Osegi
Software·2 min read

DuoBook: Pocket Mac turns a folded iPhone Duo into a MacBook

A free app called DuoBook: Pocket Mac shows your home Mac on the top half of a half-folded iPhone Duo, with a keyboard and trackpad below. It's remote access, not macOS.

A half-folded iPhone Duo standing like a book, showing a Mac screen on the top half and a keyboard and trackpad on the bottom half.
Image: ギズモード・ジャパン
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Ever packed a laptop, charger and spare cables for a day that ended up being two emails and a PDF? A free app called DuoBook: Pocket Mac, now on the App Store, is aimed at exactly that day. Fold an iPhone Duo about halfway, stand it up like a book, and it behaves like a small MacBook.

The top half shows the screen of your Mac at home. The bottom half shows a keyboard and trackpad. The app follows the hinge angle, so when you open the phone flat, the screen gets bigger and the trackpad gets wider.

The keyboard layout matches a Mac laptop, including a top row with brightness, Mission Control, Spotlight and dictation. Modifier keys such as ⌘ can be tapped once to apply to the next key only, or twice to lock. The Touch ID key locks the Mac, and the app even reproduces key click sounds and vibration. Version 1.1 added a Touch Bar, which changes with the app you're using: back and forward in Safari, play and skip in Music, slide controls in Keynote.

How does DuoBook: Pocket Mac work?

macOS is not running inside the iPhone. The app mirrors the screen of a Mac running at home or in the office and sends your key presses and pointer movements back to it. That means the Mac has to stay powered on. Version 1.1 can wake a sleeping Mac.

To connect from outside, turn on "Access from anywhere" in the Mac's DuoBook Host app, and connect once over your home Wi-Fi. With a compatible router, setup is often automatic. The Mac's address is stored in your own iCloud. Pairing means matching a six-digit code shown on both screens.

You can also hear the Mac's audio on the iPhone, paste text copied on the Mac, and send photos or files to the Mac's Downloads folder.

What do you need to use it?

A Mac running macOS 14 Sonoma or later, with the free DuoBook Host installed and screen recording and accessibility permissions granted. Add a power bank and you can leave the laptop or tablet at home. The iPhone Duo itself starts at 364,800 yen in Japan.

Apps worth a look

SUMO: the number puzzle

Tap the right tiles, add them up, hit the target. Easy to learn, hard to master. Free, for all ages.

Tags:iphone duoduobookmacbookremote desktopapp storemacos

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