How to Mirror Your iPhone Screen on a Mac

It’s incredibly easy to mirror your iPhone’s screen on a Mac, whether you’re showing off an app for a presentation, keeping tabs on live updates, or anything else. You don’t even need any third-party tools for the job: the built-in QuickTime Player app can do it all.

Mirror and Record With QuickTime Player

The QuickTime Player application isn’t just for opening video files. It can also record videos from cameras and other video devices, including iPhone and iPad screens, while giving you a live preview with audio in a resizable window.

First, open QuickTime Player on your Mac from the Applications folder, the Launchpad in the Dock (usually in the “Other” app folder), or Spotlight search. In the menu bar, select File > New Movie Recording, or type the Command+Option+N keyboard shortcut.

Next, connect your iPhone to your Mac with a USB cable, and if you see any access request prompts on either device, make sure to accept them.

The last step is clicking the down arrow next to the record button and selecting your iPhone from the list under “Screen.” You can also capture the phone’s video camera feed or microphone input through QuickTime Player, but we just want to mirror the screen for now.

Your iPhone screen is now mirrored in QuickTime Player window. You can’t use your Mac’s keyboard or mouse to interact with the iPhone, but you do get a high-resolution preview with fairly low latency. You can also adjust the volume in the QuickTime Player controls to hear audio from the iPhone on your Mac.

If you want to record a snippet of your mirrored screen, just click the big red record button to start and click it again to end the capture. You can then save the video using File > Save or the Command+S keyboard shortcut.

There are more export options under File > Export As, but you’re limited to H.264 or HEVC video codecs in a .MOV file. If you need another format, like H.264 in MP4 format or a WebM video, then you should save the file in original quality and then convert it using HandBrake or another video conversion tool.

Mirror Wirelessly With AirPlay

If you don’t have a USB cable around, you can also use AirPlay to stream your iPhone’s screen to the Mac, but it works a bit differently than the QuickTime method. Playing videos through YouTube, Netflix or other apps will switch the output to only show the video (not the app or other on-screen elements), and the mirroring is locked to full-screen mode. It’s the same experience as streaming your iPhone screen to a TV.

First, open the Control Center on your iPhone. If your iPhone doesn’t have a physical home button, swipe down from the top-right side of the screen to get to the Control Center. If your iPhone does have a physical home button, swipe up from the bottom of the screen.

Now tap the Screen Mirroring button, which looks like two overlapping rectangles.

Your Mac will appear in the Screen Mirroring list, as long as it’s on the same Wi-Fi network as the iPhone. Choose your Mac from the list, and the mirrored screen will appear on your Mac’s screen.

Just like with QuickTime Player, sound from the iPhone should play through your Mac. You can click the close button at the top-left corner to end the AirPlay stream, or you can shut it down on your iPhone from the Control Center or (on newer iPhones) from the activity in the Dynamic Island.

Alternatively, Mirror with Bezel

Bezel is a third-party app built specifically for mirroring iPhone screens on Mac. It has a realistic device frame around the screen, lower latency than QuickTime and AirPlay, audio support, and the ability to pin the window above other open windows.

If you need to mirror your iPhone’s screen regularly, or if the floating record bar in QuickTime is too annoying, Bezel might be worth checking out. You can download it from the official website, but a one-time purchase ($29 as of the time of writing) is required to remove the watermark and unlock updates.