- Apple has marked the beginning of a new continuity function with iOS 18.4 and Macos Sequoia 15.4
- You can now use an iPhone or iPad to help configure your Mac
- While it is relatively small, this could be a great time jump
Part of what makes Apple’s ecosystem so good, and attractive to newcomers or people who only buy new devices, is the continuity between them, including the configuration. For example, to configure an Apple Watch or Airpods, simply keep the device near your iPhone.
An iPad configuration? Keep it near your iPhone, follow the steps and scan the bright blue orb. Configure a new iPhone? Keep it near your old iPhone. This takes a large part of the manual nature of a new device configuration and even helps authenticate your account.
While iOS 18.4, Ipados 18.4 and Macos Sequoia 15.4 did not bring with them the next main set of Intelligence characteristics of Apple, they brought them something incredible. And if you are getting a new Mac, planning to get one or restore your old, you expect a gift.
While it is updated, which means that your MAC has the latest version of Sequoia and its iPhone or iPad is running iOS or iPados 18.4, you can now configure that new Mac with your other Apple device. Really ordered, and I could save time. As with the fast configuration, you will need Wi-Fi and Bluetooth enabled for these two devices to connect.
So what accelerates this quick configuration? More important Wi-Fi credentials, design options such as dark mode or icon size, accessibility characteristics and more. In addition, since it is authentic and registered with its Apple account (formerly Apple ID), you can choose to activate ICLOUD functions such as a shared desktop, your photo library, cloud messages, your long list of passwords, notes and other elements.
How your MAC configuration works with an iPhone or iPad
Now, the good news is that this whole process really accelerates the configuration process for its MAC, and that is applied if it is a desktop, such as Mac Mini, Mac Studio, or IMAC, or a laptop, such as Macbook Air or MacBook Pro.
The MAC will still start and select its language, but then, on the family screen that requests “transfer your data to this MAC”, you will find a new option:
- From a Mac, a time machine or a start album
- From a Windows PC
- Configure with iPhone or iPad
- Configured as new
That third option, configuring with iPhone or iPad, is what you will need to select to do exactly that. From there, your Mac will begin to look for a close device, and want to unlock your iPhone or iPad and bring it closer.
Then, as when configuring a new iPhone or an iPad, a splash screen will appear at the bottom asking if you want to use your Apple account to “configure the new MAC”. Simply press Continue and then scan a pattern shown in your Mac with your iPhone. That is the last step for authentication here.
After that, you will be asked if you want to enable any accessibility settings and then create your Mac account. The last step is a waiting game since your Apple account synchronizes your MAC, and then you can conclude the configuration.
Basically, it is accelerating through the authentication process and obtaining some of the previously personalized configurations associated with its new MAC.
It is good to have it, and if you have ever feared you configure your new Mac, you might ask how you have lived without it.
