I hate desk clutter. So when I first laid eyes on Kensington’s new iPad StudioDock, I knew that this device, as Marie Kondo would say, would bring joy to my life. And it hasn’t disappointed. I was able to combine an iPhone charger, Apple Watch Charger, USB Hub, iPad Stand, and iPad charger all into one device with a fairly small desk footprint. That alone was worth every penny.
But the new iPadOS extended monitor support has made me fall in love with this device all over again. Now when I dock my iPad Pro, I’m getting additional desktop screen space on my connected monitor. And the monitor is connected to my StudioDock via HDMI. So I never have to deal with plugging/unplugging monitor cables into my iPad. And I can work all day if I want and not have to worry about the battery life on my iPad because my iPad port is used for charging and not video out. Furthermore, since the HDMI port is on the back of the StudioDock, there are no wires on my desk. Nice.
Granted, I was using an external monitor before iPadOS16. I have an 11” iPad Pro so sometimes when I’m using side-by-side windows I want to view everything blown up on an external 28” monitor. But the experience prior to iPadOS 16 was less than ideal. I was only mirroring what was on my iPad so I couldn’t use my iPad as a 2nd screen. And the monitor had huge black borders to accommodate the iPad aspect ratio. But not anymore!
My iPad Pro is now driving both screens and I can see even more data at once. Not only do I get more screen real estate, but I now have the option of changing the resolution so I can see more data on my monitor. How cool is that? That’s very laptop like.
Now, I rarely need more than 2 or 3 apps open at once, hence, my preference for the iPad over my Mac. But now that up to 8 apps are available, this will make the iPad more appealing to Mac owners who always thought that the iPad Pro was too confining to handle the level of multi-tasking that they do.
Current iPad Pro owners won’t really care as much. If we were all that into multi-tasking, we probably wouldn’t have gravitated to the iPad Pro in the first place. Stage manager is less about making current iPad owners happy as it is about poaching more laptop users. This is about the future of the iPad.
I really like Stage Manager thus far. Being able to see the stacks of apps on the right is something that seems useful. When I see people’s Windows desktops they often remind me of a teenager’s bedroom with dirty laundry laying all over the floor. They are full of forgotten icons. But the iPad Stage manager stacks look neat and organized.
I don’t want my iPad Home Screen to look like a bomb went off and there’s debris scattered everywhere. You don’t have to place anything in Stage Manager or have to remember to remove it either. It’s simply items that I’ve used recently. I like that low maintenance and neat approach.
But Stage Manager does cost a price in terms of screen real estate. Of course, I’m gaining full monitor support so it doesn’t really matter. However, at this point, I foresee turning it off when my iPad isn’t docked. When I’m holding my iPad in my hands, I prefer the tiled split-screen paradigm which makes use of every square millimeter of screen space. It was quite wise of Apple to make this a feature that you can toggle on and off.
I’m primarily an iPad Pro user and I’ve been fairly happy with iPadOS ever since it gained split screen multi-tasking and Bluetooth mouse support. There was really only one thing that I wanted from iPadOS 16, extended monitor support. I got my wish and then some.
Granted, I was using an external monitor before iPadOS16. I have an 11” iPad Pro so sometimes when I’m using side-by-side windows I want to view everything blown up on an external 28” monitor. But the experience prior to iPadOS 16 was less than ideal. I was only mirroring what was on my iPad so I couldn’t use my iPad as a 2nd screen. And the monitor had huge black borders to accommodate the iPad aspect ratio. But not anymore!
My iPad Pro is now driving both screens and I can see even more data at once. Not only do I get more screen real estate, but I now have the option of changing the resolution so I can see more data on my monitor. How cool is that? That’s very laptop like.
Now, I rarely need more than 2 or 3 apps open at once, hence, my preference for the iPad over my Mac. But now that up to 8 apps are available, this will make the iPad more appealing to Mac owners who always thought that the iPad Pro was too confining to handle the level of multi-tasking that they do.
Current iPad Pro owners won’t really care as much. If we were all that into multi-tasking, we probably wouldn’t have gravitated to the iPad Pro in the first place. Stage manager is less about making current iPad owners happy as it is about poaching more laptop users. This is about the future of the iPad.
I really like Stage Manager thus far. Being able to see the stacks of apps on the right is something that seems useful. When I see people’s Windows desktops they often remind me of a teenager’s bedroom with dirty laundry laying all over the floor. They are full of forgotten icons. But the iPad Stage manager stacks look neat and organized.
I don’t want my iPad Home Screen to look like a bomb went off and there’s debris scattered everywhere. You don’t have to place anything in Stage Manager or have to remember to remove it either. It’s simply items that I’ve used recently. I like that low maintenance and neat approach.
But Stage Manager does cost a price in terms of screen real estate. Of course, I’m gaining full monitor support so it doesn’t really matter. However, at this point, I foresee turning it off when my iPad isn’t docked. When I’m holding my iPad in my hands, I prefer the tiled split-screen paradigm which makes use of every square millimeter of screen space. It was quite wise of Apple to make this a feature that you can toggle on and off.
I’m primarily an iPad Pro user and I’ve been fairly happy with iPadOS ever since it gained split screen multi-tasking and Bluetooth mouse support. There was really only one thing that I wanted from iPadOS 16, extended monitor support. I got my wish and then some.
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