IPad – Mirror iPad 2 screen on Mac

I assume that you have your presentation or document you want to show on your Mac. If so, the setup I use is as follows:

1. Install AirDisplay on your iPad and its client on your Mac
2. Install CocoPad on your mac.
3. Using AirDisplay "link" your iPad to your mac and mirror the displays.
4. Connect your projector and mirror the display
5. Create a new document in CocoPad and in the right corner choose a "transparent" canvas.
6. Bring the transparent canvas on top of the document you want to scribble on and then scribble with your finger (or a stylus) on the iPad

Since AirDisplay relies on a wireless network to become an external display, you may want to make your setup more reliable by creating your own wireless network. To do so go to System Preferences-> Sharing -> Internet Sharing and enable it. Connect your iPad to the "created" wireless network and the connection will now be rock solid.

Another option that you could try out is inklet with cocoPad but it is a bit more expensive but with that option you would not need an iPad.

Hope this helps

The Xscope mirror, a free tool works without needing VNC but you need a paid companion app on the Mac to send the data.

I prefer to use screens on the iPad. VNC is the way that OS X sends it's video remotely to another display. If you don't use it, someone else needs to re-write that entire stack and it works very well for local networks.

As for why the app I recommend, it has an observe mode and seems to scale the screen much better than the Xscope app since it is designed primarily for designing, not mirroring. The same program works on iPad, iPod, iPhone of all sizes and retina or not displays. It is very fast and has an observe only mode so that you don't accidentally send touch events.

If you do decide to use it on the go for remote access, there is a free location app (similar to how Back to My Mac works) and works over ssh tunnels if you prefer more security than speed. It has great soft keyboard support and of course works with Linux and Windows as well. There is nothing I can say bad about it in terms of missing features os bugs or design.

It's a quality piece of software all around.

If you really must avoid VNC, there is another option. The Xscope app for software designers has a free companion app that runs on the iPad and will mirror your screen. It's more designed for counting pixels and looking at mockups you design on the Mac for eventual use on the iPad, but you can use it as a mirroring solution. It lacks any input from the iPad and simply sends the screen from the Mac to iOS.

It also is very high quality software - and is well designed, all around and fast.