It’s no secret that today’s offices are quite a bit different, even compared to just about 10 years ago. We’re more mobile than ever, which means laptops have generally replaced desktops as we zig-zag from one conference room to another, carrying our powerful computers in just one hand.
Remote work and nomadic lifestyle are becoming increasingly popular as well. As a result, our work day can be easily spent on a hammock in Bali or in an East Village cafe in NYC. All this is to say that our Macs are getting smaller and now have an inherent requirement to be as mobile as possible.
One of the best monitors for MacBook Pro, this product is made for 4K HDR video – its resolution of 3840x2160 at 32 inches lets you see everything that’s up on screen, and its HDR1000 rating means it can show you HDR at full whack, backed up by 95% DCI-P3 colour support (and. To use a Mac Mini, you need the best monitors for Mac Mini that work really well. It is a small and compact desktop computer engineered by Apple. Mac Mini is definitely an advanced device that comes without a mouse, keyboard, and monitor. So, in order to use the device, you need to have the best monitors for Mac Mini to get the most out of it.
But what do you do when your 13-inch Mac screen isn’t enough? While carrying an iMac is not that easy, there are lots of new options available, especially among a brand new category of portable monitors. Not sure what a portable external monitor is? Let’s explore.
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What Is A Portable Display?
A perfect solution for your always on-the-go lifestyle could be a portable USB monitor — essentially a lightweight display, usually larger than your laptop screen, that is specifically designed to be carried around. A portable second monitor rarely needs to be plugged in and can get all of its power and video input from a single USB cable.
In the last few years, the sheer number of small monitor options has exploded, with companies like ASUS, HP, and others releasing their own models. So how do you navigate the new portable screen world? Here are some of the best portable HDMI monitors available today.
On budget: AOC e1659FWU 15.6-inch
An unbeatable choice for those who don’t want to spend a lot of money on their dual screen Mac setup is AOC e1659FWU. This 16-inch monitor is ultra slim at just 0.9 inches, weighs around 2.65 lbs, only needs one USB cable to operate, gives you an HD (1366 x 768) resolution and a contrast ratio of 500:1 — all while setting you back only about $100.
In other words, an unbeatable value for the money.
Large: ViewSonic TD2230 22-inch
If you’re simply looking for something that can serve as a very large portable screen, look no further than ViewSonic TD2230. At mind-boggling 22 inches (for a portable display), it’s practically a whole TV set with a handle.
Moreover, ViewSonic supports full HD (1920 x 1080), is scratch resistant, and has a 10-point multitouch input capability as well as two built-in speakers. As for the downside, the manufacturer states that TD2230 is only compatible with Windows, so if you want to find a MacBook dual monitor, keep scrolling.
Gaming: G-STORY Portable Monitor 17.3-inch
It’s hard to understand why everyone who’s regularly gaming on their laptop hasn’t yet acquired G-STORY’s portable gaming monitor. This 17.3-inch model has a high FPS rate, flicker-free backlighting, and a blue-light filter — all designed specifically with games in mind. Besides, its support for HDR and full HD makes it a versatile travel monitor for any purpose.
Stylish: ASUS ZenScreen MB16AP 15.6-inch
![Best Screens For Mac Best Screens For Mac](/uploads/1/1/8/3/118353163/740929528.jpg)
When it comes to traveling in style, you won’t go wrong with ZenScreen — ASUS portable monitor, which claims to be the world’s lightest (1.87 lbs) and thinnest (0.3 inches) full HD screen. What’s unique about the ASUS USB monitor is its 7,800 mAh built-in battery that can last up to four hours, so the monitor can simply mirror whatever is happening on your phone via a single USB cable and no other power source.
Versatile: AOC I1601FWUX 15.6-inch
What if you’re not really into any extremes and just want the best portable monitor around, with a good balance of weight, quality, price, and looks. Well, it might be that AOC I1601FWUX is just for you.
AOC I1601FWUX portable USB monitor is just 0.3 inches thick and weighs around 1.76 lbs — and that’s for 15.6 inches of screen real estate and full HD resolution. In addition, this extra Mac screen just needs a single USB-C cable to operate and features a smart cover that turns into a foldable stand — perfect for moving around.
How to manage multiple screens on Mac
Now, with your MacBook dual monitors in hand, you might just find that juggling them could become a problem. In the days when you had to work with a single laptop display, you could just go fullscreen on every app. But now when you’ve got so much space, you need to rethink that strategy too.
