Luna Display 4.0 Mac-to-Mac Mode

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…Our team has always doubled-down on delivering rich features and low-latency input. Why? Because that’s user-driven and that’s what we do. With this latest update, we think it’s safe to say we’re still honoring that promise to our users — our new Mac-to-Mac Mode allows you to use any Mac as a second display:

Finally you can give purpose to your old Macs lying around. No need to have any idle devices! The combinations are nearly endless:

iMac + MacBook Pro
MacBook + MacBook
Mac mini + MacBook
Yes, you can even use your MacBook as the main display for your Mac mini!..

See more information here
https://lunadisplay.com/pages/meet-mac-to-mac-mode

https://vimeo.com/366657484

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Nathan Parker

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Curious and, to me at least, confusing: I have no clear idea, after reading the explanantions and watching the Luna videos if this thing.:

(1) Makes a true Mac-to-Mac connection, so one can exchange files, work independently in each and see what someone else is doing in the other. (There is a mention of independent use of keyboards, mice and other input devices, but no demonstration of how that is used, except for a stylus on a touchpad screen apparently used to write, then pass a message from that machine to another, but unclear which machine is used for that, the host one or the client.)

(2) Or the old Mac (or iPad, etc.) it is just a second display, an external monitor.

Also, if the older Mac is old enough, some applications that run in one may not in the other (assuming the idea is to connect machines, not just displays.)

I don’t own any other Apple device to use this way with my newish, one and only Apple device, a MacBook Pro laptop, but still curious. (Installing third-party applications not explicitly approved by the government IT Security people on a government Mac I have on loan for telecommuting is strictly verbotten!)

Ex-Windows user (Win. 98, XP, 7); since mid-2017 using also macOS. Presently on Monterey 12.15 & sometimes running also Linux (Mint).

MacBook Pro circa mid-2015, 15" display, with 16GB 1600 GHz DDR3 RAM, 1 TB SSD, a Haswell architecture Intel CPU with 4 Cores and 8 Threads model i7-4870HQ @ 2.50GHz.
Intel Iris Pro GPU with Built-in Bus, VRAM 1.5 GB, Display 2880 x 1800 Retina, 24-Bit color.
macOS Monterey; browsers: Waterfox "Current", Vivaldi and (now and then) Chrome; security apps. Intego AV

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OscarCP wrote:

(2) Or the old Mac (or iPad, etc.) it is just a second display, an external monitor.

… looks like this. Because their main page has,

Luna Display
The only hardware solution that turns any Mac or iPad into a wireless second display

… the hardware part would seem to include at least radio components and hardware acceleration for some parts of the protocol?

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Nathan Parker, OscarCP

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This is similar to Sidecar in macOS Catalina. These developers simply released it before Apple added it free to Catalina as Sidecar.

Therefore, the developers are doubling-down on new features to keep making it worth using.

Since the free features Apple adds (such as Sidecar) are generally basic, power users will still likely enjoy Luna Display, although having Sidecar in Catalina is a nice basic option that’s built-in for users who need the ability for free.

Since Catalina has been off to a rocky upgrade start, I see some Mac users sticking with Luna Display for the time being, especially on those who cannot easily upgrade to Catalina in the near future.

Nathan Parker

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