Apple may sweeten macOS 10.15 with iPad external display support

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Apple watchers are talking about what one might expect to see as new features in Apple's operating systems. Guilherme Rambo, a Brazil-based Mac and iOS developer, has delivered reports about new features in the wings.

He said in 9to5Mac that it appears that Apple is working a new Mac and iPad display feature to launch with macOS 10.15. The latter is the next major version of Apple's desktop OS.

The feature, codenamed Sidecar, allows users to "send any window of any app to an external display, and that includes an iPad. Rambo said the information was "According to people familiar with the development of macOS 10.15 ."

Chaim Gartenberg, The Verge, summed it up: "The company is reportedly working on enabling native support to use a connected iPad as an external display for a Mac."

Mark Knapp, TechRadar, said "the option to use an iPad as a display extension can make extra screen a reality while retaining mobility."

Gartenberg also expanded on how this will work: "Users will be able to hover over the green maximize button on the macOS window bar and be presented with a variety of options, including the regular full-screen mode, new tiling options, and the ability to send that window straight to an external display without having to click and drag it over."

The details could come later but not much later. Apple is expected to unveil macOS 10.15 this June, during the opening keynote of its Worldwide Developers Conference.

What drew the interest of Samuel Axon, Senior Reviews Editor at Ars Technica, was that "the feature works with the Apple Pencil—which is to say that you can draw on the tablet while an app window is sent to it... This could create a powerful pairing for digital artists working with a Mac and an iPad Pro or even the new iPad Air."

As for iOS 13, this is the next major version of the iPhone and iPad operating system. The Rambo report said that iPads running iOS 13 will support multiple windows: "Each will also be able to contain sheets that are initially attached to a portion of the screen but can be detached with a drag gesture, becoming a card that can be moved around freely." Cards can be stacked on top of each other, and they can be flung away to dismiss them.

If it's the that count, a number of additional of iOS 13 will matter to Apple users. For instance? Rambo said that many iOS users complain about the lack of a standard undo system, which on the iPhone and iPad "currently requires physically shaking the device." (Really, Apple?)

Ars Technica: "Instead, iOS 13 will allow you to slide three fingers across the keyboard—left to undo, right to redo."

So, depending on one's personal gripe list or wish list, some new parts of iOS 13 will mean a lot. Another example: Font management. Rambo said that "It will not be necessary to install a profile to get new fonts into the system anymore."

Settings will have a new font management panel.

Axon mentioned other updates. They included "a redesigned Reminders app, a less-intrusive volume UI, new gestures for selection in tables and collections, and automatic organization of Mail messages."

Axon added that both iOS 13 and macOS 10.15 from Apple are expected to launch this fall.

Rambo meanwhile reported in another story about a long-awaited Dark Mode finally coming to the iPhone and iPad with iOS 13. "There will be a system-wide Dark Mode that can be enabled in Settings, including a high contrast version, similar to what's already available on macOS."

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