Mosaic is a nifty utility that lives in your menu bar and excels at exactly one thing — creating complicated app window arrangements. While your Mac only offers you a fullscreen or split-screen option, why not have three apps in a row? Or five? Or two on the upper part of the screen and one below? This is exactly what Mosaic lets you do. You can simply choose from a variety of grids (or build your own) and arrange the apps, desktops, and spaces in the most productive way for you.
To create a perfect layout on your portable second monitor with Mosaic:
Best Screens For Mac Mini
- Find the app’s icon in the menu bar ➙ Preferences…
- Navigate to Layouts
- Select one of the suggested layouts or click the plus (+) icon to create your own
- Tweak the layout with the tools on the right to get it up to your liking
To use Mosaic, simply start dragging an app window and you’ll see all your pre-saved options appear on your main or portable external monitor.
How to access your computer remotely
If you’re moving your setup around all the time, it’s likely that quite often you might find yourself away from a computer you urgently need to access. That’s when you need to have robust remote access software.
Access your Mac from anywhere
Get Screens and forget about physical boundaries. The app puts access to remote devices into your hands.
Screens is a powerful screen-sharing tool that will instantly connect you to any other Mac you own, anywhere in the world. You can even share a session with someone on that Mac at the moment or, on the contrary, hide the desktop from anyone passing by. Screens also allows you to use all the displays on the other end as well as FTP to transfer any files in and out. At once, you might finally feel that the world has never been so small.
In the end, having a dual screen Mac that you can carry with you anywhere is all about being adaptive to the ever-changing demands of our working lives. It surely seems like investing in a travel monitor today seems like a great idea. After all, you can only use it when you need to and go full lightweight mode when you don’t.
Best of all, Mosaic and Screens — the indispensable apps for your light and small monitor workflow — are available to you absolutely free for seven days through a trial of Setapp, a platform with more than 160 high-utility Mac apps for anything, from blogging about your travels to managing projects on the fly. Try all the apps today at no charge and see for yourself!
Setapp lives on Mac and iOS. Please come back from another device.
Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.
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Your Mac comes with a native screenshot tool. Simply press Command-Shift-4 and it turns your cursor into a crosshair, which you can drag to select a portion of your screen to capture it. And while it’s useful for beginners, there is also no denying that lacks many useful features such as – photo editor, Email sharing, cloud upload, etc. This is where third-party screenshot apps come in. Imagine accessing your screenshots from any browser, leave aside a clipboard manager that sits a click away. These apps offer features like screen recording, smart annotations, even GIF support and almost all of them are free.
Let’s have a look.
Read: How to Convert a Screenshot to a Jpeg on a Mac
Best Screenshot Apps For macOS
1. Lightshot
Lightshot is one the most popular screenshot app for Windows, which is also on macOS.
It’s light, easy to use and absolutely free. Lightshot is a heavily loaded package and yet sits quietly on your menu bar. Press the default shortcut sequence ‘shift + cmd + 9‘ for a screenshot. The shortcut can be easily changed to anything you prefer from the app preferences.
One caveat though is privacy. All the screenshot uploaded to the cloud is public. So, when you upload the screenshot to the cloud and share the link with someone, they can change a few digits in the URL to access other screenshots. For example, https://prnt.sc/lk8ap7 is a valid screenshot and if you change the last digit i.e. https://prnt.sc/lk8ap7 or https://prnt.sc/lk8ap9, they also lead to screenshots by other users.
Pros:
- Annotations
- Copy to clipboard
- Cloud and Social Media direct upload
- Google image search
Cons:
- No Email sharing
- Uploaded screenshots are public
Download Lightshot Screenshot (free)
2. Monosnap
Monosnap might be one of the most complex apps on the list given the purpose its made for. It not only lets you take a screenshot but also has the ability to record your screen while the webcam footage sits as picture-in-picture mode in the same frame. The app settings let you customize actions before & after screenshot, sharing options, hotkeys, image format and what not.
Pros:
- Smart Annotations
- Cloud and Email upload
- FTP & WebDAV sharing
- Screen recording
- Record gif
- Blur tool
- Add multiple screenshots
Cons:
- Complicated interface and settings
Download Monosnap (free)
3. Snappy
Snappy mainly focuses on creating an easily accessible clipboard of all the screenshots that you take. You can drag and drop an image on any medium by clicking on the menu bar icon of the app. Alternatively, you can take a silent snap that doesn’t show the screenshot preview but simply copies the URL on the clipboard.
