Break through Apple's restrictions! Use iPad as a second display for Mac—finally in portrait mode

数码荔枝编辑部

发布于 2026-08-21

This article was first published on 23/01/2024 on the lizhi.shop WeChat official account (shumalizhi), and has now been reproduced here with appropriate adjustments.

Apple's system design always leaves a few things to be desired. For example, when using iPad as an extended display for Mac, it can only be displayed horizontally!

▲ iPad on the left and MacBook on the right: the extended display can only be used horizontally

▲ No screen rotation option is provided in System Settings

However, for those who need to write articles, write code, browse feeds, read long-form content and so on, being able to use an extended display in portrait mode would clearly be much more useful!

▲ A portrait extended display is better suited to browsing the web and writing long articles / code

If you have the same need, hurry up and try the method Lizhi is sharing today: using the display management tool BetterDisplay to find a workaround for how to use iPad vertically as a second display for Mac.

¥139.00

If you know of any other methods, feel free to share them in the comments.

How it works

First, let's briefly explain the basic approach:

Use BetterDisplay to create a virtual display;

Use Mac's display extension feature to use iPad as an extended display (at this point, it can only be used horizontally);

Use BetterDisplay to stream the virtual display to iPad.

As this solution is based on Mac's built-in display extension feature, it not only offers greater stability, but also places no restrictions on image quality.

Step-by-step guide

Create a virtual display

Run「BetterDisplay」and open the settings panel, then click「Displays > Overview > Create Virtual Screen…」in sequence.

Under「Preconfigured Settings」, choose the screen aspect ratio that matches your iPad:

For iPad 9 and older models, choose 4:3; for iPad 10 and the last few generations of iPad Air, choose 14.4:10; iPad mini and iPad Pro also have corresponding options.

If you cannot find a matching aspect ratio preset, simply customise it according to the actual ratio.

Once creation is complete, you can give your virtual display a name (Lizhi uses「My Virtual Display」here), then turn on the two switches「Rotation > Connect this virtual display」in sequence.

Display extension

The second step is relatively simple: just set iPad as a Mac extended display using the standard procedure. In other words, first complete Sidecar or display extension using the system's native method, then let BetterDisplay handle the subsequent portrait display.

Once the extension is complete, go to「System Settings > Displays」and you will see that we now have three displays!

In the screenshot below, from left to right are the iPad extended display, the MacBook built-in display, and the virtual display created and enabled through BetterDisplay just now.

As you can see, the first two are both「horizontal」, while only the virtual display is「vertical」.

Stream the display

For the final step, first find the BetterDisplay menu panel in the menu bar.

You can see that there are also three displays here. Sidecar Display is the iPad extended display, while「My Virtual Display」is the virtual display created by BetterDisplay.

Click「My Virtual Display > Stream Virtual Screen > Sidecar Display」in sequence to stream「My Virtual Display」to the iPad screen (the original iPad extended display will be covered by the streamed image).

If the display orientation on iPad is incorrect, make sure that「Rotation」is enabled in BetterDisplay, and that the first option (rotate clockwise) is selected under the「Rotation」settings.

For subsequent use, you only need to use BetterDisplay to stream the virtual display to the iPad extended display; there is no need to configure it again. For those who often search for「what to do when Mac Sidecar cannot be used in portrait mode」, this step is essentially the key to the whole solution.

Notes

When you need to disable the display extension feature, you can directly turn off the virtual display in the BetterDisplay menu panel.

Alternatively, go to「BetterDisplay menu panel > My Virtual Display > Stream Virtual Screen」and select Stop Streaming.

If you feel that the resolution of the iPad extended display is not quite right, you can go to the BetterDisplay menu panel at any time and adjust it using the resolution slider.

▲ No restart / reconnection required; the effect is visible instantly

This method cannot currently be considered perfect, but after using it for a few days, Lizhi found it quite good. Hopefully Apple will soon support iPad portrait display extension at the system level.

「Display streaming」is just one of BetterDisplay's many features. This professional-grade display customisation tool can adjust various basic parameters of built-in / external displays via DDC, and also provides advanced features such as virtual displays and picture-in-picture.

If you often need to work with an external display, feel free to visit the Lizhi software shop to learn more about genuine software tools such as BetterDisplay; at least when it comes to their source, version and acquisition method, the information will be more transparent and easier to verify.

¥139.00