“If you want the Touch Bar experience that comes on some models of the 2016 MacBook Pro,” Dennis Sellers reports for Apple World Today, “you can experience it on your current Mac with the Duet Display app.”
“The app — well, actually, it’s two apps: one for your Mac and one for your iOS device — also allows you to use your iDevice as an extra display,” Sellers reports. “I use Duet Display to set up my iPad Pro as a secondary display for my 12-inch MacBook when I’m traveling. It works seamlessly.”
“Developed by a team of ex-Apple engineers, Duet Display delivers a retina display at 60 frames per second with zero lag,” Sellers reports. “When you begin setting up the apps, it’s easy to see that ex-Apple engineers did the work. You need two software applications to make duet work. First, install Duet Display for iOS. The latest version is 1.3.7 and requires iOS 8.0 or later. After installation, you’ll see the icon n your iDevice’s home screen. Tap on it to open when you want to use duet. Next, you need Duet for Mac. It’s available at the product website for $9.99 (for a limited time) and requires OS X 10.12.2 (for the ‘Touch Bar’ feature) on a Mac.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: We use Duet Display when traveling with our MacBooks and can easily recommend the app.
So, wait, hang on, let me understand this. The new extra touchbar feature adds the ability for me to have function keys… On a touchbar… on a separate display, in addition to actual function keys.
OK. 😀
(Sure, I appreciate that it’s not only function keys. Humor above. But, tinged with some wry serious thought along the lines of “why do I need this?” 🙂 )
Nothing wrong with Duet Display BTW (although I use iDisplay personally when I need it because it allows focus on / external display of a single application – something Duet Display can’t do; I asked them about that some time back. *That* would be a useful feature).
Hoping for some Pro features in a new Pro Mac. Without touchbar of course. But, then, if we need a touchbar on a Pro Mac, we’ll have Duet Display to do it for us. 🙂
Obviously the function keys alone are redundant. What’s useful is access to the unique, contextual keys for Apple apps or from third parties.
Touche is easier.
https://red-sweater.com/touche/
I also really like Duet – it works great the only issue I’ve had is that it does hit battery harder than I think it should. If you are plugged in then no issue but if you just have battery it seems to drain my battery 15 – 30%