How to: Connect a MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro to a TV

Looking to connect your Mac notebook to a TV, projector, or sound system? Here’s a quick guide that outlines all the things you need to make it happen -- from adapters to cables to ports. Just follow the simple instructions to verify that you're getting exactly what you need. And remember, just because you setup the video side of things correctly doesn't mean you're going to get audio. If you want both video AND audio, make sure to also follow the directions indicated in the "Audio" portion of this post.


VIDEO

Check the ports on the back of your TV or sound system to see which of the following options are available to you. Find the port that matches below, and you're set! Remember, if you also want audio, check the "Audio" section at the bottom of the post.


For standard video quality:

You can use -- or -- for a slight improvement in quality.

If you want to use composite video and you're using a...

• MacBook (white, purchased after fall 2009), you need this adapter + a third party converter + a VGA cable + a composite (aka "RCA") cable.
• Aluminum unibody (black keys, purchased after summer 2009) MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you need this adapter + a third party converter + a VGA cable + a composite (aka "RCA") cable.
• Older MacBook (white or black, purchased before fall 2009), you need this adapter + a composite (aka "RCA") cable.
• Older MacBook Pro (silver keys, purchased before fall 2008), you need this adapter + a composite (aka "RCA") cable.

If you want to use S-Video and you're using a...

• MacBook (white, purchased after fall 2009), you need this adapter + a third-party converter + an S-Video cable.
• Aluminum unibody (black keys, purchased after summer 2009) MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you need this adapter + a third-party converter + an S-Video cable.
• Older MacBook (white or black, purchased before fall 2009), you need this adapter + an S-Video cable.
• Older MacBook Pro (silver keys, purchased before fall 2008), you need this adapter + an S-Video cable.

For better video quality:

You can use -- or -- .

If you want to use VGA and you're using a...

• MacBook (white, purchased after fall 2009), you need this adapter + a VGA cable.
• Aluminum unibody (black keys, purchased after summer 2009) MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you need this adapter + a VGA cable.
• Older MacBook (white or black, purchased before fall 2009), you need this adapter + a VGA cable.
• Older MacBook Pro (silver keys, purchased before fall 2008), you need a DVI to VGA cable.

If you want to use component video and you're using a...

• MacBook (white, purchased after fall 2009), you need this adapter + a VGA-to-component cable.
• Aluminum unibody (black keys, purchased after summer 2009) MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you need this adapter + a VGA-to-component cable.
• Older MacBook (white or black, purchased before fall 2009), you need this adapter + a DVI-to-component cable.
• Older MacBook Pro (silver keys, purchased before fall 2008), you need a DVI-to-component cable.

For the best video quality:

You can use -- or --

If you want to use DVI and you're using a...

• MacBook (white, purchased after fall 2009), you need this adapter + a DVI cable.
• Aluminum unibody (black keys, purchased after summer 2009) MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you need this adapter + a DVI cable.
• Older MacBook (white or black, purchased before fall 2009), you need this adapter + a DVI cable.
• Older MacBook Pro (silver keys, purchased before fall 2008), you need a DVI cable.

If you want to use HDMI* and you're using a...

• MacBook (white, purchased after fall 2009), you need this adapter (which now supports audio!) + an HDMI cable.
  
  [Alt. configuration: this adapter + a DVI-to-HDMI cable.] (Note: no audio will be transmitted using the alt. configuration. See "AUDIO" section, below.)​
• Aluminum unibody (black keys, purchased after summer 2009) MacBook, MacBook Air, or MacBook Pro, you need this adapter (which now supports audio!) + an HDMI cable.
  
  [Alt. configuration: this adapter + a DVI-to-HDMI cable.] (Note: no audio will be transmitted using the alt. configuration. See "AUDIO" section, below.)​
• Older MacBook (white or black, purchased before fall 2009), you need a third-party adapter + an HDMI cable. (Note: no audio will be transmitted. See "AUDIO" section, below.)
  
  [Alt. configuration: this adapter + a DVI-to-HDMI cable.] (Note: no audio will be transmitted. See "AUDIO" section, below.)​
• Older MacBook Pro (silver keys, purchased before fall 2008), you need a DVI-to-HDMI cable. (Note: no audio will be transmitted. See "AUDIO" section, below.)

*The HDMI warning: If using HDMI on any Mac, keep in mind that without the proper adapter, audio from your Mac will not be transmitted though the HDMI cable. Because of this, you may need a separate audio cable (as outlined at the bottom of this post). However, some television sets will not allow audio to come from an outside source when using HDMI only for video. Therefore, you may want to check with your television's manufacturer to determine if the setup is possible.




AUDIO

Check the ports on the back of your TV or sound system to see which of the following options are available to you.

For standard audio quality:

You can use analog .

If you're using any Mac notebook, you need a 3.5mm to stereo audio (aka "headphone to RCA").



For the best audio quality:

You can use digital sound.

If you're using any model of MacBook or MacBook Pro, you need a mini Optical to Optical cable (aka "mini Toslink to Toslink").


Hope this helps!

kasakka said:

You should add that with HDMI you can also use a DVI -> HDMI cable because that way you can buy the mini-DP -> DVI adapter, which is more multipurpose than the HDMI adapter.

Click to expand...

Done. There are probably several other alternate configurations out there. Whether or not I'd post all the possibilities I don't know, as I don't want it to be too cluttered. But in this case, your suggestion made sense so I went ahead and added it.

runebinder said:

Nice guide, don't understand why you have VGA with S Video and component with DVI and HDMI though.

Component and VGA are both analogue and capable of outputing to 720p (something that standard S Video isn't capable of), so would have them 2 together. DVI and HDMI are digital and can output to 1080p so would rate them as better than Component.

Click to expand...

Hmm, I was under a different impression. I did some research on the topic and it seems that there are a lot of people who go back and forth between the two. It makes sense though, so I went ahead and put VGA and Component on the same tier.

S-Video isn't as good, however, although it is slightly better than composite. Perhaps I'll just put it under "standard" quality with a note that it is slightly higher quality than standard composite.