SidecarEnabler
This kernel extension is no longer maintained! Please use FeatureUnlock instead.
A Lilu plugin that remove any SMBIOS checks used by Sidecar (for both Macs and iPads).
Tested with iPad mini 4.
Requirement
- macOS Catalina or later
- Lilu 1.4.6 or later.
Boot arguments
-scuoffdisables kext loading-scudbgturns on debugging output (available in DEBUG binaries)-scubetaenables loading on unsupported macOS versions
Background
Sidecar is disabled on these devices by Apple:
- iPad:
iPad4,1; iPad4,2; iPad4,3; iPad4,4; iPad4,5; iPad4,6; iPad4,7; iPad4,8; iPad4,9; iPad5,1; iPad5,2; iPad5,3; iPad5,4; iPad6,11; iPad6,12 - iMac:
iMac13,1; iMac13,2; iMac13,3; iMac14,1; iMac14,2; iMac14,3; iMac14,4; iMac15,1; iMac16,1; iMac16,2 - MacBook:
MacBook8,1 - MacBook Air:
MacBookAir5,1; MacBookAir5,2; MacBookAir6,1; MacBookAir6,2; MacBookAir7,1; MacBookAir7,2 - MacBook Pro:
MacBookPro9,1; MacBookPro9,2; MacBookPro10,1; MacBookPro10,2; MacBookPro11,1; MacBookPro11,2; MacBookPro11,3; MacBookPro11,4; MacBookPro11,5; MacBookPro12,1 - Mac mini:
Macmini6,1; Macmini6,2; Macmini7,1 - Mac Pro:
MacPro5,1; MacPro6,1
These identifiers are hardcoded in /System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/SidecarCore.framework/Versions/A/SidecarCore.
SidecarEnabler works by patching these identifiers so that they won't match any real devices (e.g. patching iPad to iXad, MacBook to XacBook).
As the check is done only on macOS side, there's no need to patch iPadOS (i.e. jailbreaking is not required).
Notes
- Use a cable if wireless connection doesn't work for you (error 32002).
- SidecarEnabler only remove the check. It doesn't fix any hardware-related problems:
- Apple disables Sidecar on Broadwell and older CPUs because those CPUs doesn't have built-in support for HEVC. Sidecar can still work but you will get some graphical glitches or stutter.
- Sidecar may not work on iGPU-less systems (see this).
- If you have problems with Sidecar, Duet Display may be a better choice.
Credits
- Apple for macOS
- vit9696 for Lilu
- pookjw for SidecarPatcher