Quick Answer
📋 Workbench is designed for remotely accessing your Mac, bringing your displays together into a single consolidated view on your iPad, iPhone, or even another Mac. You can also mirror an individual display if preferred, and toggle Unified Display on or off to suit your workflow.
⚠️ Note: Workbench is not intended to be used as an extended or secondary display for your Mac when connecting remotely.
What is the default Display Mode?
When you first launch the Workbench app and get connected, the client device will be set to mirror the primary display of your Mac. Only the contents of the single display being mirrored will be visible.
In a multi-display setup, you can select which individual monitor you would like to mirror while in this default mode.
What is Unified Display Mode?
Unified Display pulls together all the windows from every display connected to your Mac and brings them into a single view on your device. Think of it as collapsing your entire desktop, even a multi-monitor setup, into one easy-to-navigate remote display.
How do I toggle Unified Display Mode?
There is a toggle for Unified Display on each device, so you do not need to be in front of your Mac to enable or disable this feature.
Mac
Mac
Unified Display can be toggled in the Workbench Settings on Mac, under the Displays section.
There are multiple ways to access the Workbench Settings:
1. Mac desktop Apple menu
2. Workbench icon in the Apple menu toolbar
3. Within the Workbench app
iPad
iPad
iPhone
iPhone
While your iPhone is connected to your Mac, tap on the button labeled with ellipsis
Tap Choose Display
Select Unified Display to enable, and Built-in Retina Display to disable.
Can I use Workbench in an Extended Display Mode?
The Workbench apps do not have an in-app toggle for extending your Mac display since it is built for mirroring in a remote connection environment.
✅ You can, however, set the device connected through Workbench to extend the host Mac's display in its Mac Display settings.
When to use extending vs. mirroring
There are not many cases in which you would want to use your client device as an extended display in a remote setup. Extending your Mac display when using Workbench is only recommended when your devices are next to each other.
Using Workbench in an extended mode remotely can cause issues with dock, app icon, and program window placement. By default, these things will only exist on whichever display is set as your primary.
Does Workbench have Retina support?
💡Retina Capture, including 4K and 5K retina displays, is supported on all devices that have native Retina capabilities.
Why is the resolution lowered on my Mac in Unified Display Mode?
While Workbench is connected in Unified Display mode, you may notice your Mac's screen looks zoomed in or that the resolution appears lower than usual.
✅ This is normal and expected. It's caused by the difference in resolution and aspect ratio between your Mac and your iPad or iPhone.
Your Mac's resolution will automatically be restored to normal when you end the session with no manual adjustments needed.
Have questions about your display experience?
Reach out to our support team via chat or email and we'll be happy to help.