macOS Big Sur 11.1 for M1 Macs enables iPhone and iPad apps with non-resizable windows, like HBO Max, to enter full-screen mode
Context & Ripple Effects
When Apple announced that Macs running its own silicon could natively run iOS apps through the shared architecture, it inherited a catalog problem: many iPhone and iPad apps ship with fixed, non-resizable windows, so titles like HBO Max landed on M1 Macs in awkward phone-sized panes. Big Sur 11.1 is a patch on that seam, letting even locked-window apps go full-screen.
The fix matters because streaming is the highest-profile use case — video apps are exactly the category least likely to be rewritten for macOS first. Apple kept iterating: by Big Sur 11.3, it went further and let users resize iPhone and iPad windows outright.
First-order effects
- M1 Mac owners using fixed-window iOS apps like HBO Max can finally watch in full-screen mode instead of a small centered pane, no developer update required.
Second-order effects
- Streaming services whose iOS apps now behave like real Mac video clients face less pressure to ship dedicated macOS builds, making the iOS binary their default Mac delivery vehicle.
Third-order effects
- If the cadence from 11.1's full-screen fix to 11.3's resizable windows holds, the iOS App Store becomes a transitional Mac software library while the native Apple Silicon catalog catches up — with Parallels' Windows-ARM route covering the other half of the compatibility gap.
The trend: Apple Silicon Macs are progressively absorbing iPhone and iPad software through incremental OS fixes, buying time until native macOS versions arrive.