Key Takeaways
- macOS Sequoia enhances iPhone-MacBook connections with Continuity
- Seamless integration for mirroring and browsing between the devices
- The feature will facilitate easier photo and video editing functionalities.
Apple‘s WWDC 2024 was a significant event, unveiling a plethora of new features for iPhones, Macs, and iPads. The sheer number of these features might make it challenging to stay updated with all the advancements across Apple’s product range.
One new addition to macOS Sequoia that could be a game changer for those who have MacBooks and iPhones is the souping up of connections between the two devices using something billed as Continuity. But how exactly will this new feature work?
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macOS Sequoia links your iPhone
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While the intricacies of the iPhone mirroring feature in Sequoia are yet to be fully revealed, Apple has hinted at its potential. When a Sequoia-equipped MacBook is linked to an iPhone, it’s not just about access. It’s about a seamless integration that makes it feel like you’re operating your phone from your desktop.
If you’ve loaded a custom wallpaper onto the phone, it and all of your icons appear just as they do on the iPhone home screen. Users can then swipe between pages if they have their applications divided that way on the iPhone. Once they’ve found the application they’re looking for, they’ll be able to open it and use it as natively as they would on the mobile device.
In addition, the keyboard and trackpad or mouse on the MacBook will be able to operate on the iPhone as though they are attached to the machine. Should the opened application offer sound, such as a game or if you’re playing music, that sound will also come through the MacBook speakers.
Should the opened application offer sound, such as a game or if you’re playing music, that sound will also come through the MacBook speakers.
It’s important to not that all of this can be done without the iPhone needing to be all that near the MacBook and it certainly doesn’t need to be in your hands. Users will also be able to use their MacBook as a kind of second screen with the iPhone, making it quite easy to drag and drop between the two devices but the iPhone can stay locked during the whole process, allowing for an extra level of security if you are happening to do this where you might not want prying eyes.
If you’ve got your phone set to Standby mode, accessing it using Continuity in Sequoia will allow the phone to stay in that mode. Those who use Standby often can attest to this allowing for some very useful information to continue to be displayed on the phone’s screen while working on the desktop.
When Continuity is engaged any notifications that come through the iPhone will also show up on the MacBook and can be responded to just like it was being done right from the phone. This could especially come in handy when there’s a need to type something out and you’re not interested in worrying about fat-fingering your way through the phone’s keyboard.
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Photo and video editing about to get easier
Drap and drop, edit, then drag and drop
Apple
One aspect where this new and improved edition of Continuity could especially come in handy is when pairing it with photo or video editing. Shoot a few scenes on your iPhone you can instantly grab them on your desktop, run them through a video editing application of your choice and then you can just drag them back your phone when it’s all ready.
While the iPhone has plenty of powerful photo editing apps available for use there are plenty of people who simply find it that much easier to make little tweaks and fixes through some of the more powerful photos editors you can find on a computer or a web browser.
If nothing else, it can be easier to see what a photo is going to look like at full size on a bigger screen. It’s easier to pick out little glitches or imperfections than it can be when looking at the smaller iPhone screen. And of course, using a mouse or a trackpad allows you to be more precise if you’re trying to trim something very specifically.
The bottom line is that when it comes to Continuity and the way that Apple iPhone mirroring will work, there are ways now that will allow you to do many of the same things. The workarounds can take time and effort that will be saved using these new features that come with macOS Sequioa.
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