Apple’s release of iOS 18.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1 add Apple Intelligence to supported devices, but also a promised capability to one of the best new features in this year’s lineup: drag and drop between iPhone and Mac using iPhone Mirroring.

Even before this latest .1 update, iPhone Mirroring has become a feature I use every day. If my iPhone is out of reach — at the bottom of a bag, left in the next room, or even in my pocket — I can open the iPhone Mirroring app on my Mac and use the phone as if it were in my hand . . It also allows me to use apps like Instagram that work better on my phone than in a browser on my Mac. (Looking for more circumstances? Check eight reasons why you might want to use iPhone Mirroring.)

iPhone Mirroring only works when the iPhone is locked and not in use, no doubt for security reasons, but also to prevent concurrent interactions from two people. If the phone is charging and in landscape orientation, StandBy mode is still active and you can switch between views without interrupting mirroring.

Here’s how to get it working on your devices.

Which devices support iPhone Mirroring?

You’ll need a Mac that can run MacOS Sequoia, which includes:

• iMac: 2019 and later
• MacBook Air: 2020 and later
• MacBook Pro: 2018 and later
• Mac Studio: 2022 and later
• Mac mini: 2018 and later
• Mac Pro: 2019 and later
• iMac Pro: 2017 and later

And on iPhone, the following models will run iOS 18:

• iPhone 11 and later
• iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max
• iPhone XR
• iPhone SE (2nd generation or later)

How to turn on iPhone Mirroring on iOS 18 and MacOS Sequoia

Make sure both devices are signed in to your Apple account (this is the new name for your Apple ID from now on) in System Settings > Apple Account (your name) on your Mac and Settings > Apple Account (your name) on the iPhone. Also, lock the phone if it’s not already in sleep mode — iPhone mirroring only works when the phone isn’t in use.

Next, on a Mac running macOS Sequoia, open the new iPhone Mirroring app. You can search for it in Finder.

Launching the app triggers the connection; enter your Mac login password or use Touch ID to start mirroring. The first time you sign in, you’ll need to enter your device passcode and approve the connection on your iPhone.

If you are in a trusted environment, you can bypass the security prompt by accessing iPhone Mirroring > Settings and the choice Automatic login.

Now you can browse your iPhone remotely

There’s some irony in using a mouse cursor to control the famous touch iPhone, but otherwise you still point and click (or tap, if you’re using a trackpad) to control the interface.

Being able to type on your iPhone this way is a revelation if you type faster on a physical keyboard than with your thumbs. But there’s more: iPhone Mirroring uses three keyboard shortcuts (or View menu items) to quickly navigate:

• Command-1: Home screen
• Command-2: App Switcher (same as swipe up to see recent apps)
• Command-3: Spotlight Search

You can hover just above the iPhone window to reveal a frame around the app that includes icons for activating the home screen and app switcher. Or, when you’re in an app, a quick way to return to the home screen is to click once on the white or black bar at the bottom of the iPhone window — the one you’d swipe up on when the phone it is in your hand.

You can do mostly anything on your phone with iPhone Mirroring that you can do with it in your hand, which includes running apps, checking widgets, and looking at notes or photos that aren’t synced via iCloud. If you’ve locked or hidden any apps, enter your MacOS password or use your Mac’s Touch ID sensor to sign in instead of Face ID or Touch ID on your phone.

Some limitations apply. Anything that uses the accelerometer — step tracking, for example, or apps that use it as a controller, like racing games — won’t work because it requires physical movement of the phone. The orientation will also rotate if you launch an app that needs to be in landscape, but there is no control to switch between portrait and landscape while connected to the iPhone.

The camera doesn’t wake up, so you can’t use it as a security camera to keep an eye on your pets from the next room or take FaceTime video calls. FaceTime Audio calls can come as part of Apple’s Continuity framework, which transmits calls from iPhone to Mac if you have Calls on other devices activated in Settings > Applications > Phone.

You can reposition and resize the iPhone Mirroring window

To move the window to another part of the screen, drag the top of the frame. Or, use the Move and Resize options from the Window menu to position it in sections such as the right edge or upper left corner. To resize the iPhone window, go to View menu and choose Bigger (Command-+) or Smaller (Command–); or choose Actual size (Command-0) to return to default.

Manage iPhone notifications

Many notifications automatically reach multiple devices thanks to the use of a shared Apple account. Texts in the Messages app, for example, will appear on both your iPhone and Mac, unless you’ve set up one of them to suppress notifications. But what about notifications for apps that only live on the iPhone?

When mirroring is active, those alerts appear in the top-right corner of your Mac screen with the rest of your notifications. You’ll recognize the iPhone-specific ones because they’re labeled with an iPhone badge. Because the Mac knows where they come from, clicking an alert opens the associated app on the iPhone within the iPhone Mirroring app. (You won’t be able to claim you didn’t see a notification because your phone was put away, sorry.)

Drag and drop files

This feature can prove to be the most useful part of iPhone Mirroring. You can copy files from iPhone to Mac or vice versa by dragging them from one window to the other. There’s no need to wait for Photos to sync images via iCloud or use an intermediary like Dropbox or iCloud Drive.

On the iPhone, make sure there’s an open target that will accept the file you want to drag – iPhone Mirroring doesn’t treat the entire iPhone as an external hard drive. For example, open the Messages app and drag an image into one of your conversations to add it as outgoing text. Or open the Files app and drag any type of document to a destination like iCloud Drive. Before releasing the file, you can navigate the Files hierarchy by pausing over folders and even pausing the Back button to navigate to the previous folder. The file is only copied when you release it.

Choose which iPhone is mirrored

When I received my new iPhone 16 Pro, I got a surprise: iPhone Mirroring kept connecting to me previous iPhone. If you bought a new iPhone or maybe have multiple iPhones connected to the same Apple account, it’s not clear how to choose which device is mirrored.

That’s because the option is buried not in the settings of the iPhone Mirroring app, but in the system settings. On your Mac, go to System Settings > Desktop & Dock and scroll down to Widgets section. Under there iPhone is a pop-up menu that lets you choose which device to use for mirroring. (This option only appears if multiple iPhones are connected to your account.)

Once you’re done, here’s how to stop iPhone Mirroring

There is no kill switch in the iPhone Mirroring app to disconnect the phone other than exiting the app. If you want to break the connection, the best way is to unlock the iPhone (assuming it’s nearby where you can physically access it).

The app indicates that the iPhone is in use. Lock your phone and click the Retry button to resume mirroring.

iPhone Mirroring is just one of the many new features in iOS 18. Be sure to check out how to use it new RCS and text formatting tools in Messages and how to customize your home screen.