Luna Display, How are you using it?

Hardware
1

Hello!
I just knew about Luna Display when they started sponsoring MPU.

Anybody is using it? How do you make use of it? Is it better compared to DuetDisplay?
Can it be used as a remote control for Mac on iPad (i.e. something like hardware powered VNC?)

2

FYI this past August the main(?) dev at Zengobi showed off his Mac app Curio running on his new Luna Display + iPad Pro. Looks pretty sweet.

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3

Thanks for sharing. Looks great.

5

I just purchased a USB-C Luna Display for use in my office. Quite regularly I find I have folks coming in to work on a presentation or look over something on my computer. Rather than the awkward issue of trying to share a screen, I’d love to hand them my iPad so they’re seeing my mirrored screen and we’re a bit more comfortable. Unfortunately, Day 2 with the Luna Display and I’m not having a tremendous amount of luck with it. Will keep working with tech support, but so far, it’s looking like a quick return.

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6

Same here. I’m planning on getting one of the new iPad Pros, and one of the things I hope to use it for is for editing in macOS Lightroom/Photoshop.

7

Ah, that’s a shame. Be sure to post updates for us!

8

Works better than duet display for me.

9

Oddball question: Now that we have USB-C on the iPad Pro, could you use Luna Display to turn one iPad into a second display for another iPad?

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10

I’m 99% certain Apple won’t allow that via hardware right now, but I hope to be proved wrong!

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11

I bought it as well when I heard it advertised.

Overall, it’s a thumbs up for me. While it is more expensive than Duet, I like that the monitors don’t have to scale/resize to accommodate Duet, and that Luna uses the full screen resolution of the ipad.

A few words of warning:

  • The wireless feature only works on STRONG wifi. This was a bummer, as using it at Starbucks was a big incentive for me. I can still use Luna at Starbucks, but I need to plug the USB-C cable into the laptop (which takes longer to set up and looks odd on the little Starbucks table).
  • If you have to use the cable, remember that you have to use the cable AND the dongle, so that’s 2 ports burned just for this capability.
  • I tried to use it as a 3rd monitor at work (two external monitors on arms, plus my ipad right next to the keyboard), and it does not work. Granted, this use case is insane, but I liked the idea of a big KM palette on the ipad to be like a midi controller for macros.

With all these caveats, i’m keeping my Luna. It does what it does well, and when the idea of a 2nd monitor is helpful, it’s good to have the Luna in the bag.

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12

I had high hopes for Duet when upgrading from the 1st Gen iPad Pro to the new one, but I continued to run into lag and messed up screen resolution.

So now I placed an order for the Luna Display and hope this will finally allow me to have a working dual-screen setup for my Macbook Pro when out and about. :crossed_fingers:

13

I don’t use my Mac much and often just use Screens from my iPad for the few simple tasks I have. Saw a video the other day with an iPad being used as the sole display for a MacMini via Luna Display.

Thinking about controlling a Mac rather than the 2nd display extension scenario, can anyone explain the difference between this and something like the Screens app? Is it just higher resolution? Are there other differences?

14

Luna is similar to KVM for your Mac. Both will achieve same results, but one is actually connecting to your Mac (physically), while the other is virtual desktop.

So if you worked in server environment you will be able to relate (KVM vs remote connection).
If you can do everything you want from Screens, then no need for Luna. If at some instances Screen is not working (due to software issue) and you have to physically reach out to your Mac, then Luna might be a good addition.

15

Just FYI, I’m still troubleshooting the issue with Luna tech support – it’s not resolved, but their support has been fantastic about providing options to try and listening to feedback. They continue to troubleshoot at a high priority, and are conveying a strong sense of urgency which I appreciate. Will continue to update…

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Good to hear. The product promises to be the fastest implementation of its kind, so I’m rooting for it.

17

can you use it over the internet? I’d like to leave my macbook pro at home, asleep and plugged in, and be elsewhere in the world, pull out my ipad, and connect. I do this currently with Screens, and it works pretty well, considering I’m accessing it over the internet. I guess screens uses wake on lan or something, and you also log in so it can do some router magic to get through my home firewall.

18

I don’t believe it has this network functionality. As it works differently.

19

ok, good to know! I’ll stick to screens then.

20

Can the Luna display be used both as a second screen AND as a way to annotate over content on the screen? Can it toggle between the different modes as a passive second screen display, an active input device for the macOS, and a way to annotate over content?

I am wondering if the Luna device could be a single-user, hardware solution to what is offered by SplashTop.

–
JJW

21

You can use the Luna Display dongle with Astropad which is made by the same people -that’s with pencil input.