This bolt-on monitor gives your MacBook up to two more Retina displays
iPad Air wing mirrors for your laptop? Why not indeed…
We'll hopefully see a new MacBook at Apple's big press event tomorrow – whether that might be a fresh MacBook Pro or MacBook Air (or indeed neither) isn't clear yet – but if you fancy a second display (or indeed a third into the bargain) for your existing MacBook Pro, then a new attachable Retina screen could well be of interest.
Going by the name of Packed Pixels, this is essentially an iPad Air screen (9.7-inch with a resolution of 2048 x 1536) that comes with a mounting bracket which simply slots on the top of your notebook's screen, with clips that extend either side that can hold either one or two of the external Packed Pixels displays.
The Retina screen plugs into a DisplayPort and also a Thunderbolt port (Thunderbolt 1 or 2), drawing power from the latter so you don't need to mess around with any external power supply. You'll need a pair of free ports for each screen, though, if you're planning to run two of the peripherals.
Note that with the 12-inch MacBook, you'll need a USB Type-C hub to use Packed Pixels thanks to its basic connectivity (single port), and of course you can use this product with not just Apple notebooks, but any laptop with the requisite ports on-board.
Packed and easily positioned pixels
Whether you attach one or two of the screens, you can position them in either portrait or landscape mode, or even turn one around when you're presenting to someone sat on the other side of the desk. The displays are apparently easy to position and pretty lightweight at 330g.
As for the price? A Packed Pixels display complete with the mounting frame, a protective case and connecting cables will set you back £149 (around $200, AU$260). You can order direct from the website here.
- Also check out: The 10 best laptops for students in 2016
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Darren is a freelancer writing news and features for TechRadar (and occasionally T3) across a broad range of computing topics including CPUs, GPUs, various other hardware, VPNs, antivirus and more. He has written about tech for the best part of three decades, and writes books in his spare time (his debut novel - 'I Know What You Did Last Supper' - was published by Hachette UK in 2013).