Hidden around a modern MacBook display are magnets used to tell the laptop you shut the lid. Intricuit, a small hardware startup, looked at those magnets and saw a free mounting system. Its Magic Screen uses them to snap a touch-sensitive glass panel over your display, adding tap, swipe, and pinch controls to the MacBook you already own. It costs $179 on Kickstarter. Apple’s approach is the new MacBook Pro with PROLED XDR Display, which starts at $2,899, or roughly sixteen Magic Screens with change left over for snacks. That’s a whole laptop rather than an accessory, but it’s a steep entry price if touch is all you’re after.

Apple integrates the touch sensor into a tandem OLED panel and uses a stiffer hinge designed to limit screen bounce when you tap it. It also supports zero styluses, Apple Pencil included, which is a little funny coming from the company that sells the Apple Pencil. The Magic Screen ships with a pen that reads 4,096 pressure levels, previews its tip position as it hovers, and supports palm rejection while you draw. Intricuit lists compatibility with M1 and newer MacBook Pros, M2 and newer Airs, and even the $599 MacBook Neo, bringing that last combination to $778.

Designer: Intricuit

Snap, Plug, Tap: How the Glass Registers Your Fingers

The panel is tempered glass with a capacitive digitizer built in, the same kind of touch technology your phone uses, tracking up to ten fingers at once. Intricuit lists transparency at 99% or better and a response time of 8ms. A single USB-C cable carries the touch data and draws a claimed 0.6 watts from your MacBook, so there’s no extra battery to babysit. The 14-inch MacBook Pro version weighs 4.3 ounces (122.8 grams), and the 16-inch version comes in at 6.1 ounces (172.6 grams). Basic touch works without the app; Intricuit’s software for macOS Sonoma or later adds further controls.

Tom’s Guide spent three weeks with a Magic Screen and came away convinced macOS is far more touch-ready than Apple ever let on. Taps open apps, a press-and-hold summons the right-click menu, and familiar trackpad gestures carry over to the glass. Intricuit demos it triggering clips in Resolume Arena, orbiting models in SketchUp, and shoving sticky notes around Miro boards, all situations where reaching for something directly has an obvious appeal. It also works with iPhone Mirroring, letting you tap through your phone’s apps on the larger display. Fingerprints land on the overlay rather than directly on your MacBook’s screen.

The Stylus Apple Skipped Comes in the Box

The included pen uses USI 2.0, the Universal Stylus Initiative standard supported by compatible Chromebooks, and reads 4,096 levels of pressure. That gives you control over line weight, from a light hairline to a fat brushstroke, while palm rejection is designed to let you rest your hand on the glass as you draw. Hover detection starts about 0.4 inches (10mm) away, previewing the tip’s position before it touches down. Intricuit rates the battery at 100 hours, with a 40-minute USB-C recharge and no Bluetooth pairing required. Your Apple Pencil isn’t compatible, though it won’t work on Apple’s new MacBook Pro either.

Pop the Magic Screen off and it becomes a flat pen tablet, a familiar setup for anyone who has used a Wacom. Drawing on an upright laptop screen means working against gravity and a hinge, while laying the panel on a desk lets you rest your arm. The folio case folds into a stand for this mode. When the panel goes back on your display, the case braces against the lid to reduce wobble under your fingers. Apple’s Sidecar offers another route to drawing on a Mac, but requires an iPad and an Apple Pencil alongside the laptop. Intricuit puts the touch panel and pen in one $179 box, provided you already own a compatible MacBook.

What $2,899 Gets You at the Apple Store

Apple’s price buys a complete laptop with a tandem OLED panel rated to peak at 2,000 nits and an integrated touch sensor. The hinge is stiffer, the 14-inch body weighs 3 pounds, and the glowing Apple logo is back on the lid for the nostalgics. That package costs $400 more than the equivalent standard MacBook Pro. The Magic Screen comes with its own compromises: a cable occupying a port and a panel you need to remove before closing the lid. Intricuit built a stopper into the bottom edge to keep the lid from closing onto it, a bit of idiot-proofing that could save an expensive mistake.

