Apple’s Universal Control explained: What does it do, how to use it

Apple has rolled out the Universal Control feature to beta testers now and the feature is available as a part of the macOS Monterey 12.3 and iPad OS 15.4 developer betas. The main concept behind the Universal Control feature is to “bridge the gap” between iPads and Macs.

The company had announced the feature back in WWDC 2021 and had explained that it would allow the use of one keyboard, trackpad, and mouse across multiple Macs and iPads. Universal Control also supports easy transfer of files between iPads and Macs via a simple drag and drop action, thus, eliminating the need to use AirDrops, cloud uploads, and even cable transfers.

How does Apple’s Universal Control work?

Apple’s Universal Control is enabled by default on the iPad and the Macs. Users need to log in to the same iCloud account on both devices to be able to use it. Both devices also need to be using the same cellular and internet connections.

Essentially, what Universal Control does is that it transforms both the devices, iPads and Macs, into dual-monitors of sorts and if you push the mouse cursor to the edge of one screen, it can move over to the next display on the next device.

Once Universal Control has been set up, the devices will remain connected till either of the devices are either put to sleep or taken out of range (which is 10 meters or 30 feet). You can use multiple devices and set them to reconnect automatically or turn the option off from the Settings.

As Apple’s Senior VP of Software Engineering Craig Federeighi showed during his WWDC presentation last year, the trackpad on the MacBook can be used for gesture functions, like on the iPhone and iPads. For example, documents can be closed with a flick on the trackpad and one can swipe between pages and type seamlessly across devices with Universal Control.

And it is not just MacBooks and iPads that can be used with Universal Control, iMacs can also be used with an external Magic keyboard and mouse, even if there is no trackpad. However, for now, the beta update is only available for Macs and iPads, and the update for iPhones is expected to roll out soon.

MacBook Pro and MacBook (2016 and later versions), MacBook Air (2018 and later), iMac (2017), iMac (Retina 5K, 27-inch, introduced in late 2015), iMac Pro, Mac mini (2018 and later), and Mac Pro (2019 and later) are eligible for the beta update to use Universal Control right now.

For iPads, iPad Pro, iPad Air (3rd gen or later), iPad (6th gen or later), and 5th generation iPad mini and later are eligible.

iPads need to be on iPad OS 15.4 betas and Macs need to be on macOS 12.3 betas, both of which are available to developers and the public.

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