplay / handoff sharesheets etc.

It should work if Mac system has multiple screens . Although it really doesn’t know where the “ additional“ screen actually is .

yeah, so it doesn't actually replace a use case for a current mac pro, which is "to have more than 2 screens, none of which are from Apple".

 

[deconstruct60]

Last I looked at it, sidecar didn't function as a separate standard display, it was only a dedicated functional area for the current app - eg a dedicated graphics tablet area for a painting app - though i didn't pay much attention once it became apparent it didn't allow an iPad to be the sole monitor for a headless mac, the way a Wacom Cintiq can be.

If you want to mix "sole display" with as a extended display. It isn't a "boot screen". However, it isn't technically restricted to a single app.

" ... With Sidecar, you can use your iPad as a display that extends or mirrors your Mac desktop. ...
...By default, your iPad shows an extension of your Mac desktop. You can move windows to it and use it like any other display. "

Use an iPad as a second display for a Mac - Apple Support

With Sidecar, you can use your iPad as a second display for your Mac.

support.apple.com

The Mac isn't 'headless'once attach a Cintiq. If you leave the DisplayPort/HMDI port unconnected there isn't going to be any picture. "the way a Cinitq can be" would be like using the 16" ( 1080p resolution) Cintiq as a sole primary monitor. You can point to that niche, but I highly doubt it is any substantive size in terms of real user base . You can step up to the Pro and/or 24" (and up) ones perhaps, but the "small" ones? Those aren't primary monitor material either. Even worse with Apple's push to make most icons , text , and graphics to a hiDPI baseline.

Since the screen size isn't that large , there are pragmatic limits of how much want to put onto the screen. So one apps worth. That isn't a technical limit.


Sidecar isn't bringing "target display mode" to the iPad. ( and that wouldn't help with the touch bar augment feature much either).


It isn't like the "Expanse thing" because all of this drag and drop implicitly depends upon being logged into the same AppleID. As I said in the follow up post, the baseline here is more of being a KVM switch ( with no wires ) with security and privacy weaved in ( since no wires ).

The drag and drop stuff is minor update to Continutity ( universal clipboard) and Handoff. It is snazzy demo disco ... but not particularly new.

yeah, so it doesn't actually replace a use case for a current mac pro, which is "to have more than 2 screens, none of which are from Apple".

How is "none of which are from Apple" as use case? Some directive to not buy from Apple is a bias not a technical requirement. There are technical requirements that Apple's "monitors" don't fit so they aren't selection. If Someone it super anti Apple then kind of strange they are buying a Mac Pro.

 

[mattspace]

If you want to mix "sole display" with as a extended display. It isn't a "boot screen". However, it isn't technically restricted to a single app.

" ... With Sidecar, you can use your iPad as a display that extends or mirrors your Mac desktop. ...
...By default, your iPad shows an extension of your Mac desktop. You can move windows to it and use it like any other display. "

Use an iPad as a second display for a Mac - Apple Support

With Sidecar, you can use your iPad as a second display for your Mac.

support.apple.com

Literally my only interest in Sidecar was to be able to make an iPad function as a Mac when it's at a desk.

All the documentation shows it as "displays have separate spaces". Can you span stuff from your main display across the iPad's screen as a proper extended desktop?

The Mac isn't 'headless'once attach a Cintiq. If you leave the DisplayPort/HMDI port unconnected there isn't going to be any picture. "the way a Cinitq can be" would be like using the 16" ( 1080p resolution) Cintiq as a sole primary monitor. You can point to that niche, but I highly doubt it is any substantive size in terms of real user base . You can step up to the Pro and/or 24" (and up) ones perhaps, but the "small" ones? Those aren't primary monitor material either. Even worse with Apple's push to make most icons , text , and graphics to a hiDPI baseline.

Why would you leave the displayport/hdmi disconnected (baffled)? You attach the display, and usb connectors of the Cintiq, and it's just a standard display with tablet / touchscreen options.

A Mac Mini plugged into a Cintiq, is effectively a Mac equivalent of a Surface Studio.

It isn't like the "Expanse thing" because all of this drag and drop implicitly depends upon being logged into the same AppleID.

Yeah, that's just an implementation at the moment, same as AppleTVs don't require being logged in to accept a stream / screen cast currently.

How is "none of which are from Apple" as use case?

Apple displays do not have the characteristics of professional tools for certain industries.

Apple only makes HiDPI displays, which are objectively worse tools for photographers doing critical image work than LoDPI.

Apple doesn't make hardware calibratable displays (apart from the XDR, wich can be disregarded for its DPI, and frankly, I don't trust Apple to get calibration right).

iMacs only support 2 external displays, I have 3, all of which are better tools than an iMac screen.