Tip--Resize iPhone Mirroring in macOS 27

If iPhone Mirroring on your Mac has been a small window locked to the phone's shape, with no Control Center and a black screen in streaming apps, macOS 27 fixes all three. Apple's iPhone Mirroring support article, dated September 14, says that in macOS 27 or later you can drag a corner of the window to resize it and that Command-4 opens the iPhone's Control Center. The protected video is MacRumors' finding from the beta; Apple's article says only that each streaming provider's policy decides whether its premium video can be mirrored. It takes macOS 27 and iOS 27, both shipped September 14.

Tahoe locked the window to the phone's shape

In macOS Tahoe the View menu offered Larger, Smaller and Actual Size. MacRumors' June 18 report lays out the rest: Control Center could not be opened at all, and protected video from a streaming service or a rented movie came up as a black screen; macOS 27 adds DRM-protected playback, the report says. The mirrored phone rendered only at its own aspect ratio. MacRumors' June 9 report from the Platforms State of the Union notes the new shapes were limited to apps built for iOS 27, which at the time meant only native iOS apps.

Update both devices, then drag a corner

1. Update the Mac to macOS 27 and the iPhone to iOS 27. Apple's developer releases page lists macOS 27.0 as build 26A428 and iOS 27.0 as build 24A437, both dated September 14, 2026.
2. Open iPhone Mirroring from the Dock, Applications, Spotlight or Siri AI, and enter the passcode on the iPhone if asked.
3. Drag any corner of the window. Apple says Mail, Messages and Calendar are designed to show more when you make the window wider. Command-9, or the iPhone-size button in the toolbar, puts it back to the standard phone shape.
4. Press Command-4 for Control Center, or pick it from the View menu. Command-1 is still the Home Screen, Command-2 the App Switcher and Command-3 Spotlight.
5. Open a streaming app and play something. If it does not play, Apple says the provider's playback restriction policy decides.

What to do if it did not work

Apple's Continuity requirements page lists iPhone Mirroring for a Mac with Apple silicon or an Intel Mac with the T2 chip, on macOS Sequoia 15 or later, with an iPhone on iOS 18 or later. The three changes need 27 on both devices, and since Golden Gate skips Intel Macs, per MacRumors' list of 50 changes, a T2 Intel Mac keeps the Tahoe app; its update is Tahoe 26.7. Both devices must share an Apple Account with two-factor authentication and have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on; the iPhone must be locked and near the Mac; the Mac cannot be sharing its internet connection or using AirPlay or Sidecar. Apple's article says iPhone Mirroring is unavailable in the European Union.

If an app will not change shape, that is the app, not the Mac. 9to5Mac's July 31 report from the public beta says resizing works with iOS 27-compatible apps, at the time only Apple's own, and grows as developers ship iOS 27 updates. Apple's tech talk on preparing apps for the iPhone Duo tells developers that with iOS 27 "people can resize your app larger than ever before using iPhone Mirroring on the Mac," so the work that readies an app for the Duo's 7.6-inch inner display readies it for a wide window on your Mac.

If it will not connect at all, Apple's own list: update and restart both devices; stop heavy Bluetooth or Wi-Fi use; check VPN and security software on both, and that the Mac's firewall is not blocking incoming connections; revoke the iPhone in iPhone Mirroring's settings and set it up again; and, last, sign out of the Apple Account on both, restart, and sign back in.

The phone reached the Mac in 2002 too

In our September 2002 item on the T68i we pointed readers to a Bluetooth link between a Sony Ericsson phone and Jaguar's Address Book that put caller ID and SMS on the Mac, four months after our May 2002 hands-on report used the same phone as a 9.6 kbps modem for a TiBook. Plain calls and texts still come the Continuity way: Apple's Continuity page says the Phone app takes iPhone calls on the Mac (a Mac mini, Mac Studio or Mac Pro needs an external microphone), though our September 22 tip on Golden Gate's first week carries a launch-day report of callers unable to hear the Mac, and Apple's requirements page has Text Message Forwarding carrying SMS, MMS and RCS to any Mac on Yosemite or later. Mirroring is for the rest of the phone.

A mirrored iPhone that behaves like a Mac window is what Sequoia should have shipped.