As always, Apple does its best in its walled garden

Apple on Monday revealed a ton of new features coming to our devices this fall. The headline feature, of course, is Apple Intelligence, which brings the world of generative AI to iPhone, iPad, and Mac with writing tools, image and emoji creation, and a new era for Siri.

But again, the features we’ll be most excited about when they arrive this fall are the ones that take advantage of the way everything works together in the Apple ecosystem. The coolest feature by far is iPhone mirroring, which is part of macOS 15 Sequoia. This is another fantastic continuity feature, like Universal Control and Sidecar, and it allows you to view what’s on your iPhone and control it too, without having to reach for it.

The demo was like watching one of the “Boom!” » by Steve Jobs. moments when something works because, well, it’s Apple. You can literally wirelessly access your iPhone on your Mac and use it as if it were in your hand. Drag and drop photos and files between the two devices, launch iPhone apps on your Mac, and respond to notifications while your iPhone remains locked in another room. It’s the perfect Apple feature and the reason people willingly enter the walled garden. No other company can offer a feature so seamlessly: not Google, not Samsung, not Microsoft.

Or take the new iPad calculator. Yes, it’s ridiculous that it took 14 years to get a Calculator app on the tablet, but there’s a lot more to it than just number buttons. Thanks to the power of the Apple Pencil, iPad users can write down numbers and symbols in their own handwriting and the calculator will still recognize equations as if plugged in the old fashioned way. Once again, magic.

While other tablet pens are good, if not great, for writing and drawing, only Apple understands the relationship between its devices and how the relationship between them can be augmented through software. The iPad and Apple Pencil are already great, but Calculator and Math Notes take it to a new level that only Apple can achieve. Take either one out of the Apple ecosystem and the experience just isn’t the same.

This is a different form of Apple Intelligence, which is smartest when all devices are in sync. As Apple’s family of devices has evolved and matured, features like Math Notes and iPhone Mirroring have not only become possible, they have become commonplace. Apple devices complement each other in a way that makes users want to stay in the garden, regardless of the height of the walls.