{"id":10767,"date":"2015-12-15T08:08:58","date_gmt":"2015-12-15T16:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/?p=10767"},"modified":"2025-07-30T00:34:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-30T07:34:26","slug":"ipad-laptop-second-monitor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/ipad-laptop-second-monitor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Turn Your iPad Into a Laptop Second Monitor for Trading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/gear\/ipadmini\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10774\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/ipad-screen.jpg\" alt=\"iPad Screen\" width=\"600\" height=\"397\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><div class=\"post-aff-notice\">When you buy something through one of the links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.<\/div><\/p>\n<p>I love having a laptop second monitor, as you can see <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradingacademy.com\/resources\/financial-education-center\/trading-desk-showcase.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>But when I am <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/trading-travel-setup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">traveling<\/a>, it is not practical to lug around my 23 inch external monitor.<\/p>\n<p><em>I really miss it though.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>So I started looking around for the best way to get a super portable second monitor, without spending a lot of money. After researching several different options, this is what I have decided to use&#8230;<\/p>\n<h2>The iPad Laptop Second Monitor<\/h2>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Until now, almost all the iOS apps that allow you to use your iPad as a laptop second monitor were connected to the laptop via WiFi.<\/p>\n<p>While very convenient, the trouble with this is that there will always be a delay, as the signal must travel from the laptop, through the air, before reaching the iPad.<\/p>\n<p>I've tried using Apple TV to connect my laptop to a TV, and use it as a second monitor. I found that the delay made it barely usable.<\/p>\n<p>In a pinch&#8230;maybe. But for everyday use, no way.<\/p>\n<p>But someone recently told me about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/duetdisplay\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duet for iOS<\/a>. The difference between Duet and other apps is that you\u00a0connect your iPad to your laptop with a Lightning cable.<\/p>\n<p>This means that you will have a much faster response time. It's like the difference between a mobile phone and a land line.<\/p>\n<p>You will usually get a much clearer phone call from a land line because there is no interference.<\/p>\n<p>So I decided to test it out, to see how well it worked. Here is a demonstration video.<\/p>\n<div align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F4uSO5XQuHg?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h3>How to Use Duet Display<\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10778\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/macbook-air-with-ipad.jpg\" alt=\"iPad external monitor with MacBook Air\" width=\"700\" height=\"350\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To get this working, you need the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>PC or Mac laptop<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/gear\/ipadmini\">iPad<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Lighting cable (I prefer the short ones)<\/li>\n<li>iPad stand<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>First download the iOS app from the App Store on your iPad. It usually costs $14.99, but I got it on sale for $9.99.<\/p>\n<p><em>A small price to pay for an external monitor.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Then head over to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.duetdisplay.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Duet website<\/a> and download the companion application for the laptop.<\/p>\n<p>This will send the signal to the iOS app.<\/p>\n<p>The laptop application is free.<\/p>\n<p>When you are ready to use your iPad as a second screen, plug it into your laptop, via the Lighting cable and the USB port on your laptop. Then launch the iOS app on your iPad.<\/p>\n<p>The laptop application will automatically detect the iPad and start to use it as a second monitor. If you close the iPad app, the laptop will stop using it as an external monitor.<\/p>\n<p>Keep in mind that your iPad is now a monitor only. All of the touchscreen capabilities are disabled when Duet is being used.<\/p>\n<p><em>Some people might not like this, but I think it's great.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>There are several settings that you can change in the laptop application.<\/p>\n<p>You can optimize for performance and energy efficiency.\u00a0Here are the settings that you can tweak.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-10770\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/duet-display-review.jpg\" alt=\"Duet Display settings\" width=\"400\" height=\"428\" \/><\/p>\n<p>That being said, you probably want to plug in your laptop, if you are going to be using your iPad as a second monitor.<\/p>\n<p>But this would be the same for any other external monitor setup.<\/p>\n<p>Another monitor is going to take more power to run&#8230;period.<\/p>\n<h3>Monitor Performance<\/h3>\n<p><strong>I found that performance was excellent, just as good as my external monitor at home.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I was able to move the windows over to the iPad easily and everything was very responsive.<\/p>\n<p>The only minor issue is that I have an iPad Mini, so the screen is a little small.<\/p>\n<p>But it is good enough\u00a0and I will generally choose portability over size, any day.<\/p>\n<p>When I tried plugging in my external monitor and the iPad at the same time, the application did get a little confused.<\/p>\n<p>I was not able to use Duet again until I restarted my laptop.<\/p>\n<p>So I would recommend using either Duet or your regular external monitor, not both at the same time.<\/p>\n<p>Obviously, it was not built for this use case, but I decided to try it anyway \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n<p>I have not tested the battery life on the laptop when using this setup, unplugged.<\/p>\n<p>Some Duet reviews that I have read say that they are still working out offloading the graphics heavy lifting\u00a0from the laptop to the iPad and thus the battery life will suffer a little.<\/p>\n<p>Will they figure it out? Who knows. But they are ex-Apple Engineers, so I wouldn't bet against them.<\/p>\n<p>If\u00a0they get that worked out, I'm sure it will save a lot of laptop battery.<\/p>\n<h2>Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>Most portable monitors for laptops, on Amazon, run between $100 and $200. The cheapest iPads out there are $269 new and much less, when buying used.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/1O49SVe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-10775 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tradingheroes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/portable-monitor.jpg\" alt=\"USB laptop second monitor by Asus\" width=\"499\" height=\"305\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>So if you don't have an iPad already, then it makes more sense to go with one of the <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/1O49SVe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">portable USB monitors<\/a> out there.<\/p>\n<p>But if you already have an iPad, then it makes much more sense to buy the $10 Duet app and use it as your second laptop monitor, when you are on the road.<\/p>\n<p>If you\u00a0know of any other great options for portable monitors, let me know in the comments below&#8230;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you have been wanting to have an external monitor for your laptop when you are on the road, but don&#8217;t want to lug around your 27 incher, this post is for you. I&#8217;ll show you how to turn your iPad into an external monitor, without the usual lag that comes with existing solutions. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2022,"featured_media":10774,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[204239],"tags":[201647],"class_list":["post-10767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-trading-education","tag-trading-technology","generate-columns","tablet-grid-50","mobile-grid-100","grid-parent","grid-33"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.1.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Turn Your iPad Into a Laptop Second Monitor for Trading<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"If you have been looking for a laptop second monitor for your trading, you may already have the best portable monitor...your iPad. 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