macOS Big Sur 11.1 Enables Full-Screen iPhone and iPad Apps on M1 Macs

Tuesday December 15, 2020 8:00 am PST by Joe Rossignol

Apple yesterday released macOS Big Sur version 11.1, with headline new features including AirPods Max support, privacy labels in the Mac App Store, a dedicated Apple TV+ tab in the TV app, and the ability to edit ProRAW photos in the Photos app.

Another notable change mentioned in the update's release notes is the ability for iPhone and iPad apps with non-resizable windows to enter full-screen mode on Macs with the M1 chip, which is particularly useful for video apps like HBO Max. macOS 11.1 also allows iPhone and iPad app windows to be switched between landscape and portrait orientations.

As noted by The 8-Bit, users on Reddit have confirmed that full-screen mode works as expected with games like XCOM and Tropico.

It is only possible to run iPhone and iPad apps on Macs with the M1 chip, which shares the same Arm architecture as A-series chips in the iPhone and iPad. Mobile apps are labeled with "Designed for iPhone" or "Designed for iPad" in the Mac App Store.

macOS 11.1 allows the HBO Max iPad app to go full screen. Our long national nightmare is over. — Chris Domico (@chrisdomico) December 14, 2020

Related Roundup: macOS Big Sur

Top Rated Comments

Maconplasma

18 weeks ago

Does it fix the signature issue in mail?

Nothing says off topic more than this post. Thread is about full screen iOS games on the M1 Mac. ?

Score: 9 Votes (Like | Disagree)

dannyyankou

18 weeks ago

Hilarious to see how these games pan out without a touch screen ?

A controller?

Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)

crawfish963

18 weeks ago

A controller can only do so much to most games and apps that utilize swipes be complex finger movements.

Example: Fruit Ninja

I have never said to myself, "Hey, I really want to play fruit ninja-an app designed for a phone-on my M1 Mac."

Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)

warp9

18 weeks ago

Still looks boxy to me, I presume it's not scaled up, it's simply full screen?!

I tested it with my own published game (that dynamically scales to fit the resolution) and it runs as an ipad app just scaled up. It's slightly blurry on a 4k screen.

Score: 3 Votes (Like | Disagree)

macbookfan

18 weeks ago

Can someone tell me how to exit full screen mode when in clamshell mode? The ESC button does noting. The only way I've been able to close a full screen universal app is to open the clamshell and multi swipe on the trackpad. Theres gotta be a better way right?

Esc button doesn't work? Very strange. Did you try tabbing out?

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

dannyyankou

18 weeks ago

A controller can only do so much to most games and apps that utilize swipes be complex finger movements.

Example: Fruit Ninja

Try playing fruit ninja for 5 minutes on a vertical touchscreen. It would be very uncomfortable.

Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

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