So how does that work with this hardware, which, I have to say, is also overpriced, as it’s basically, from the picture I’ve seen of the inside, a WiFi transceiver chip costing about $3, plus a quarter’s worth of resistors, caps and diodes, plus a $0.50 case and usb connector. They’re asking a ridiculous $79 per year sub price! Nuts. That is, we want the speed, but not the rest. Then there’s the totally outrageous upgrade to greater speed, and functionality that most of us have no need for, and don’t want. I don’t remember exactly what that was now. For $99, you get this, and a one year sub to the software, but exactly what is that? I’ve got Astropad, and some time ago, there was a pro version, or something that I upgraded to. May is a long ways off.Īlso, it’s confusing about the pricing. The software also works, and refinement shouldn’t take so long. It’s a pretty simple piece of hardware, which works now. I've left my desk and MacBook Pro multiple times, bringing my iPad to the kitchen, living room, or even front balcony, and continued working from there with my Pencil and an external keyboard. The lack of wires really does give you a freedom to set up a workspace wherever your heart desires.īut here's the real kicker, and one I suspect will appeal to people with less mobile computers: Because Luna works over Wi-Fi, you can move away from your primary computer and still use your iPad as a second screen. I've worked outside on the grass I've sat on balconies and in the back seats of cars. In contrast, I've brought Luna out to various cafés in Montréal with my MacBook Pro and iPad with no problem. Working at a café, I often felt one step away from the folks who brought in iMacs with external keyboards and mice - when your electronics and wires are taking up more of the table than your food or beverages, you've basically created a mini-office for yourself. Duet Display, despite its technical achievements, always felt clunky because you had to plug your iPad into your Mac to make it work. As such, Luna owners will instead be able to launch one of those programs and use all of their multitouch tricks, shortcuts, and tools with an external display canvas, rather than a mirrored one. While the Luna app doesn't have all of Astropad's many touch features built in, it still offers a fair amount of multitouch support for interacting with macOS: You can tap to select or tap and drag to resize windows two-finger drag to scroll through windows and two-finger pinch or spread to zoom.Īnd when the Luna module officially launches next May, Astropad and Astropad Studio will both get software updates to enable external display support. Astropad Studio's Magic Gestures took that one step further, allowing users to build custom shortcuts based on finger input and pencil interaction. macOS isn't designed to be touch-sensitive, to be sure, but there's something to be said about being able to quickly select regions or pinch to zoom on a Photoshop canvas. When Astropad first launched in 2015, it blew me away in large part because of its cohesive touch and Pencil support. Luna gives you a touch-sensitive Mac screen The only time I really saw significant lag or screen degradation was when I brought my iPad Pro across the apartment to continue working in the living room - and even then, the screen would restore to pixel-perfect quality at rest. When you're moving windows or typing text, you'll get a momentary pop of pixelation as Luna redraws the screen, but it's often almost invisible in everyday use. HiDPI mode looks gorgeous: When the machines are at rest, you can't tell the difference between the Mac's native screen and the iPad Pro's simulated external display. The latter option can be a little small for people with poor eyesight, but it's an amazing alternative to have while on the road, especially if you need more space than a laptop screen can provide. On a 10.5-inch iPad Pro, that means the option of having 1112x834 HiDPI (2x) resolution, or using the iPad's full pixel grid to run a 2224x1668 monitor. Luna's HiDPI 2x mode (left) and 1x "giant screen" mode (right)
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