Apple iPhone 15 Pro and Apple Macbook Pro laptop.
Tim Cook and his team may be preparing to launch the iPhone 16 Pro with first-generation Apple intelligence, nearly a year after Android took the lead with Google’s Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. But the real breakthrough for iOS that will make an immediate difference to the Apple community will come from a more practical source… your MacBook Pro.
Remember that the first version of iOS 18 will not include the backronym Apple Intelligence features – those will hopefully arrive in October – but it will be released alongside this year’s macOS version. The 2024 edition is called Sonoma and, in addition to the usual bug fixes and security updates, you will find a new feature in iPhone mirroring. Once connected and authenticated, you will see your iPhone’s display in its window on your Mac. From here, you can use your keyboard, mouse and trackpad to work with your iPhone.
This includes all first-party and third-party applications you have on your iPhone, as well as your notifications.
The iPhone Mirroring feature requires both iOS 18 and macOS Sonoma. This means you can run the feature on any iPhone starting with the iPhone XR or second-generation iPhone SE, and any Mac or MacBook with an Apple Silicon chipset. Interestingly, any Intel-based Mac that supports the t2 security chipset also offers this feature—a rare new feature for non-ARM laptops.
While this may be a new feature for macOS and iOS, it will be familiar to many Android users, with several manufacturers heavily promoting the ability to share phone and laptop. Both Samsung and Honor offer linking to Windows desktops and laptops as part of a connected lifestyle.
With the iPhone 16, 16 Pro, and iOS 18, it looks like Tim Cook and his team are ready to catch up with the competition in more ways than one.
Now read why the iPhone 16 Pro may not be the best choice for an AI-powered iPhone…
