Anyone who owns an Apple Vision Pro can easily connect it to a Mac and then share the Mac’s screen with the spatial computer. This allows you to use a virtual 4K display.
The entire screen of the Mac is then displayed one on one on the Vision Pro. You can easily adjust the size of the virtual window and bring it closer. You can also use visionOS apps in your spatial environment.
Virtual Mac Display Terms
To share your Mac’s screen with the Vision Pro and use the virtual 4K display, your Mac must meet a number of conditions.
- Sign in with the same Apple ID on both devices
- Two-factor authentication for Apple ID must be enabled
- Both devices must use iCloud Keychain
- macOS Sonoma or later must be installed on the Mac
- Both devices must have Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled
Link Mac to Vision Pro
If you want to share your Mac’s screen with a Vision Pro, you can use the virtual 4K screen for Mac. You can activate this in two ways, depending on your Mac. To do this, follow the steps below.
Steps for MacBook
- Open your MacBook, activate the screen and log in
- While wearing the Vision Pro, look at your Mac’s screen
- A ‘Connect button’ will appear above the screen
- Look at this button and select it
Steps for Desktop
On an iMac, Mac Pro, Mac mini and Mac Studio, you can connect via the Vision Pro control panel. This can also be done on a MacBook when looking at the screen does not work.
- Turn on and unlock your Mac
- Look up when wearing the Vision Pro
- Select the arrow button (v) to open the control panel
- Open the control panel via the switch symbols
- Select the Mac with Vision Pro icon to activate the virtual screen
- Choose your Mac from the list
Use Virtual Display for Mac
When your Mac connects, the screen will appear as a window in Apple Vision Pro. If you have multiple screens connected to your Mac, the Mac’s virtual display will only show the screen you set as the main screen. So you can only use one virtual screen.
As with all windows for visionOS, you can resize or move the window. To do this, look at the bottom left or right corner of the window and pinch and hold with two fingers while dragging. By looking at the window bar (the horizontal white bar at the bottom of any app), pinching and dragging you can move the window.
Use your Mac’s built-in keyboard and trackpad, or the connected Bluetooth keyboard and trackpad, to work on your Mac within Apple Vision Pro. While you’re using the Mac virtual screen, sounds from your Mac (such as notifications) will continue to come from your Mac, not Apple Vision Pro.
Of course, you can also display other Vision Pro apps next to the screen in spatial view in addition to your Mac’s screen.
End session
When you’re done, select the close button at the bottom of the Mac window to disconnect the Vision from your computer.
Virtual Mac screen resolution
If you have connected the Vision Pro to a Mac computer with Apple Silicon, the virtual display will appear in 4K resolution. If you have a Mac with an Intel processor, it will appear in 3K. You can adjust the resolution via System Settings â–¸ Displays on your Mac.