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Airplay mirror mac to mac?

tweaknmod

tweaknmod

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 13, 2012
527
1,794
Ottawa, Ontario
With ML's Airplay feature, is it possible to use it from one mac to another?

I have an old Macbook (running Snow Leopard) hooked up to my TV for Plex. I am getting a new MBA (should arrive this week).

Will I be able to mirror what I have on my Air while sitting on the couch, to my TV? I don't mind updating the old macbook that's hooked up to my TV to ML, if necessary, but is it possible to do this with a macbook, instead of appleTV?
 
P

pdjudd

macrumors 601
Jun 19, 2007
4,037
65
Plymouth, MN
It has to be another AppleTV - Mac’s and iOS devices are only able to broadcast Airplay and not receive it by default.
 
tweaknmod

tweaknmod

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 13, 2012
527
1,794
Ottawa, Ontario
pdjudd said:
It has to be another AppleTV - Mac’s and iOS devices are only able to broadcast Airplay and not receive it by default.
Click to expand...

Wow, that was quick! Thanks for your reply!

I wonder if some lovely developer out there will write some kind if tweak for this... hint hint... ;)
 
J

Jelite

macrumors 6502a
Feb 16, 2008
668
1
UK
I have XBMC on my mac mini which receives video from apple devices, obviously this isnt the same as mirroring though.
 
J

JohnDoe98

macrumors 68020
May 1, 2009
2,488
99
tweaknmod said:
It's for mac or iOS device to Apple TV... traditionally

----------



Looks great! BUT will it work mac to mac? or just ios to mac?
Click to expand...

Your not making much sense and it seems to me you don't understand what these features do.

Airplay has many functions. It can:

Send audio from Mac/iOS Device to Airport Express/Apple TV/Airplay Speakers (from iTunes)
Send video from Mac/iOS Device to Apple TV (from iTunes)
Send your screen/audio with Airplay Mirroring in Mountain Lion (from anywhere in OS X) from your Mac to your Apple TV.
Send your screen/audio with Airplay Mirroring in iOS from your iOS Device to your Apple TV.

Some tweaks allow you to expand those features, turning your Mac/iOS devices into Airplay speakers/recipients. But in any case: you want to go from Mac to Mac.

Well, the point I was making was that you can already do that without having to use Airplay at all. Screen sharing is built-into OS X for a while now and it allows you to send all your video/audio/screen to another Mac and it is entirely separate from Airplay. So if you play something on your MacBook Air in Plex, it'll show up on your MacBook hooked up to your TV, as you said you wanted. You don't need Mountain Lion and you don't need Airplay.
 
tweaknmod

tweaknmod

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Feb 13, 2012
527
1,794
Ottawa, Ontario
JohnDoe98 said:
Your not making much sense and it seems to me you don't understand what these features do.

Airplay has many functions. It can:

Send audio from Mac/iOS Device to Airport Express/Apple TV/Airplay Speakers (from iTunes)
Send video from Mac/iOS Device to Apple TV (from iTunes)
Send your screen/audio with Airplay Mirroring in Mountain Lion (from anywhere in OS X) from your Mac to your Apple TV.
Send your screen/audio with Airplay Mirroring in iOS from your iOS Device to your Apple TV.

Some tweaks allow you to expand those features, turning your Mac/iOS devices into Airplay speakers/recipients. But in any case: you want to go from Mac to Mac.

Well, the point I was making was that you can already do that without having to use Airplay at all. Screen sharing is built-into OS X for a while now and it allows you to send all your video/audio/screen to another Mac and it is entirely separate from Airplay. So if you play something on your MacBook Air in Plex, it'll show up on your MacBook hooked up to your TV, as you said you wanted. You don't need Mountain Lion and you don't need Airplay.
Click to expand...

lol... not making much sense, eh? ok...

I'm well aware of screen sharing; I was asking about Airplay. I understand completely what the features are for. There's no need to be rude.

Why don't I want to do this with screen sharing? Because I don't want to have to do anything on the Mac hooked up to the TV in order for the content to show up, just like Airplay. I don't have any input device hooked up other than a remote for Plex.

So yes, it would do the trick, but not exactly for my uses. I thank you for the suggestion, but not for the rudeness.

Why do so many people on forums have to take such a holier-than-thou attitude? Why be snarky and rude? These are places for people to discuss ideas and ask for help with issues, etc.
 
J

JohnDoe98

macrumors 68020
May 1, 2009
2,488
99
tweaknmod said:
Why be snarky and rude? These are places for people to discuss ideas and ask for help with issues, etc.
Click to expand...

I don't see how my post was snarky and rude. I suggested screen sharing as a solution and you replied by saying, and I quote, "It's for mac or iOS device to Apple TV... traditionally". So far as I'm aware, there is no such ability with screen sharing, which means the reply didn't make any sense. Now, if you meant to reply Airplay is traditionally for mac or iOS devices to Apple TV, then again the reply doesn't make any sense in answering why Screen Sharing couldn't accomplish what you describe you wanted to accomplish in your original post, which again means you did not answer or address my suggestion/question. Rather you dismissed it out of hand, or as I as I assumed, didn't understand what Airplay was for and what Screen Sharing was for.

So what did I do? I calmly tried to explain what those features were about. Only now do you respond by claiming you didn't want to do anything extra on the other Mac. So now I will propose another solution that again uses Screen Share and doesn't rely on ML and Airplay. You can have your computers Auto-accept Screen Sharing Sessions. See these links or Google it to find a more befitting way to accomplish it:

http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20080715205905862
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/393439/
 
Last edited:
K

ki7hy

macrumors member
Sep 21, 2008
69
0
tweaknmod said:
Looks great! BUT will it work mac to mac? or just ios to mac?
Click to expand...

It should work fine running ML. I have only used it iOS to Mac at the moment but the app essentially turns the Mac into an Apple TV which is what I think you are trying to do. Obviously you want to still do more with the Mac you are sending to so Airplay only works when you essentially send things to it. My Mac mini has the airplay server and I still use it primarily for PLEX hooked to the TV. I haven't tested how it works in ML since my mini is still running Lion but it should work just fine.
 
T

techgineer

macrumors newbie
Aug 30, 2011
2
0
Air Display too

ki7hy said:
I have been using this with my Mac Mini HTPC for a long time. They update often and it works well.

http://www.airserverapp.com/en/Info/WhatIs
Click to expand...

I know this is an old thread, but for anyone else who stumbles across it with the same question, FWIW, I've used Air Display successfully:
http://avatron.com/apps/air-display
I like to use it to use my iMac's multiple displays wirelessly to extend my laptop display, rather than mirroring. I think it would also do what the OP was looking for. Just another alternative.
 
Rafagon

Rafagon

macrumors 6502a
Jun 19, 2011
879
975
Miami, FL
JohnDoe98 said:
Isn't that what Screen sharing is for? What am I missing?
Click to expand...

And File Sharing... just enable sharing for the folder that contains the content you want to stream to another Mac on your network, then connect to the "source" mac from the other mac. Locate the content, and play it!

Thanks, I came here looking for the Airplay Mirroring from Mac to Mac method and you gave me this idea which works even better!
 
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