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wh3w4y

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
2
1
Sorry if this has been posted before but I could not find it.

I am going to be purchasing a new Mac and iPad Pro shortly and would like some advise so I can decide which is best for my needs.

I have an office where my Mac will live but I also sometimes work from home. Ideally, I would like to buy an iMac and then remote screen share from the iPad Pro from home when I work there. I would need to connect a mouse and keyboard to the iPad Pro and then just use it to screen share with that iMac. I am a designer so would need to use photoshop, illustrator etc. Is this possible and if so has anybody had success with this? My internet connection at both home and work is pretty good and stable.

Alternatively, I will need to get a Macbook Pro instead and bring it home when I work there but I would prefer to have a more powerful iMac.

I have had Macs before and used to use Back to my Mac but I am reading that this has now been removed.

Thanks in advance for the advice
 
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MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,504
"Between the Hedges"
Your biggest challenge would be connecting a mouse to the iPad Pro as I don't believe it is supported

That said, there are a number of solutions to remotely connect your iPad to your iMac, and each has their fans and their detractors
I use Teamviewer on my iPhone to access a number of remote desktops, but I also use Microsoft's Remote Desktop client as well
 

wh3w4y

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 29, 2019
2
1
Thanks I will take a look. Would i be better getting an old mac mini that I could leave at home to remote to the new imac? At least that way i can connect a mouse and keyboard
 

willmtaylor

macrumors G4
Oct 31, 2009
10,314
8,198
Here(-ish)
I'd also say the mouse+iPad is the oddest/most difficult aspect of this (and perhaps a deal-breaker).

Additionally, I frequently use TeamViewer between OSX and iOS devices without issue.
 

iTarbuck

macrumors member
Jan 29, 2019
32
11
Liverpool, UK.
Sorry if this has been posted before but I could not find it.

I am going to be purchasing a new Mac and iPad Pro shortly and would like some advise so I can decide which is best for my needs.

I have an office where my Mac will live but I also sometimes work from home. Ideally, I would like to buy an iMac and then remote screen share from the iPad Pro from home when I work there. I would need to connect a mouse and keyboard to the iPad Pro and then just use it to screen share with that iMac. I am a designer so would need to use photoshop, illustrator etc. Is this possible and if so has anybody had success with this? My internet connection at both home and work is pretty good and stable.

Alternatively, I will need to get a Macbook Pro instead and bring it home when I work there but I would prefer to have a more powerful iMac.

I have had Macs before and used to use Back to my Mac but I am reading that this has now been removed.

Thanks in advance for the advice

Hi Will! Because the iPad Pro runs iOS, there is no way to connect a mouse to my knowledge. The new folio keyboard would work a treat though, and you could integrate with the Apple Pencil.

I have personally used the Chrome Remote Desktop app to connect to my Mac remotely and works fairly fast - but this is not the same as a real desktop experience from my opinion. If you have a budget in mind, I would recommend getting the Mac for your office, and then a 2018 MacBook Air for home. This will cost the same as an iPad Pro, but offer more conventions of a Mac that I think you will benefit from.

You could easily use the Chrome Remote Desktop on the MacBook as well, but you could store files in iCloud and have iCloud documents and desktop enabled on both Macs simultaneously, which would cause all the files to be on both desktops. This will be even more simple than having a remote desktop system, and would be less taxing on your internet.

Hope this helps!
 
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Reidan

macrumors regular
Apr 12, 2012
123
24
The only way to use a mouse with an iOS device that I know of is using a Citrix VDI. Citrix sells a mouse (I think it is called the X1) and it works only with their VDI software. It is just taking the mouse data and passing it through using their protocols and the VDI software converts the position data to mouse movement on the VDI screen.

I have one and have used it as I am a Citrix Admin for my employer. It did work fairly well.

The mouse does not work with any other iOS software that I am aware of. So it would not work for your Mac in your office. But, if your employer uses Citrix as their VDI platform, then you could use it there.
[doublepost=1548868395][/doublepost]Here is a link to the Citrix X1.

https://store.citrix.com/store/citrix/en_US/pd/ThemeID.37713000/productID.317779200
 
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