So close, yet so far. I had it before WWDC 2024 was hoping Apple would let you mirror your iPhone in Vision Pro, just like how you can use your Mac on a giant virtual screen. Instead, we got iPhone Mirroring on macOS Sequoia. As the name suggests, it will let you see everything on your iPhone from the comfort of your Mac.
But, I wonder what would happen if you mirrored a Mac mirroring an iPhone in Vision Pro? This seems like an ideal solution in theory, it would solve the annoying problem of the headset not playing nice with the iPhone. But unfortunately it won’t work. We’ve heard from knowledgeable sources that Apple’s hardware supports only one of its Continuity Mirroring features at the time. So if you’re sending your Mac’s screen to Vision Pro, you won’t be able to mirror your iPhone at the same time.
We haven’t heard the exact reason for this limitation, but I’d bet it’s due to network limitations. Mirroring a sharp, lag-free version of your Mac screen is hard enough – juggling a perfectly rendered copy of your iPhone can be overwhelming for some Macs. Apple is already going beyond the current Persistence restrictions visionOS 2, which will support higher-resolution Mac mirroring as well as the ability to virtualize an ultra-wide screen. So maybe there’s room for more devices down the line.
It’s not hard to imagine Apple eventually bringing the iPhone mirroring feature directly to the Vision Pro, but ideally, it would work alongside Mac mirroring in the headset.
A few other things we learned about iPhone mirroring on macOS Sequoia while researching WWDC:
-
It requires both WiFi and Bluetooth to work, and the iPhone is projected at 60fps.
-
When you launch the game, the iPhone window changes to landscape view on the Mac. The game’s sound is also well synchronized.
-
Mirroring will use about the same amount of battery as normal use on your iPhone.
-
If you unlock your iPhone directly, the mirrored window closes immediately on your Mac.
-
You’ll finally be able to drag and drop files and other content between your iPhone and Mac. This feature will also be available in third-party apps.
Follow all the news here Apple’s WWDC 2024.
