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How can I wirelessly stream my macbook to the tv?

starbright01

starbright01

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 8, 2015
79
20
I need a to find a way to to mirror the desktop screen not just movies and music.

I'm aware of the Apple TV.

But will it mirror my desktop?
I need to be able to leave my computer locked up in a safe place & if prefer its wireless so if someone tried to steal something all they would find near the tv was the apple box rather than my brand new 2000 dollar MacBook.
 
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starbright01 said:
I was told on the apple community site that I had to pay for another app subscription called airparrot to enable the desktop mirroring & I don't really want to do that.
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You don't have to pay for any additional software if your system meets the minimum requirements on the link I posted.

Which MacBook Pro are you using?
 
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T5BRICK said:
It'll work fine. You can mirror your desktop with no additional software.

Off topic, but why did you choose to go with the non-retina MacBook Pro?
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Thx!!

Much cheaper, built in cd drive & also was able to upgrade to a terabyte hard drive for only 60 extra.

Also glad I went with non retina because recently I have been reading that the retina screen can literally be destroyed by the acidic fluids that comes off of hands.
 
starbright01 said:
Also glad I went with non retina because recently I have been reading that the retina screen can literally be destroyed by the acidic fluids that comes off of hands.
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There have been reports of screen issues on the rMBPs, but it seems to be blown out of proportion.

Either way, hope you enjoy your new computer!
 
T5BRICK said:
There have been reports of screen issues on the rMBPs, but it seems to be blown out of proportion.

Either way, hope you enjoy your new computer!
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Thx! I am overly excited as this is going to be my first MacBook and I am currently using a crappy, extremely heavy, slow IBM PC laptop.

Do you know if Apple TV will work on hotel wifi? I travel a lot.
 
Personally, the non-Retina MBP is quite obsolete and overpriced for its age, so the retina would be a better choice, but hey, choose what you want! :)
starbright01 said:
Do you know if Apple TV will work on hotel wifi? I travel a lot.
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Fairly certain its Wi-Fi is extremely powerful. So, assuming the hotel Wi-Fi is at least semi-decent, it should work well.

You can either buy the 3rd gen for 100CAD (you posted a link to the Canadian MBP order page, so I assume you live in Canada) or the new generation for 200CAD, which has much more features, but both have the AirPlay function you're looking for.
 
garirry said:
Personally, the non-Retina MBP is quite obsolete and overpriced for its age, so the retina would be a better choice, but hey, choose what you want! :)

Fairly certain its Wi-Fi is extremely powerful. So, assuming the hotel Wi-Fi is at least semi-decent, it should work well.

You can either buy the 3rd gen for 100CAD (you posted a link to the Canadian MBP order page, so I assume you live in Canada) or the new generation for 200CAD, which has much more features, but both have the AirPlay function you're looking for.
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Actually I found it quite reasonable if I would have gotten the newest MacBook Pro with the upgrades with only being able to max to 500 gb hd, +Apple care too it would have cost me almost 3000 dollars just to get a better screen & few extra hrs battery that I hook up to a tv and leave plugged in & lock up somewhere around the room.

I only paid 2 grand for mine. A terabyte verses 500 is way better for me because i would fill up 500 easy.

I'm in love with my apps and I'm actually buying the MacBook so I can delete some apps and pictures off my phone because I don't even have enough room on my phone to even have music on it.
 
starbright01 said:
Do you know if Apple TV will work on hotel wifi? I travel a lot.
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It depends on the wifi setup at the hotel. A lot of them use client isolation, meaning even if your laptop and Apple TV are on the same wifi network, they will not be able to talk to each other. The solution would be to set up your own wifi hotspot. The usual brands like D-Link have something available, I am not sure if something like the Apple Airport Express would work.
 
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kazibole said:
It depends on the wifi setup at the hotel. A lot of them use client isolation, meaning even if your laptop and Apple TV are on the same wifi network, they will not be able to talk to each other. The solution would be to set up your own wifi hotspot. The usual brands like D-Link have something available, I am not sure if something like the Apple Airport Express would work.
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That's what I'm hoping will work so if I have crappy wifi I can make my own hotspot from the Apple TV.
 
I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas again, oh dear!

They made me sit here all day and maybe tomorrow waiting when they said they have it. :'(
 
Ok so now according to Apple there is no function to close the screen when you mirror it with Apple TV. I'm soo pissed I paid for a 10 dollar app to keep my screen awake and it didn't work.

Does anyone have suggestions?
 
starbright01 said:
Ok so now according to Apple there is no function to close the screen when you mirror it with Apple TV. I'm soo pissed I paid for a 10 dollar app to keep my screen awake and it didn't work.

Does anyone have suggestions?
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Turn the brightness all the way down?
 
T5BRICK said:
Turn the brightness all the way down?
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I did that but I want to safely hide my computer for when I have company so I guess I'm stuck finding a place i can leave it open to hide it. Apple told me to look for a app but I already spent 10 bucks on something that didn't work

I gave apple an ear full they said they would look into putting the feature back on
 
starbright01 said:
Ok so now according to Apple there is no function to close the screen when you mirror it with Apple TV. I'm soo pissed I paid for a 10 dollar app to keep my screen awake and it didn't work.

Does anyone have suggestions?
Click to expand...
I'm not sure why you'd want to do that in the first place? Close what screen exactly?
 
snaky69 said:
I'm not sure why you'd want to do that in the first place? Close what screen exactly?
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Lol I mean close the macbook so I can hide my laptop when I have company

My intention on buying the Apple TV was so I could hide anywhere I wanted my computer without having a trail of cords linking it.

Having the screen open makes it hard to hide when I don't want people to know where it is
 
starbright01 said:
Lol I mean close the macbook so I can hide my laptop when I have company

My intention on buying the Apple TV was so I could hide anywhere I wanted my computer without having a trail of cords linking it.

Having the screen open makes it hard to hide when I don't want people to know where it is
Click to expand...
You still need to control what's on screen, were you planning on buying a wireless keyboard and mouse?

If you need to hide valuables when you have company over, I'd consider just not having these people over.
 
starbright01 said:
Ok so now according to Apple there is no function to close the screen when you mirror it with Apple TV. I'm soo pissed I paid for a 10 dollar app to keep my screen awake and it didn't work.

Does anyone have suggestions?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if it will work, but I bought an app that I almost immediately found I had no use for. While I was on the phone with tech support, they called over to iTunes and got me a refund. They saw that the purchase date was too close to suspect abuse or fraud.
 
comics addict said:
Have you tried the NoSleep utility https://github.com/integralpro/nosleep/releases/tag/v1.4.0 which still works under OS X El Capitan. It allows you to close the lid and keep the computer from going into sleep mode. Not sure going forward since it seems the app hasn't been updated since yosemite came out last year but so far so good. It's free.
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No none of them will work I have already tried. I've also tried turning it on mirror from a screen app on my phone while the laptop was closed.. Lol it like scrambled up my screen a bit and stopped mirroring the Mac as soon as I closed the screen app
 
starbright01 said:
No none of them will work I have already tried. I've also tried turning it on mirror from a screen app on my phone while the laptop was closed.. Lol it like scrambled up my screen a bit and stopped mirroring the Mac as soon as I closed the screen app
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How would it not work? I'm running the latest release of El Capitan with SIP enabled and it works flawlessly. What is your operating system ?
 
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