The UNIMOUNT Story

UNIMOUNT started in August 2022. I was working from home, spending a lot of hours at my desk. Believe it or not, I developed back pain! 
Turns out, working from the couch saved me from constant back pain. But, I really missed having 2 screens at my desk. I really wanted a way to have a dual monitor setup on the couch. I remembered I could extend my MacBook screen to my iPad with SideCar. So, what if I could attach my iPad to my laptop?
I went online and...didn't like what was there. The only solutions on the market either had bad reviews, didn't look secure for the iPad or came with their own monitor.
With nothing on the market I like, I went to my modeling software and 3D printer. Within a few days, I had some prototypes...
A picture of one of the very first UNIMOUNT clamp prototypes An early protoype of UNIMOUNT An early protoype of UNIMOUNT holding a tablet above the laptop

 

At first, I wanted to focus on creating as much as I could with 3D printers. I only used things you get at a hardware store, springs, linear rods, bearing etc. I open sourced that design on printables.

A flashy picture of UNIMOUNT 1.0

I liked a lot about that design. It was sturdy, centered the screen, and is accessible to folks if they wanted to make their own. But, damn it was heavy, ugly and not portable. Each one took 850g of printer filament. It was a good first attempt, but I knew I could do better. 


So I went back to the drawing board again. This time, I worked with 3rd parties to get as many pieces made for me as I could. Key parts are now made out of metal and injection modeled plastic.

A picture of UNIMOUNT 1.0 versus a UNIMOUNT 2.0 prototype, showing that 2.0 is smaller

 

It now only has 3 3D printed parts instead of 9. It's 25% smaller and 40% lighter. From ideation to the version you can buy today took approximately 1.5 years, on and off. Now, I am excited to get the product into folk’s hands!