iPhone mirroring, one of the hot features coming to Apple's next operating system, is now available to developers testing beta versions of iOS 18 and macOS Sequoia. The latest beta release includes support for mirroring your iPhone directly to your Mac, allowing you to use your phone on your computer, including opening and running iPhone apps and moving files between your Mac and iPhone.
First announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) in early June, iPhone Mirroring makes it easy for consumers to use Mac and iPhone apps side-by-side. For example, a demo at the event showed how a video clip edited in Final Cut Pro could be dropped into a template for further editing on an iPhone. In preparation for this interoperability, Apple has released Final Cut Pro for iPad 2 and Final Cut Camera, as well as an update to Final Cut Pro for Mac.
Another use case for iPhone mirroring is being able to use iPhone apps without unlocking your phone. With the mirroring feature, your iPhone notifications will also appear on your Mac desktop, so you can respond to incoming call alerts in various apps. Apple said at WWDC that you can also play audio from your iPhone on your Mac.
Developers who often demo their apps to others over video calls or live presentations will also find it easier to switch to iPhone.
While your iPhone is mirrored to your Mac, your physical device remains locked, so there's no risk of someone accessing your phone without your permission, even if you leave it in a bag on the other side of the room.
Apple says the feature also works in standby mode, so you can see information at a glance when mirroring.
While the public beta is still a few weeks away and the official release of the new operating system isn't scheduled until later this fall, iPhone Mirroring is available now to developers testing iOS 18 Beta 2 and macOS Sequoia Beta 2.
The developer beta version is unstable and quite buggy, and consumers are being warned not to install it on their main devices, and this appears to be true for the second beta version as well, with testers reporting issues with battery life, phones overheating, and other crashes.