AirPlay mirroring on Mountain Lion not available on 2010 MBA?

[saintforlife]

Seriously is there one legitimate reason why I should not be able to mirror my 2010 MacBook Air (13"/1.86/4GB/128) onto my HDTV from my Apple TV using Mountain Lion? This is such BS. So typical of Apple. I am so frickin' mad right now...feel like punching a wall. AirPlay mirroring was one of the main reasons I was going to upgrade to Mountain Lion in the first place. Things like this may one day force me to make my home completely Apple product free.

[Klae]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

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Seriously is there one legitimate reason why I should not be able to mirror my 2010 MacBook Air (13"/1.86/4GB/128) onto my HDTV from my Apple TV using Mountain Lion? This is such BS. So typical of Apple. I am so frickin' mad right now...feel like punching a wall. AirPlay mirroring was one of the main reasons I was going to upgrade to Mountain Lion in the first place. Things like this may one day force me to make my home completely Apple product free.

One think Ive learned about apple is they have a vicious product refresh cycle and if you are a generation behind your screwed, and if you are two generations behind well thats a whole different story. Im sorry there has got to be a work around somewhere.

[icyfire]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

Image

Seriously is there one legitimate reason why I should not be able to mirror my 2010 MacBook Air (13"/1.86/4GB/128) onto my HDTV from my Apple TV using Mountain Lion? This is such BS. So typical of Apple. I am so frickin' mad right now...feel like punching a wall. AirPlay mirroring was one of the main reasons I was going to upgrade to Mountain Lion in the first place. Things like this may one day force me to make my home completely Apple product free.

Apparently you need the Core i5 or i7 for airplay mirroring because it uses a specific piece of code or hardware in these processors to function.

[fyrefly]

Originally Posted by icyfire

Apparently you need the Core i5 or i7 for airplay mirroring because it uses a specific piece of code or hardware in these processors to function.

Yeah, Apple is using Intel's QuickSync video tech to make Airplay work in Mountain Lion. It's only available on Intel Core-i series processors.

More Info:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...o-general.html

I get that it's annoying though, 'cause programs like AirParrot can make mirroring work without QuickSync.

[mattopotamus]

Originally Posted by fyrefly

Yeah, Apple is using Intel's QuickSync video tech to make Airplay work in Mountain Lion. It's only available on Intel Core-i series processors.

More Info:
http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/...o-general.html

I get that it's annoying though, 'cause programs like AirParrot can make mirroring work without QuickSync.

there is your work around

[saintforlife]

I read somewhere that AirParrot is a resource hog and slows down the computer. Has anybody here used AirParrot? If so how does it work? Are you happy with it? Also how is the support from the developer?

[throAU]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

Image

Seriously is there one legitimate reason why I should not be able to mirror my 2010 MacBook Air (13"/1.86/4GB/128) onto my HDTV from my Apple TV using Mountain Lion?

I suspect it has to do with the media encoding instructions in the Core i series to get acceptable performance?

[Mosco]

Originally Posted by saintforlife

I read somewhere that AirParrot is a resource hog and slows down the computer. Has anybody here used AirParrot? If so how does it work? Are you happy with it? Also how is the support from the developer?

Doesn't AirParrot being a resource hog and slow justify Apple leaving that feature out for machines that don't support the latest QuickSync?

[nlflint]

Originally Posted by Mosco

Doesn't AirParrot being a resource hog and slow justify Apple leaving that feature out for machines that don't support the latest QuickSync?

Exactly, AirPlay mirroring works by constantly encoding video of your desktop display then sending it to an AppleTV for decoding. The encoding process, when done without out hardware assist, takes lots of CPU cycles and generates lots of heat. You can see this by using AirParrot or encoding a movie with Handbrake. You'll hear your CPU fan kick into high-gear within a minute and CPU usage go through the roof.

As stated by other posters, Intel Sandy Bridge CPUs are built with hardware assist for video encoding. This greatly improves encoding performance, reduces heat, and reduces battery usage. That's why Apple only enabled AirPlay mirroring for newer Macs, ones with Sandy Bridge or newer.

If you have an old Core2Duo Mac, you can still get airplay by installing the third party utility AirParrot. I have a Mid-2009 with Core2Duo and have been using AirParrot. There are draw backs like heat and fan noise but it works. That's the nature of technological progress.

[hamkor04]

Originally Posted by icyfire

Apparently you need the Core i5 or i7 for airplay mirroring because it uses a specific piece of code or hardware in these processors to function.

i have a fricking over 2k MBP 17 2010 with "i5" core cpu, why i shouldnt get this Airplay mirroring

[Blackened Apple]

Originally Posted by hamkor04

i have a fricking over 2k MBP 17 2010 with "i5" core cpu, why i shouldnt get this Airplay mirroring

Quicksync is available on the Intel Core i series from the second generation onwards. Yours is a first gen Core i5, so it has no Quicksync.

[samteeee]

No disrespect to anyone but I've been using "Airparrot" on my Mac Book Aluminum 2009 for a while now and not only it is really smooth, it doesn't make my unit run hot or overly hogs the processor.

Thank you.

[Wokis]

Originally Posted by Blackened Apple

Quicksync is available on the Intel Core i series from the second generation onwards. Yours is a first gen Core i5, so it has no Quicksync.

This. I notice a lot of people say "core-i has Quicksync" but that's not really true. Only the CPUs based on Sandy Bridge (2011) and Ivy Bridge (2012) have Quicksync.

Furthermore Quicksync is not implemented in Intel's high-end platforms (Sandy Bridge-E and EX). If apple were to release new Mac Pros, they would probably not support airplay. Probably not a huge concern for the designated audience.

Apple is not trying to give the middle finger to anyone with an older mac, the hardware they use is simply not there. Would they have made a software based airplay, it'd probably perform very similar to airparrot. So you might as well use that instead.

[KPOM]

Originally Posted by mattopotamus

there is your work around

Originally Posted by fyrefly

Yeah, Apple is using Intel's QuickSync video tech to make Airplay work in Mountain Lion. It's only available on Intel Core-i series processors.

I get that it's annoying though, 'cause programs like AirParrot can make mirroring work without QuickSync.

Originally Posted by saintforlife

I read somewhere that AirParrot is a resource hog and slows down the computer. Has anybody here used AirParrot? If so how does it work? Are you happy with it? Also how is the support from the developer?

Therein lies the issue. Intel developed QuickSync for exactly that reason. Apple had been criticized before for not taking better advantage of QuickSync. Now that they have, they are catching flak for not supporting Airplay Mirror on Macs that lack QuickSync.