18 iPhone and iPad features I want on my Mac

In this guide, I’ll explore 18 iPhone and iPad features I’d love to see on my MacBook to enhance the desktop experience and boost productivity.

The Mac was my very first Apple product and is my favorite device Cupertino makes (with iPhone coming in second, followed by AirPods and iPad).

While I believe macOS is already the best desktop operating system on the market, I still think it would benefit from borrowing these features from iPhone and iPad.

Many of the features mentioned below could significantly improve efficiency, while others are more wishful thinking.

Clean app uninstallation

I love how I can delete an app on my iPhone or iPad, and all its data is gone. If anything is left behind, it’s only in that app’s folder in the Files app or iCloud. I can easily delete these data from these two spots.

However, app uninstalls are not always that clean on Mac, and most macOS apps leave tons of residue behind. To address that, I use a third-party app called AppCleaner, but I’d like this feature to be baked into macOS.

App locking and hiding

iPadOS 18 and iOS 18 add a native app hiding and locking feature, which is nice for securing private apps. Having the same feature set in macOS would be incredible.

Apple Watch-like cellular option

I don’t like using Personal Hotspot on my iPhone or cellular iPad for extended periods as it drains the battery much faster and can make it overheat.

Therefore, I long for a MacBook Air or MacBook Pro that supports 5G natively. However, I wish the cellular data on Mac could be set up as an extension of my iPhone’s cellular plan, kind of like the cellular Apple Watch. This will ensure I don’t have to buy and pay for yet another standalone data plan, SIM card, etc.

Secondly, Mac already allows turning it into a Wi-Fi router to share its Ethernet with other devices, so it would be awesome if it allowed sharing cellular data as well.

Face ID

One of the things I like about high-end PCs is the Windows Hello facial recognition unlock, which makes it a breeze to unlock the computer.

Given that I love Face ID on my iPhone and iPad Pro, having the same comfort on my Mac would be fantastic. In my view, this would be better than Touch ID or the slow and unreliable Apple Watch unlock.

Touchscreen and stylus support

I used my nephew’s Windows touchscreen computer a few months back and liked it more than I thought I would. Since the iPad is not getting a potent operating system anytime soon, I am hoping the Mac gets a touchscreen so I can get a touch-based system with an incredible operating system.

Imagine how cool it’d be if you could open the PDF on your MacBook and sign it using an Apple Pencil or run your finger over an unwanted object to remove it with Apple Intelligence Clean Up.

Full iCloud backup

You can already fully back up your Mac to an external hard drive or SSD using the built-in Time Machine feature. But if you want to save all your data to the cloud, you have to rely on third-party options like Backblaze, as automatic iCloud Drive backup is limited to just the Desktop and Documents folders.

Given the fact that the iCloud+ plan goes up to 12 TB, while the highest-tier MacBook Pro is only 8TB, it would be fitting to have the option to back up the computer fully to iCloud.

Desktop-specific widgets

The widgets you add to your iPhone or iPad Home Screen stay on that specific page only. However, the widgets you place on your Mac’s desktop show on all the virtual desktops. I don’t like this at all, and as a result, I’ve chosen not to use widgets on my Mac desktop (instead, I place them in the Notification Center).

Lock Screen widgets

iPad’s Lock Screen supports not one but two sets of widgets — one set for portrait orientation and one for landscape. Apple could make a lot of users happy by enabling widgets on the Mac’s Lock Screen and allowing us to choose whether they appear under the clock or along the left/right edge of the screen.

Now Playing on Mac Lock Screen

Unlike some Windows laptops (looking at you, my Samsung Galaxy Book), MacBooks and Apple’s Magic Keyboard already have useful media keys to play/pause, skip the song, go to the previous track, and change the volume. Still, it’d be nice to have a Now Playing control on Mac’s Lock Screen that shows the song name, album art, and the AirPlay button to pick another sound destination.

App icon tinting

Just like the iPhone and iPad, it would be nice if the app icons in my Mac’s Dock supported Dark Mode styles or a custom color tint.

Better Control Center

Both iOS and macOS have a Control Center. However, the one on Mac is not fully customizable and it doesn’t support third-party apps. Given the clutter in System Settings, I’d love the ability to add my most-used options to the Mac’s Control Center for quick access.

Improved HomePod support

My HomePod experience with my Mac has been marred with connection issues of all kinds, and often, the only fix is to restart the HomePod or my Mac, which takes a while and breaks the workflow. In comparison, my HomePod works flawlessly with my iPhone and iPad. So, I hope Apple does something to smoothen the issues between Mac and HomePod.

AssistiveTouch equivalent

I think having the option to display a virtual, customizable button on my Mac’s screen could make tasks like taking a screenshot or viewing all open apps (similar to the Command + Tab shortcut) much easier. This would be a great complement to keyboard shortcuts for quick actions.

Easily stream audio to two AirPods

You can use Mac’s built-in Audio MIDI Setup app to route the audio to a cluster of different speakers, including AirPods. However, having an easy option to share the audio right from the sound icon in the menu bar or Control Center would be ideal for watching movies or group FaceTime calls.

Health app

The Health app has made its way to the iPad, and it’s nice to see your stats on the big screen. The only way to top this would be to see those data comfortably on an even larger screen so you can really dig deep into the insights.

Apple Music Sing

Apple Music has a Karaoke feature called “Sing” that separates the vocals and music of a song so you can sing along. It’s available on iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV, with the latter even allow you to broadcast the video feed of you singing on the television screen. It’s surprising that Apple Music Sing isn’t available on Mac yet.

Per App Settings

iOS and iPadOS have Per-App accessibility settings that lets you customize the visual settings of only the selected app without those settings affecting your system or other apps. For instance, you can use it to have an app show larger or bold text or appear with increased contrast.

Now, macOS does let you change the text size of a few stock apps, but that isn’t enough—a dedicated, powerful Per-App Setting would be helpful. The first thing I would do is turn on Reduce Transparency for System Settings so the screenshots I take for iDB tutorials are more clear.

Central location to manage default apps

You can go to iOS Settings > Apps > Default Apps to manage your default apps for email, browser, passwords, etc., in one spot.

But things are a bit different on the Mac side.

If you want to change the default web browser app on Mac, you have to go to Desktop and Dock (why?) in System Settings. To change default apps for files, you have to use the Change All button on the Get Info window in Finder. And to change the default email app, you must go to that app’s settings. Given this inconsistency, having one spot to manage all defaults for Mac apps and file types would be perfect.

Which iPhone or iPad features do you want to see come to Mac?

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