iPhone mirroring is more useful than you think
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Apple’s macOS updates have been so sluggish lately that the most interesting part of last year’s macOS Sonoma was the widgets. Widgets! Thankfully, macOS Sequoia has a lot more to offer — or at least it will, when Apple Intelligence rolls out over the next few months. For now, though, Sequoia offers some helpful features like iPhone mirroring, a full-fledged password app, and automatic transcription in the Notes app. At least, it has a lot more to offer than widgets.
iPhone mirroring changes everything for Macs
Going into WWDC earlier this year, I was hoping Apple would let Vision Pro users mirror their iPhone as easily as they could mirror their Mac. Well, we didn’t get that, but iPhone mirroring on macOS Sequoia is exactly what I want on the Vision Pro. Once you have a Mac running the new OS (one with an Apple Silicon chip, or the last Intel model with the T2 security chip) as well as an iPhone running iOS 18, you can easily connect the two using the iPhone Mirroring app.
Once that connection is made, you’ll see a full replica of your phone within the app. It took me a few minutes to get used to navigating iOS with the trackpad and keyboard (there are a few new hotkeys worth learning), but once I did, I had no trouble opening my usual iPhone apps and games. If you’re impressed with the iPhone Pro’s 120Hz ProMotion screen, you’ll notice that the mirrored connection doesn’t look as smooth, but my testing showed it stayed at a steady 60fps during games and videos. I didn’t notice any annoying audio or video lag either.
While it’s nice to be able to launch your iPhone from your Mac, I was surprised by what turned out to be the most useful aspect of this feature: notifications. Once you connect your phone, its alerts pop up in your Mac’s Notification Center, and it takes just a click to launch the app it’s connected to. This is useful for alerts from Instagram, DoorDash, and other popular apps that have no real Mac option other than launching their website in the browser.
iPhone mirroring is also a sneaky way to join in a few rounds of Vampire Survivors during endlessly long meetings or classes. (Not that I’d ever do that.) While many mobile games have come to the Mac App Store, there are still thousands that haven’t, so it’s nice to have a way to access them on the big screen.
Not every game works well on a Mac — it’s hard to replicate the handheld touchscreen experience with a large trackpad — but mirroring is a good option for slower-paced titles. I didn’t encounter any weird framerate or lagging issues, and sound played flawlessly, too.
I usually keep my phone within reach at all times, even when I’m working at a desk. But picking it up will inevitably interrupt my workflow — it’s too easy to get a notification and find yourself scrolling through TikTok or Instagram without remembering how you got there. With iPhone mirroring, I can continue working on my Mac without missing any updates from my phone. This has also been useful when my iPhone is plugged into a wireless charger and I need more power before I leave the house.
If you’re someone who leaves their phone lying around their house, I think mirroring will also be helpful. This feature requires both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi to be turned on, and the connection range is about 50 feet, or what I’d expect from Bluetooth.
Thick walls and other obstructions can also reduce that range significantly. In my testing, I could leave my iPhone in my backyard and still mirror it to my living room, 40 feet away. Naturally, the farther away you go, the worse the experience.
Of course, Apple isn’t the first company to bring smartphone mirroring to PCs. Samsung and other Android phone makers have been offering it for years, and Microsoft even has a “Phone Link” app (formerly called Your Phone) for mirroring and file syncing.
But those implementations vary dramatically depending on the smartphone you’re using, they don’t integrate notifications seamlessly and, simply put, they often fail to connect. Once you’ve set up iPhone mirroring, it takes just a few seconds to get to Your Phone. It just works. And after testing the feature for weeks, I haven’t encountered any major connection issues.
Finally better window tiling!
It’s 2024 and Apple has finally made it easier to position Mac windows around your monitor. You can now drag apps to the sides or corners of your screen, and they’ll adjust automatically.
This has allowed me to quickly keep the browser I’m using for research alongside an Evernote window or Google Doc. Similar to Stage Manager in macOS Ventura, tiling shortcuts is an important change to Mac window management.