I am considering purchasing one of these apps to turn my iPad air 2 into a secondary screen for my macbook pro. Which app would you all recommend? Should I reconsider purchasing either one?
I haven't tried Air Display since the first version came out, but I use Duet every day. It's not perfect but it's definitely handy. I keep email, HipChat, and Twitter on my iPad Mini's screen while I work on the main screen.
I originally had Air Display 2 and they said to me there was an issue with running HiDPi mode on retina iPads. I wonder if this was fixed in Air Display 3. I am current using Duet with no issues and very happy with it.
The email they sent me when I emailed their support about the problem:
Hello xxxxx,
First and foremost, thank you for downloading our app!
Unfortunately Apple has disabled HiDPI resolutions on all external monitors for the retina display Macbook Pro models. We did try to see if this could be resolved on our end, but since it's not supported by OS X on these specific models there isn't anything that we can change in our software to add this support.
We've submitted a bug report to Apple (Radar #11760839) and are waiting for a reply. We're hopeful that they will get this resolved soon. I apologize for the inconvenience.
If you're only going to keep the iPad connected to the Mac via Lightning and nothing more, Duet all the way. If you want to do the second display game with Windows machines, or wirelessly, you'll have to consider Air Display. However, wireless mode has much more lagging and Windows drivers may be a bit bonky.