Apple Sidecar vs Duet Display: What's the Difference? HD

With the new MacOS 10.14 update and iOS 13 update, apple released a new exciting feature, the ability to turn your ipad into a portable monitor for your mac labeled Sidecar. Get it, cause it’s a tiny screen compared to your bigger one. But wait, there’s already an app out there that does that. Duet Display. The question then becomes why should I bother paying for something that costs $15 when Apple lets me do that for free already. And the answer might surprise you. Today we’ll be comparing Apple Sidecar to Duet Display and why you should use or the other. Let’s get started with a little review. Check out the amazon affiliate links to the gear I use in my videos here: Sony Alpha a5100: https://amzn.to/2F2xCb4 Sony SEL35F18 Lens: https://amzn.to/2F5L8Lb Blue Yeti: https://amzn.to/2O5KK3o Zoom H1n: https://amzn.to/2O5HxRm Sony Lavalier Mic: https://amzn.to/2u8UH6X Vanguard Alta Pro 263AB Tripod: https://amzn.to/2O7V8Yn 13in Macbook Pro non-touchbar: https://amzn.to/2F4uz27 Philips Hue Light Strip: https://amzn.to/2VZq2EV Let’s start off by talking about compatibility, Apple side car only works with a limited number of macs and ipads that apple outlines on their support site and it’s really limited. Which means if you haven’t upgraded your apple gear in in the last 3 or 4 years and you’re hoping to turn your ancient barely functioning ipad or mac into a dual display workstation it’s not gonna work out. Sidecar is out of the question. Say your mac meets the requirements and your iPad doesn’t? Too bad. On the other hand, duet display works with a Mac running MacOS 10.9 and above, and iOS devices running iOS 13 and above which opens up a lot of different macs and ipads. Not only that but they have support for android and windows devices as well. I personally haven’t tested android devices with duet, but pairing my ipad to my windows desktop has been painless with the exception of some minor issues. So, in terms of versatility Duet Display is definitely more versatile with compatibility but I find that older macs and PCs struggle with running duet display at higher quality settings. And on lower spec machines can cause the screen to stutter. Now, let’s compare usability. Sidecar can be used wirelessly or connected via usb. The display quality is good, it’s not “retina” quality but good considering my ipad’s size, lag is minimal, and you get some cool features like pulling up a touch keyboard, touchbar functionality, and a button to quickly move the dock across screens. Touch screen support is finnicky, some things you can use the touchscreen for, like scrolling through safari, but you can’t click on things with the display. On the other hand, Duet Display requires a wired connection from your laptop to your tablet unless you pay for the $20 a year “air” subscription plan, which sucks considering you’re already paid $10 for the app and the image quality is just as good as sidecar on its highest setting except the colors are a little more washed. But,