iPad with multiple monitors?

Hardware
1

Hi, my Mac will stop getting updates this fall so I am looking for a replacement.

One idea is to use an iPad pro as my computer.
I am used to multiple monitors, so I was wondering if
a) an iPad pro can drive multiple monitors and
b) if window management via keyboard is possible.

Thanks for any input.

Regarding the monitors: currently I have an iMac plus some normal resolution screens, so I was thinking a high res main monitor (Apple studio?) and than normal ones on the side.
But it all just a first thought.

2

My first reaction to your first thought, why?

Make sure you really can get by without a Mac before starting down this rocky path.

IMHO, if it is about money, this might be false frugality.

Regarding your question, the last time I tried it, my iPad only supported one external display, but it has been quite a while since I last tried it.

Not your question, but I have been using an old iPad Pro as a second screen for my Mac Studio, and it has been unreliable enough that I am about to give up on that and either go back to using a single monitor or get a real second monitor of some kind.

3

AFAIK currently, any M series iPad will support 1 external monitor using USB-C and Stage Manager (using iPadOS 18.6.2). This allows me to work with each screen independently.

And I have read that some have been able to use a second external monitor using AirPlay.

I normally use my M2 iPad Air as a tablet. But when I’m working on a Google spreadsheet, etc. in Safari I use an ASUS MB16AC portable external monitor and a bluetooth Magic Keyboard. (I put it on the same eye level iPad stand I have been using for years.) I have no need for a high resolution monitor.

Things will be changing with iPadOS 26 and you might find the Tech Dad Youtube channel useful.

4

I move away from an iMac, so I have to buy a monitor and a computer.

I already have an iPad pro. So if I could use it as a computer, I could first buy a nice monitor, and then a computer at a later point.

But because I have an iMac, I cannot just use it as a monitor for my iPad.

Apart from missing several scripts and global hotkeys I am completely fine with iPadOS.

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5

Thanks, I will look into that channel.

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6

Unfortunately I don’t believe either would be a yes. IPads can only really support one external monitor.

I don’t believe that you can control windows by keyboard.

7

you might be right “in between” being happy with an iPad or a full computer.

Have you considered getting an entry-level Mac Mini and monitor?

It is a little more money than just a monitor, but the Mac Mini is inexpensive and very powerful.

Once you get over the bar of having to buy both a computer and a monitor at the same, you will have much more flexibility in timing of future upgrades.

I had the same problem - my two primary computers were both Intel iMac 27". I had to buy two Apple Studio displays and two computers to replace what I had without taking any steps backwards.

I did it incrementally, and replaced the first iMac with a Mac Studio, later I replaced the second iMac with a Macbook Air.

A lot of expense, but I didn’t have to my replace my Intel Macbook Pro, so I ended up with two workstations instead of three going forward.

8

Yes, I do have considered an entry level mac mini!
A mac mini of some sort will be where I most likely end up in the long run.
But I am unsure if the 16gb ram are enough so I was looking for a first step to get this new setup thing rolling.
Also I would need to consider extra storage …

I might or might not be changing responsibilities at my job, so waiting a bit to see what I really need also denke to make sense.
And then I remembered smart people on this forum saying that you should not buy the for what you might need in the future.
One way to do this is by trying to use the things you have until you need more.
I also could just continue using the iMac, but I don’t like using a deprecated operating system for work. It seems like only a matter of time when a needed app stops working. Then again, if the iPad was viable alternative, I could use the iMac knowing that I have a solution for that day right at home.

Also, I recently needed a laptop for an allday event, took my iPad with me and loved using it.

9

You definitely can control the windows on an iPad via a keyboard. But you need to have an Apple keyboard with a Globe key to use most of the window-moving shortcuts. (My frustration is that I use mechanical keyboards and, due to the way Apple locks down the Globe key, there’s no way to let these keyboads do the things the globe key can do.

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