10 Exclusive Benefits of Owning Both An iPhone and A MacBook

Make your life significantly easier with these tips

Apple users live the easiest tech life.

I never knew this fact when I owned Android and Windows devices last year. But after I traded them off for Apple equivalents, I unknowingly spiralled into the Apple ecosystem. Now I can’t come back, in fact, I really don’t want to.

Why? The sync!

Irrespective of how many devices I use, they simply sync between all of them, to the level I feel I’m using a single device all the time.

Here I mention 10 of the most underrated and underused benefits of owning both an iPhone and a MacBook, only. And how the sync makes your life easier.

#1. Manage iPhone calls and messages directly on Mac 📞

This feature is much appreciated if you constantly work or have meetings on your Mac. While on them, its frustrating to get diverted and check who’s calling or messaging you on your iPhone.

Ever experienced it? I did.

Fortunately, this feature made the irky task much handier. With this, you can directly attend both FaceTime and cellular calls and messages directly on your Mac.

Your Mac can send and receive messages even if your iPhone is not with you, but is connected to internet. But to make or attend calls, both your iPhone and Mac should be “nearby” and on Wi-Fi.

Bonus feature — Autofill OTP 💬

How to enable it?

For messages: Enable iCloud sync for Messages on both your devices. Connect your phone number to iMessage, and enable your Mac in the ’Text Message Forwarding’ on your iPhone.

For calls: Connect your phone number to FaceTime, and enable your Mac in the ’Calls on Other Devices’ menu on your iPhone.

#2. Handoff 👋: To continue tasks on other devices

How magical!

You can browse Safari, use maps, edit documents, or write emails on your iPhone while on the go, and when you reach a cozy place, you can open your Mac and instantly pick up where you left off.

That’s Handoff. It not only works with Apple apps, but also with many third-party apps, like: Airbnb, NYTimes, Pocket, Wunderlist, Camera Plus and more.

How to enable it?

Enable Handoff permanently on both your iPhone and MacBook. And anytime you want to use it, have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi turned on on both of them.

The Handoff-ed app is visible in the dock on your MacBook and below the App Switcher on your iPhone.

#3. Automatic App Downloads 💳: Pay on one device, use them on all your devices

No one wants to pay for the same app or game twice for both their devices, even if its $0.09. At least, not me, as an Apple user. Because I can legally avoid it.

Apple allows you to freely, and automatically download the same paid app or free app to all your compatible devices if you download it on any one of them.

How to enable it?

Enable ’Automatic Updates’ on both your devices settings. By “your”, I always mean the devices logged in to your iCloud account.

#4. Find my📍: Locate any Apple device of yours

The ‘Find My’ app is installed by default into every device of Apple. This helps you locate all your Apple devices, be them anywhere in the world.

You can also remotely erase them, put them on lost mode, or play a loud sound to immediately find them.

But what if they’re offline?

Apple’s ‘Find my’ secret network is for the rescue.

Even if your device has cellular connection turned off, but is connected to Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, the nearby IoT devices can help you find your missing device!

Best part, the helping devices don’t let their users know they’re actually helping you.

How to enable it?

Enable 'Find My' and 'Find My Network' on your iPhone and MacBook. And enable location access for Find My.

#5. Screen time sharing

For a better ‘Screen time’ math, Apple enables “sync” between all your devices’ screen times. By this, you can have a nice consolidated report, daily and weekly, of the “combined” screen times and the time you spend on every category of apps on all your devices.

How to enable it?

Enable 'Screen Time' on both your devices and check 'Share across devices' for the combined screen time.

#6. Universal Clipboard 📝: Copy-pastes not only text but also files!

Back in my early Apple days, I emailed or WhatsApped myself all the links I wanted to share between my devices. It was a tedious task. And I thought there was no alternative.

But when I discovered ‘Universal Clipboard’, I was amazed. I can copy-paste things across all my devices like I do on one device.

Another eureka!

This not only instantly copy-pastes text, but also files, yes, gigabyte-sized files.

Don’t worry! Apple doesn’t “upload” your files for sync. Your cellular data/Wi-fi is safe. The clipboard is synced through Handoff.

How to enable it?

Refer #2. Handoff

#7. AirDrop💧: Drops files faster than spilled water

Even if you have never used an Apple device, I bet you know what AirDrop is, and how fast it works. So, a few things you probably don’t know:

• If you use a ≥11 model iPhone, you can point your device towards the intended to-devices to view them at the top of the AirDrop list.
• The range of AirDrop is approx. 30 feet or 9 meters.
• Use 'Shift+⌘+R' shortcut in Mac Finder to arrive to the AirDrop menu faster.

How to enable it?

Turn on AirDrop on both your devices to send/receive files. Later, you can turn it off if you wish to.

Oh yeah, if you’re AirDropping files to your own devices, you don’t see an option to accept or decline the request. They automatically arrive.

For a still faster way:

#8. iCloud sync ☁️: Everything Apple syncs, literally everything

This is the basic feature that makes Apple, Apple — The iCloud sync. This makes my Mac just feel like a bigger screened version of my iPhone.

All my calendar events, reminders, messages, health data, Safari history, shortcuts, maps, notes, FaceTime, voice memos, Pages documents, passwords and many more are real-time synced to all my devices.

I only fear losing my device, as I’m sure I’d never lose my data.

#9. Continuity Camera 📷: Add document scans to Mac pdfs with iPhone

Ah, you’ve got the pdf in your Mac, but Alas! You’ve needed to add a new scan to it. How? Take a scan with your iPhone, AirDrop it to your Mac, and combine the pdfs. “That’s it? Any better way..?”

Click + below the pdf page thumbnails on your Mac Preview to add a new page. Click on ‘Import from iPhone’ and then, ‘Take Photo’ or ‘Scan Documents’.

This opens camera on your iPhone. Scan the document and it’ll be added to the pdf on your Mac.

How to enable it?

Connect your iPhone and Mac to the same Wi-Fi network. Now follow the steps as mentioned above.

#10. Instant Hotspot 📶: Connect to Wi-Fi without password

This ‘Instant Hotspot’ feature allows you escape the conventional way of entering password to connect to your iPhone hotspot. It makes the task as simple as connecting to an open Wi-Fi network.

Another great feature

If you’ve ever connected to a Wi-Fi network from any of your Apple devices, the password gets synced to all your other Apple devices, enabling you to connect to it passwordless-ly from next time.

Conclusion

Every Apple product is awesome. However, the combination of two or more Apple devices reveals the pure magic of being in their ecosystem.

While I can successfully do all my works even from other laptops and phones, if its Apple I just can do faster.

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