iPhone Mirroring on the Mac is another expression of how Apple is stuck

In the grand scheme of software updates Apple released in 2024, covering things as commonplace as adding a calculator app with iPadOS 18, and as important as new customization options in iOS 18, macOS Sequoia isn’t that big of a deal.

All the software pales in comparison to at least the way the company has positioned Apple Intelligence, its take on AI features custom-built for Macs, iPads, and iPhones. But Apple Intelligence wasn’t ready for the release of macOS Sequoia, and likely won’t be released in full when the first M4 Macs are expected to be released in October. Which leaves iPhone Mirroring the headlining feature of Sequoia, a legitimately impressive trick that lets you use your iPhone through your Mac, that only feels possible because of the close integration between Apple’s products and the software they run.

Apple Intelligence could usher in the next era of the company’s software, but in the meantime, macOS’s big new feature shows the reality of Apple right now — complete dependence on it’s last and maybe final revolutionary product, the iPhone.

How iPhone Mirroring works in macOS Sequoia

An extension of Continuity

Apple brands iPhone Mirroring as yet the latest example of its notion of “Continuity,” features that enable the seamless transfer or interaction of the company’s various products. In the past these have included:

• The ability to send SMS messages from your Mac.
• Sidecar, which turns your iPad into an external display.
• AirPlay, which lets you cast media to other screens and Apple products.
• Universal Control, which lets you use your Mac to control your iPad or another Mac and vice versa.
• And Handoff, which lets you pick up where you left off, starting an email on your iPhone and finishing it on the Mac, for example, just by clicking an icon that pops up in your dock.

Like these other features, iPhone Mirroring uses a combination of Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and what they say about proximity to make a connection between phone and computer. Your phone needs to be nearby, with Bluetooth on, and connected to Wi-Fi. Once that’s done, you just click the icon of an iPhone in your dock, your Mac takes a few seconds to connect, and you’ll see your iPhone home screen exactly as if you had unlocked your phone itself.

A remote instance of your phone

Interacting with this mirrored iPhone works the same way with a mouse as it would with your finger, you can scroll, click to tap, and even use gestures in the same way you would on your phone. In the window your iPhone lives in there are software buttons for going to your home screen or accessing the app switcher, but beyond that, it’s just like your phone is inside your computer. That includes phone audio playing through your Mac’s speakers, and your phone notifications appearing on both your iPhone and in the notification center on your Mac.

The big missing feature is one Apple demoed during its keynote: the ability to drag and drop files between your Mac and the digital representation of your phone. The company says that part of iPhone Mirroring will arrive later this year, along with at least a portion of Apple Intelligence.

Only one Apple product is so important that it needs to be everywhere

Why does iPhone Mirroring actually exist?

The purpose behind iPhone Mirroring is a little confusing. With all the other ways Apple’s iPhone can wireless communicate with a Mac, why does your laptop or desktop need to run a miniaturized version of your iPhone?

On some level, it seems like it’s because Apple can make it work, and that it’s more than a little amazing that the company has such tight control over every part of its hardware and software stack that just remotely accessing a whole other product is not only possible, it seems like the ground floor of what the company could do with this kind of thing in the future. Why not expand the feature and let you access your phone even when it isn’t nearby? Why not let an iPad access a Mac, remotely, solving years of complaints that the iPad isn’t Mac-enough to get work done?

I’ve mostly used iPhone Mirroring to see my phone notifications (that aren’t messages or emails) on my Mac, and access the few mobile apps that don’t have good desktop or web alternatives. That means social apps like Instagram or TikTok, whatever AI app I’m currently toying with, like Dot, and classic iOS games, like Threes. It doesn’t feel particularly revelatory to play a mobile game on my Mac, nor do I think it’s necessarily a good idea that I can idly scroll through TikTok without the friction of having to pull my phone out of my pocket. Access to notifications could prove more helpful over time, but that feels like something Apple could have enabled without the rigmarole of remotely accessing your iPhone.

A virtual iPhone makes up for the Mac’s shortcomings

Apple

What’s clear is that there are just some apps that are never going to make the jump to Apple’s other platforms. The cost of developing an iPad or Mac version just isn’t worth it, and nearly a decade after the iPhone launched, iOS is still where a majority of the app development action is happening, despite Apple’s attempts to make it easier to make universal apps or port apps from one platform to another. More than that, the company is still deeply dependent on selling iPhone apps through the App Store in the regions where third-party app stores still aren’t allowed, and many of its other products, like AirPods or the Apple Watch, are popular, at least in part, because of how many people own iPhones.

It’s only natural that Apple would want to make the iPhone more accessible — it needs you just as hooked on your phone as ever, even when it doesn’t make sense to use it directly.

The iPhone is the center of Apple’s world

Apple’s dependence on the iPhone doesn’t mean that iPhone Mirroring isn’t potentially useful or impressive from a technical perspective, just that it’s yet another sign that the company might not have a bigger or better idea than its touchscreen smartphone. Despite expensive gambles like the Apple Vision Pro, a failed car experiment, and what could be robots next, Apple can’t escape an internet-connected computer where it has control over how and where you spend money.

Maybe Apple Intelligence, or a future, less ridiculously expensive headset will change that equation at some point, but for now Apple long haulers will have to be happy with a more customizable phone, and a phone you can use in more places.