The Magic Screen is available for $179 after a successful crowdfunding run, a $60 discount off its planned $239 retail price. Pick your size carefully, since each of the five versions is fitted to a specific MacBook display, and the M1 MacBook Air sits this one out. Each box includes the panel, stylus, folio case, USB-C cable, and a polishing cloth for the inevitable fingerprints.

The post The $179 Magic Screen gives any MacBook a touchscreen with stylus support first appeared on Yanko Design.

Desks are overrated. So are the cables that come with them. The 4URPC is a 15.6-inch wireless touchscreen monitor built for people who’d rather not be chained to an outlet just to get a bigger screen. It’s slim, self-powered, and ready to mirror whatever’s on your phone, tablet, or laptop the moment you need more room to work, watch, or play.

Cutting the cord doesn’t mean cutting functionality. The monitor mirrors an iPhone or Android device through a peer-to-peer wireless connection, no home Wi-Fi or app required. For streaming platforms like YouTube, Netflix, or Hulu, connecting to Wi-Fi and tapping the built-in TV Cast icon sends video to the screen. Either way, there’s no dongle to lose or cable to untangle before the movie starts.

Designer: 4URPC

Click Here to Buy Now: $219 $399 (45% off). Hurry, only 451/600 left! Raised over $181,000.

The more interesting trick happens after mirroring starts. The 10-point touchscreen can send input back to the connected phone, turning the monitor into a larger, shared control surface. Flip through photos with a friend, walk a colleague through a presentation, or hand someone the reins without handing over your phone. It’s a shift that makes shared screen time less awkward.

None of this would matter much if the monitor were bulky. At half an inch thick and just over 2 pounds, it’s built to disappear into a backpack rather than dominate it. The matte, textured shell keeps fingerprints and glare to a minimum, and a fold-out kickstand on the back means setup takes seconds on a desk, a kitchen counter, or the arm of a couch.

A built-in 4,000 mAh battery backs up that portability by taking the wall outlet out of the equation. Setting up on a train, in a hotel room, or on a patio doesn’t mean scouting for the nearest plug first. That same battery can lend a charge to a connected phone, turning the monitor into a backup power bank when the moment calls for it.

Plug it into a laptop with a USB-C cable, and the 4URPC switches roles, becoming an extended display rather than a wireless mirror. Dragging a browser tab, a chat window, or a reference document onto the second screen takes a second, and the touchscreen works over the wired connection. The laptop stays focused on the main task while the extra display handles everything else.

The screen also rotates between landscape and portrait without any fuss, which sounds minor until it changes how you use it day to day. Landscape suits video calls, games, and spreadsheets, while portrait mode fits scrolling through documents, reading long articles, or checking social feeds. Switching between the two takes a twist of the stand, not a trip through a settings menu.

Compatibility runs wide enough that most people won’t need to think twice before connecting. Wireless mirroring covers iPhones, Android phones running version 10 or later, MacBooks, and most Windows laptops, while the wired USB-C or HDMI input works with game consoles, streaming boxes, and the Nintendo Switch. There’s no software to install and nothing to configure; connecting the device and turning it on is the entire setup process.

Under the glass sits a 1920×1080 matte IPS panel running at 60 Hz, built more for comfortable, glare-free sessions than eye-popping color numbers. Dual USB-C ports split power delivery and video duties, small stereo speakers cover casual audio, and a VESA mount plus a standard camera screw thread add mounting options beyond the built-in stand. It’s a practical set of choices rather than a flashy one.

There’s something telling about a monitor that assumes you won’t always be sitting at the same desk tomorrow. Work has scattered across kitchen tables, coffee shops, and airport gates for a while now, and screens are only starting to catch up. The 4URPC doesn’t try to be the sharpest or brightest display around; it just tries to be wherever you happen to land next.

Click Here to Buy Now: $219 $399 (45% off). Hurry, only 451/600 left! Raised over $181,000.

The post Your Second Screen Can Finally Work With No Cables and No Outlet first appeared on Yanko Design.