How To Project Iphone Screen To Macbook Air

You can mirror your iPhone screen to a Mac with QuickTime and a Lightning to USB cable, or AirPlay and a third-party app.
When you mirror your iPhone to Mac with AirPlay, you need to be on the same Wi-Fi network and use a third-party app like Reflector.
When you use QuickTime to mirror content, you don't need AirPlay or the same Wi-Fi network, but you do need a cable.
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One of the iPhone's greatest assets is its connectivity. Built into Apple products are several ways to share what you're viewing or working on from your iPhone to a Mac.

This can be useful if you want to display a photo album or app on your computer, or play video content directly from iPhone apps like Hulu .

The drawback to mirroring your iPhone to your Mac, however, is that you have to either use the QuickTime app on your Mac, which requires a wired connection, or download a third-party app, like Reflector, which uses AirPlay. Here's how to do both.

How to mirror your iPhone to a Mac with QuickTime

1. Connect your iPhone to your Mac using your Lightning to USB cable.

2. Open QuickTime on your Mac.

3. Click on "File" in the menu bar at the top of the screen.

4. Click "New Movie Recording."

Under "File," click "New Movie Recording."

5. Next to the red record button (bottom middle), click on the down arrow. Select your iPhone from the list of available devices. If it's not there, try disconnecting and reconnecting your iPhone.

Select your iPhone from the drop-down menu to connect to it.

6. Your phone should now be fully mirrored on your computer, in the exact shape of your iPhone screen.

How to mirror your iPhone to a Mac with AirPlay

AirPlay is an Apple feature that lets you wirelessly stream content from one device to another. It's designed for streaming from an iPhone, iPad, or Mac to an Apple TV or AirPlay-compatible smart TV.

There's no direct way to AirPlay, or screen mirror, from an iPhone to a Mac, but you can work around that by downloading a third-party app like Reflector, and connecting both devices to the same Wi-Fi network.

To mirror your iPhone to Mac, first download Reflector on Mac. Then open the Control Center on your iPhone, click AirPlay, and select the Mac you want to mirror to.

Here's a full step-by-step guide.

1. Download the Reflector app on your Mac, and open it.

2. You can either AirPlay content directly from an app that allows for AirPlay like Amazon Prime Video, Hulu, or the NFL app, in this example. Or, you can AirPlay your entire iPhone screen by opening the Control Center.

3. If you're AirPlaying from within an app, start playing content, like a show or movie, and hit the AirPlay symbol (it's a rectangle with a solid triangle at the bottom) in the upper-right corner of the video.

When playing content within some apps, like Amazon Prime Video, you have the option to AirPlay the video.

If you're AirPlaying from the Control Center, select the "Screen Mirroring" tile.

In the Control Center on your iPhone, select "Screen Mirroring."

4. Once you've selected either the AirPlay symbol from within an app or "Screen Mirroring" from the Control Center, a pop-up will ask you to select a device — tap the name of your Mac.

5. Your iPhone will ask for an AirPlay Code, which will be displayed on your Mac. Type the code into the text box on your iPhone. Your iPhone content will now show up on the Reflector program on your Mac.

Your AirPlay content will appear on the computer in the exact quality it appears in on your iPhone.

Ryan Ariano grew up in Baltimore when the Macintosh was cutting edge, lived in Los Angeles as Blackberries gave way to iPhones, and now lives in Jackson Hole where his life is held together by Bluetooth. He writes on a wide range of topics but especially loves nerding out across the tech spectrum. Learn more about how our team of experts tests and reviews products at Insider here.