Picking the Right Quality in Beam

Updated October 2026 · Beam 3.5, Beacon 1.8 · 6 min read

Beam has three separate things you can tune: the resolution (how many pixels), the frame rate (how many pictures a second), and the stream mode (whether Beam favours a fast response or a steady, detailed picture). Each one is below, with what it costs.

Where the settings live

• While streaming: tap the quality label in the top bar to switch presets. The change applies right away.
• In Beam's Settings: Default Quality and Mode under Stream, Quality When Away under Away From Home, and the finer controls under Advanced.

Resolution

Each preset sets a resolution and a frame rate, and with them the bitrate Beacon aims for. More pixels mean a sharper picture and more data over your Wi-Fi.

Why some presets don't show up

Beam only lists sizes the Mac display you're streaming can produce. Beacon tells Beam the display's full pixel size when you connect:

• 1440p appears when the display is at least 2560 pixels wide.
• 4K appears when it is at least 3840 pixels wide, such as a 4K or 5K monitor.
• Native appears when it is wider than 2560 pixels, which includes the built-in screens of recent 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pros.

The higher presets need Beam 3.5 and Beacon 1.8 or later. With an older Beacon, Beam stops at 1080p. Beacon updates itself, or you can grab the latest version below.

Is higher always better?

Not on a phone. A recent iPhone screen is about 2,500 to 2,900 pixels on its long edge, so past 1440p you are mostly paying for pixels you can't see unless you zoom in. On an iPad, or if you pinch to zoom into code or a spreadsheet, the extra detail is real. Higher presets also make the Mac's encoder and your Wi-Fi work harder, which can add a little latency. If the picture stutters, step down one preset.

Frame rate

Every preset comes in 30 or 60 fps. 30 is fine for watching a download bar or reading, and uses less data. 60 makes video, scrolling and games look smooth.

Up to 120 fps

Beam can go past 60. With Match Screen Refresh Rate turned on (it's under Advanced and on by default), Beam asks the Mac for frames at your phone's refresh rate. On a ProMotion iPhone or iPad that's 120 fps.

A few rules decide what you actually get:

• Only the 60 fps presets are raised. The 30 fps ones are meant for slow links and stay at 30.
• The Mac can't send more frames than its display draws. A MacBook Pro with ProMotion, or an external display running at 120 Hz, can feed 120 fps. A 60 Hz display tops out at 60.
• Turning the setting off keeps streams at the preset's own rate and saves battery. It applies from the next connection.

Resolution and frame rate are separate choices, so 4K 60 fps and Native 60 fps can be raised to 120 fps too, when both screens support it. That is a lot of video for one Mac to encode and for Wi-Fi to carry. If 4K at 120 fps isn't smooth on your setup, 1440p or 1080p at 120 fps usually feels better than 4K at a stuttering rate.

Stream mode

The mode decides what Beam gives up when it has to choose between a fast response and a perfect picture. You'll find it under Stream in Settings and in the in-stream settings sheet, and it applies live.

• Game is for the fastest response. It caps video at 6 Mbps and shows each frame the instant it arrives. On an iPhone, receiving less data means your presses land sooner.
• Video is for the best picture. It uses the preset's full bitrate and holds frames very briefly so they play at a steady rhythm, adding about 10 to 30 ms.
• Auto, the default, uses Game while a controller is connected or click mode is on, and Video the rest of the time.
• Custom appears when you change Max Bitrate or Frame Pacing yourself under Advanced.

One thing to know: Game mode's 6 Mbps cap applies to every preset. If you pick 4K and turn on click mode while the mode is Auto, the picture drops to 6 Mbps. When you want to click around and still see every detail, set the mode to Video.

Advanced settings

Most people never need these. They sit in a collapsed Advanced section at the bottom of Beam's Settings.

• Frame Pacing: Lowest Latency or Smoothest. The stream mode sets it for you.
• Max Bitrate: a ceiling from 1 to 30 Mbps, or no limit. It can only lower what the preset allows.
• Prefer H.264: Beam uses HEVC by default, which needs less bandwidth for the same picture. Switch to H.264 if video ever looks wrong.
• Match Screen Refresh Rate: the 120 fps setting described above.
• Legacy Transport: keeps video on the older TCP connection instead of the faster UDP path. Only for troubleshooting. Beam already falls back on its own if the fast path fails.
• Keep Screen Awake: stops the phone from locking while you stream.
• Latency Meter: shows how old each frame is when it arrives, so you can see what a setting change does.

Recipes

Settings away from home

Streams over the internet carry far less than home Wi-Fi. Beam keeps a separate Quality When Away setting for them, so you don't have to change your home setting every time you leave. Beam also warns you when the preset looks too heavy for the connection you're on. More in the away-from-home guide.

Frequently asked questions

Related: streaming one Mac window · playing Mac games with a controller