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Apple’s Macs and iPads include support for two separate features called Sidecar and Universal Control that allow the devices to be used together, but in different ways.
In this guide, we’ll go over everything you need to know about Universal Control and how it differs from the Sidecar feature that’s been available since 2019.
What is Universal Control?
As of iPadOS 15.4 and macOS Monterey 12.3, both currently in beta, Apple has introduced support for Universal Control, the long-awaited feature that’s designed to allow multiple Macs and iPads to be controlled with a single mouse and keyboard.
With Universal Control, you can use the same cursor and keyboard on any nearby Mac or iPad that’s signed into your iCloud account, and it works between multiple Macs and between multiple Macs and iPads positioned within 10 meters (30 feet) of each other.
How is Universal Control Different from Sidecar?
With Universal Control, if you have a Mac and an iPad next to each other, or even multiple Macs and iPads, you can use the keyboard and cursor on one device across all of them. So, for example, if you have a MacBook Pro and an iPad on your desk, the MacBook Pro’s trackpad can be used over on the iPad just by swiping across, and the Mac’s keyboard will become the iPad’s input device. The same is also true of the iPad if you have a keyboard attached to it.