Airplay from iPad & iPhone to Apple TV 2

[simonand]

I've been thinking about getting an Apple TV 2 but I have a couple of questions.

1. Does the Apple TV 2 receiver have to always be plugged into a Mac?

2. If it is not plugged into a mac, what functionality does it lose?

3. Basically, I'm happy to just use it as a receiver to play movies and streaming video and music from my iPad and iPhone on my TV. In other words, I just want to use it as a way of playing videos and music from my iPad and iPhone presumably via Airplay without the need for a mac. Is this possible?

4. I just bought an HDMI adapter for my iPad. Will having Apple TV 2 and using Airplay make this redundant?

Thanks.

 

[eTip]

I've been thinking about getting an Apple TV 2 but I have a couple of questions.

1. Does the Apple TV 2 receiver have to always be plugged into a Mac?

2. If it is not plugged into a mac, what functionality does it lose?

3. Basically, I'm happy to just use it as a receiver to play movies and streaming video and music from my iPad and iPhone on my TV. In other words, I just want to use it as a way of playing videos and music from my iPad and iPhone presumably via Airplay without the need for a mac. Is this possible?

4. I just bought an HDMI adapter for my iPad. Will having Apple TV 2 and using Airplay make this redundant?

Thanks.

1) it doesn't plug into your Mac. You connect it to the same network (wired or wireless) as your Mac.

2) see 1

3) sure

4) not completely. Some apps will output video via the HDMI but not AirPlay (and vice versa, I believe). Also, if you have an iPad2 the HDMI cable will allow you to mirror the display on the ATV.

 

[simonand]

Thanks very much for that.

1) it doesn't plug into your Mac. You connect it to the same network (wired or wireless) as your Mac.

So by not having a mac connected wirelssly to it (I don;t want to have a mac permanently on at home just for Apple TV) what fuctionality do I lose?

 

[eTip]

Thanks very much for that.



So by not having a mac connected wirelssly to it (I don;t want to have a mac permanently on at home just for Apple TV) what fuctionality do I lose?

The ability to stream any content that's in iTunes on your Mac. The ATV2 has only enough storage to temporarily store a rented movie.

The ATV1 has it's own hard drive & you can sync it to your Mac & then play back all of your content whether the Mac is on or not. If that's what you want to do, ATV1's are available on eBay for as little as $50 (for the 40 gig model). However, the ATV1 does not do AirPlay unless you hack it & install RemoteHD. You can also *purchase* movies & music and *download* Podcasts directly from the ATV1 - which you cannot on ATV2 since it lacks a an HD.

I have 3 ATV's: an ATv2 in the living room hacked & running XBMC, an ATV1 in the bedroom hacked & AirPlay capable also running XBMC and another ATV1 in my office - not hacked (primarily used for iTunes streaming from my Mac).

 

[simonand]

Thanks for that.

So in short, I'll be able to Airplay any videos and music from any Airplay enabled device, plus access flickr, youtube etc and also rent films from iTunes Store?

I won't be able to play anything on my mac, unless I connect it to the ATV2 either wirelessly or via a cable?

I'm assumin if I've got something streaming onto my iPad (BBC iPlayer) I can then airplay that to ATV2 to a[ppear on my TV?

 

[tiptopp]

Thanks for that.

So in short, I'll be able to Airplay any videos and music from any Airplay enabled device, plus access flickr, youtube etc and also rent films from iTunes Store?

I won't be able to play anything on my mac, unless I connect it to the ATV2 either wirelessly or via a cable?

I'm assumin if I've got something streaming onto my iPad (BBC iPlayer) I can then airplay that to ATV2 to appear on my TV?

Its not quite that easy, unfortunately. iOS5 on your iPad and Apple TV (4.4 actually) allows you to replace the HDMI cable for the purposes of mirroring what's on your iPad on your HDTV. In the meantime, not all video content can be Airplayed to your Apple TV. BBC iPlayer and Channel 4OD, for instance, can't be, as they haven't been enabled for that purpose. So for now, you use a cable, and with iOS5 you'll mirror. I've briefly played with the Airplay mirroring, with some success, but it was quite stuttery for me. Other people report much better results. I'm sure it'll be sorted out in later beta releases.

I bought an Apple TV recently, and love what it does, but it only becomes really useful here in the UK when mirroring comes of age in the Autumn.

Tiptopp

 

[simonand]

Thanks tiptop.

Yeah, I'm just weighing up whether it's worth getting.

 

[eTip]

Also, I believe the general consensus is that IOS5 will bring mirroring via AirPlay to ATV2 only from an iPad2 - not from iPad1 or iPhones. The iPad 2 is the only device that does mirroring now with the HDMI cable.....