How to Use iPhone Mirroring on MacOS Sequoia
iPhone Mirroring is a powerful feature introduced with MacOS Sequoia that allows you to control your iPhone from your Mac, using your Mac cursor and keyboard to interact with the iPhone. It’s an incredibly useful feature in MacOS, and it allows full usage of your iPhone even if it’s not next to you or in your pocket. You’ll get quick access to your iPhone apps and device, you can interact with iPhone Notifications from your Mac, and you can move and copy files, documents, photos, between the iPhone to Mac too.
This really is one of the best features in MacOS Sequoia, and if you haven’t tried out iPhone Mirroring yet, now’s a great chance to do so. We’ll show you how you can use iPhone Mirroring with your Mac, it’s pretty easy.
iPhone Mirroring System Requirements
Because iPhone Mirroring is a feature in MacOS Sequoia, the Mac will need to be running MacOS Sequoia 15 or newer. Additionally, iPhone Mirroring requires the iPhone to be running iOS 18 or newer.
You will want to make sure both iPhone and Mac are using the same Apple Account/Apple ID as well.
The iPhone also needs to be within fairly close proximity, closer than typical Bluetooth range, for this feature to work as well. Try to be within five feet or less of iPhone and Mac for best results, as further distances may not connect properly.
Finally, your iPhone has to be locked and not in use in order to access it with iPhone Mirroring on the Mac.
How to Use iPhone Mirroring on Mac
Ready to try out iPhone Mirroring? Here’s all you need to do:
- Open the “iPhone Mirroring” app on Mac, it’s in the Dock by default otherwise it’ll be in /Applications
- Follow the onscreen instructions, and enter the iPhone passcode on the iPhone when requested
- Next admin your admin password or use Touch ID when requested, and you’ll see a connecting screen
- iPhone Mirroring will wirelessly transmit the iPhone screen to the Mac, and it is now ready to use
You’ll now have your iPhone visible on your Mac screen in an application window.
You can interact with it just as you would anything else.
Click on app icons to open them, click into a text field to type with your Mac keyboard, etc. It’s a powerful feature and very easy to use.
Future versions of iPhone Mirroring will support drag and drop between the iPhone and Mac as well, and maybe even add additional features too, so you’ll want to continue to keep MacOS and iOS updated to make sure you get that capability.
Helpful iPhone Mirroring Tips
Some helpful tips for iPhone Mirroring are below:
- Hover near the top of the iPhone Mirroring window to reveal the standard Mac window title bar buttons so you can move it around, but also additional iPhone Mirroring buttons; the square boxes will return you to Home Screen, and the overlaid boxes will open the App Switcher
- Click on the __________ line at the bottom of the screen to return to the Home screen
- Swiping left or right on the Mac trackpad will perform the same swipe on the iPhone
- Swiping up and down on the Mac trackpad will scroll up or down on iPhone Mirroring
- How do you open Control Center on iPhone via iPhone Mirroring? Good question! This does not seem to be implemented yet
- Use the Keyboard Shortcuts to navigate around quickly
- You can change which iPhone is used by going to the app settings
- You can not access iPhone Camera from the Mac via iPhone Mirroring (yet anyway, perhaps at a later version)
iPhone Mirroring Keyboard Shortcuts
Some helpful keyboard shortcuts for using iPhone Mirroring on the Mac are:
- Go to the Home Screen – Command + 1
- Go to App Switcher – Command + 2
- Go to Spotlight – Command + 3
- Resize iPhone Window to Original Size – Command 0
- Make iPhone Window Larger – Command +
- Make iPhone Window Smaller – Command –
iPhone Mirroring Troubleshooting Tips
If iPhone Mirroring is not working as expected, try the following:
- Have the iPhone in very close proximity to Mac
- If iPhone connection keeps timing out or disconnecting, make sure the iPhone is close to the Mac and not obstructed by anything
- Do not use other Bluetooth heavy tasks or devices at the same time, a keyboard/mouse is fine, but streaming to a Bluetooth Speaker or to something through AirPlay may prevent iPhone Mirroring from working
- Lock and unlock the iPhone
- Restart the iPhone and Mac and try again
- Quit iPhone Mirroring app and relaunch it
- Disable any VPN apps, firewall apps, or anti-virus apps on the Mac
- Install any available iOS or MacOS updates
- iPhone Mirroring is currently region restricted for some reason, so be aware that certain countries and areas can not yet use this feature
Does iPhone Mirroring work with iPad?
No, currently iPhone Mirroring is iPhone only. This means it does not work with iPad, and there is no equivalent iPad Mirroring app.
However, this is obviously desirable, and low hanging fruit for a new feature, so it’s possible this feature will arrive down the road in MacOS and iPadOS.
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What do you think of iPhone Mirroring? Are you using this feature on your Mac? What’s your favorite use-case scenario? Do you wish it had additional features, and if so, which ones? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.