Pro tip: Right click on a snap for editing options. Double click to close a snap, there are no buttons.
Pros:
- Multiple snap clipboard
- Snap Library
- Annotations
- Cloud, Imgur and Email sharing support
- Direct URL copy
- Webpage preview snap via URL
- Customizable hotkeys
Cons:
- None
Download Snappy (free)
4. Apowersoft Screenshot
Apowersoft Screenshot also packages a color picker tool and a cross-hair tool to know the size of a frame on your screen. The screenshot feature also holds a number of editing options which pop-up on your screen after you select the frame of your shot.
Pros:
- Annotations with the blur tool
- Single entry clipboard
- Cloud and Social media sharing
- Color Picker
Cons:
- No Email sharing support
Download Apowersoft Screenshot (free)
5. Super Screenshot Lite
Don’t go by the name unless you are a 24*7 Trello user. Apart from a specific integration with your Trello account, the app offers only some basic tools. In fact, when you click the screenshot button on the menu bar the whole screen gets snapped and then you have to crop your area out if you need to.
Pros:
- Trello integration
- Annotations
Cons:
- No Cloud and Email Sharing
- No Social Media uploads
- No Clipboard or URL manager
Download Super Screenshot Lite (free)
6. Nimbus Capture
Nimbus Capture comes with some special mark-up tools like number stamps for easy step-by-step guide screenshots. The app also has screen recording options which can focus on the desired section of your screen. Creating a Nimbus account lets you manage your uploaded screenshots.
Pros:
- Annotations with the blur tool
- Number stamp mark-up
- Screen Recording
- Copy URL
- Nimbus cloud upload
Cons:
- No Email and social media sharing support
- No Personal cloud sharing
Download Nimbus Capture (free)
7. Xnip
Xnip offers a shadow effect around your screenshot just like the native screenshot feature on macOS, plus it works in selection mode as well. Just press ‘option’ key on your keyboard to toggle the feature while you are finishing your selection.
Pros:
- Smart annotations & selection tools
- Number stamps with captioned comments
- Single shot clipboard
Cons:
- No Cloud and Email support
- No Social media support
Download Xnip (free, $2 yearly for pro version)
8. Jumpshare
Jumpshare has something that no app on the list offers, GIF support. You can take a screenshot, a screen recording, and a GIF as well. The app requires you to log in via Google account and also supports workspace mode wherein you can add people to a shared portal. The plus version of the app offers more space and file size support but it’ll work without it.
Pros:
- Annotations and blur tool
- Screen recording
- GIF support
- Cloud support
- Workplace mode
- Easy URL copy
Cons:
- Expensive pro version
Download Jumpshare (free, $99 for plus version)
9. Snagit
Snagit is a commercial level software that provides almost all basic tools of photo editing and annotating apart from being a screenshot tool. Setting up the app could be a hideous process when compared to other apps on the list but the extra ton of features will make up for it. The app comes for a heavy price considering there are no upgrades but does give you a 15-day trial so you can test it before you spend.
Pros:
- Smart annotations with stamps and dialogue boxes.
- Photo editing tools
- Direct file sharing with all available sources
- Customizable interface
Cons:
Best Privacy Screens For Macbook Pro
- Expensive
Download Snagit (15 days free trial, $57)
10. Standardized Screenshots
Standardized Screenshots is not your regular screenshot app, rather a chrome extension. It takes a snapshot of the current window, adds a macOS-ish title bar and adds a shadow.
Using it is easy, just click the extension to snap a screenshot. It generates a preview which you can click to download the actual screenshot with frame and drop shadow included. There is, however, one small caveat that it doesn’t capture screenshots of some websites due to Chrome’s restrictions. Other than that, it works flawlessly. It really saves time when you have to capture screenshots every day for TechWiser.
Install Standardized Screenshots
Best Screenshot Apps For macOS
MacBook’s native screenshot feature is better than any of those on Windows. The quality it provides is very clean and the default shadow effects bring out the snap quite well. If you already didn’t know, you can also snap the touch bar on the MacBook Pro natively, just press Cmd+Shift+6. But if screenshots are something you use every day one of the apps on the list must fit your requirement. Like, Snappy for a better clipboard manager, Monosnap for better annotations and sharing options or maybe Jumpshare for GIF support. Take your pick and let me know the experience in the comments below.