// SOFTWARE COMPARISON
MirrorUE vs QuickTime Player: Why QuickTime Falls Short for Mirroring
For over a decade, developers and content creators used QuickTime Player's "New Movie Recording" feature to mirror an iPhone over USB. While functional as a basic capture window, QuickTime was never designed as an interactive mirroring tool.
Key Limitations of QuickTime Player
- No Mouse or Keyboard Control: QuickTime is strictly read-only video playback. You cannot click, swipe, or type on your phone from your Mac.
- Framerate Limited to 60 FPS (often 30 FPS): QuickTime does not support 120 FPS ProMotion feeds from modern iPhone Pro models.
- High Video Delay (120-250 ms): QuickTime buffers frames internally for recording encoding, introducing noticeable latency.
- Cumbersome Setup: Requires manually creating a New Movie Recording, switching video input to iPhone, and managing volume sliders to avoid feedback.
How MirrorUE Replaces QuickTime
⚡ 120 FPS Metal Pipeline
Renders uncompressed CVPixelBuffers directly to CAMetalLayer at full hardware refresh rates with < 20 ms latency.
⌨️ Bidirectional UniversalHID
Translates Mac mouse clicks, trackpad scrolls, and physical keystrokes straight into iOS touch events.
⏺️ 1-Click HEVC Capture
Record crisp ProRes/HEVC clips or take pixel-perfect PNG screenshots instantly without menu navigation.