Apple Thinks This Is the Best New Mac Feature. Will You Actually Use It?

When Apple rolls out macOS Sequoia, the next big software update for the Mac, one of its headline features will be iPhone Mirroring. It’s a continuity feature that will let you control your iPhone from your Mac — no need to actually touch your iPhone.

Apple is clearly excited about iPhone Mirroring. During the macOS presentation, it as the first feature that Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior vice president of software engineering, introduced. And he talked about it for several minutes — more than any other macOS feature.

So, what is iPhone Mirroring?

iPhone Mirroring places a picture of your iPhone — in all its likeness, same wallpaper and app layout — right on your Mac’s screen. You can then use your mouse (or trackpad) and keyboard to swipe through different Home Screens, open iPhone apps, send texts and answer calls; yes, when using iPhone Mirroring all your iPhone’s audio will come through your Mac’s speakers.

According to Federighi, iPhone Mirroring is for “all those times when we want to use our iPhone only to realize it’s tucked away in a bag over in another room.”

When using iPhone Mirroring on your Mac, your actual iPhone will stay locked — so if somebody holding your iPhone won’t be able to peep what you’re doing. If your iPhone is in StandBy mode, showing the time or a digital photo reel, it’ll stay in StandBy mode during iPhone Mirroring, too.

Will you actually use it?

I can’t lie, part of me is really excited about iPhone Mirroring. It will make dragging and dropping files, photos and videos between iPhone and Mac significantly easier — traditional AirDrop can be cumbersome, let’s face it. And being able to access all your iPhone apps right on your Mac is, well, kind of cool … right?

But part of me also questions how much I’ll use iPhone Mirroring.

Do I want a little iPhone screen taking up valuable real estate on my Mac? I can already use iMessage and answer FaceTime calls through my Mac’s current continuity features, so why use iPhone Mirroring? Plus, my iPhone is typically by my side while using my Mac, so why wouldn’t I just pick up my iPhone?

We’ll see.

iPhone Mirroring will roll out with macOS Sequoia this fall. It should work with any Mac that supports macOS Sequoia and iPhone (XS and later) that supports iOS 18.

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