AirPlay to Mac is such an underrated feature

[Kung gu]

I was really happy when Apple announced the feature Its something I always wanted to have on Mac and Apple implemented it nicely
into macOS, the Sharing is the best place to put it too.

I will use it for music airplay from my watch or iPhone. It's also useful for casting YouTube, Netflix and videos instead of going to the websites from iPhone or iPad which I am gonna do on a regular basis.

 

[zorinlynx]

Unfortunately, a lot of Mac owners got screwed out of this feature, especially iMac owners.

Only 2019 iMacs and later support it! Mine is a late-2015 model and will miss out on this feature.

It's frustrating that Apple cuts machines off from new features like this. This Mac is more than capable of that (Seriously, my Apple TV 3 from 2012 can do it) yet they artificially limit it.

 

[symphony]

Unfortunately, a lot of Mac owners got screwed out of this feature, especially iMac owners.

Only 2019 iMacs and later support it! Mine is a late-2015 model and will miss out on this feature.

It's frustrating that Apple cuts machines off from new features like this. This Mac is more than capable of that (Seriously, my Apple TV 3 from 2012 can do it) yet they artificially limit it.

No, that’s because your iMac is weaker than the Apple TV 3. AirPlay is a very technical intensive feature, even the obsolete AirPort Express can do AirPlay 2 than your iMac

 

[Kung gu]

Unfortunately, a lot of Mac owners got screwed out of this feature, especially iMac owners.

Only 2019 iMacs and later support it! Mine is a late-2015 model and will miss out on this feature.

It's frustrating that Apple cuts machines off from new features like this. This Mac is more than capable of that (Seriously, my Apple TV 3 from 2012 can do it) yet they artificially limit it.

ouch, yeah I have 16" MBP so thankfully i am good.

Yeah, I bet Apple knows that most people want this too.

 

[Marco Klobas]

Probably you already know it – AirServer is an alternative.

 

[Kylo83]

I would rather have airplay 2 on the Mac so stereo homepods would work properly

 

[3rik]

yep, im really happy that its here now. its the kind of feature that makes so much sense

 

[Diskutant]

Only 2019 iMacs and later support it! Mine is a late-2015 model and will miss out on this feature.

It's frustrating that Apple cuts machines off from new features like this. This Mac is more than capable of that (Seriously, my Apple TV 3 from 2012 can do it) yet they artificially limit it.

I guess it's because those older Intel Macs can't hardware decode/encode h265, they added that with the T2 chip to those newer Intel Macs.

 

[ArPe]

Unfortunately, a lot of Mac owners got screwed out of this feature, especially iMac owners.

Only 2019 iMacs and later support it! Mine is a late-2015 model and will miss out on this feature.

It's frustrating that Apple cuts machines off from new features like this. This Mac is more than capable of that (Seriously, my Apple TV 3 from 2012 can do it) yet they artificially limit it.

Apple isn’t cutting them off. Their hardware can’t do the decoding required. The only way they could is to drop back to an older streaming standard which would have sub par quality and not look very good.

 

[g0ren]

I guess it's because those older Intel Macs can't hardware decode/encode h265, they added that with the T2 chip to those newer Intel Macs.

Except the 2019 iMac does not have the T2 chip. So while that might have something to do with it on some older models, it doesn't seem to affect that computer. Not complaining since I have the 2019 iMac (just made the cutoff for this feature, *whew*). https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208862

 

[TheSelfishGene]

I'm a bit confused about Airplay to Mac.

I have an old Late 2015 iMac 21.5" that I'd like to be the "display" for a 2020 M1 Mac mini. Would Airplay to Mac work for this setup or not?

 

[g0ren]

I'm a bit confused about Airplay to Mac.

I have an old Late 2015 iMac 21.5" that I'd like to be the "display" for a 2020 M1 Mac mini. Would Airplay to Mac work for this setup or not?

From Apple:

Available on MacBook Pro (2018 and later), MacBook Air (2018 and later), iMac (2019 and later), iMac Pro (2017), Mac mini (2020 and later), Mac Pro (2019), iPhone 7 and later, iPad Pro (2nd generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (6th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later). Older iPhone, iPad, and Mac models may share content at a lower resolution to supported Mac models when “Allow AirPlay for” is set to “Everyone” or “Anyone on the same network” in Sharing preferences.

macOS Sequoia

macOS Sequoia brings effortless window tiling, web browsing with fewer distractions, new iPhone Mirroring, and support for Apple Intelligence.

www.apple.com

Newer Macs Can Use Another Mac as an External Display on macOS Monterey

One of the key new features of macOS Monterey is the ability to AirPlay content to a Mac from other Apple devices, such as an iPhone, iPad, or...

www.macrumors.com

 

[Gamusren]

I honestly have been waiting for this features for years. There were only third party solution for this and they were bodge at best, requiring third party apps running at Mac and mobile devices. Kudos MacOS12!

 

[11235813]

I'm failing to understand why this is a useful feature. If you have a working Apple computer, why not use it to do whatever you want, instead of using it just as a monitor for another device? My Macbook can do anything my iPad does and some more (it has a calculator app for example ). Why would I try to use it as my iPad's screen?

A good feature would be to see that iPad or iPhone screen in a window. That would be something.

 

[g0ren]

I'm failing to understand why this is a useful feature. If you have a working Apple computer, why not use it to do whatever you want, instead of using it just as a monitor for another device? My Macbook can do anything my iPad does and some more (it has a calculator app for example ). Why would I try to use it as my iPad's screen?

A good feature would be to see that iPad or iPhone screen in a window. That would be something.

For me, I can use my work-provided MacBook Pro and plug it into my personal 27 inch iMac and use the screen to edit instead of the relatively small 16" screen. Also, eventually, the Intel iMac's are going to be phased out but now I can keep using the monitor and keep the iMac as a dock for my current M1 MacBook Air or future Apple Silicon Macs.

 

[thingstoponder]

Except the 2019 iMac does not have the T2 chip. So while that might have something to do with it on some older models, it doesn't seem to affect that computer. Not complaining since I have the 2019 iMac (just made the cutoff for this feature, *whew*). https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT208862

It doesn’t have the T2 but it does has a GPU that supports the standard presumably. The same thing happened with Sidecar. Only t2 and certain non-t2 Intel Macs supported it because h.265.

 

[MrMacintoshBlog]

To clear up some of the confusion, Apple just decided to cut off the feature via blacklist for certain Macs. You can run Monterey with OpenCore Legacy Patcher on a 2013 MacBook Pro and use it as an AirPlay 2 Receiver because Mykola removed the blacklist from the code. If you want to see it in action, I put together a video showing how to set it up and do a demo of it working on a 2018 Mac Mini, 2015 12" MacBook and a 2013 15" MacBook Pro (using OCLP).

 

[LFC2020]

Cool feature, just tested it out, works as intended.

 

[coolbreeze2]

I was trying various apps on my iPhone which runs iOS15 to sample Airplay to Mac to MBA which is running Monterey. Everything worked except Netflix, which through an error message that asked me to to use the Netflix app on my TV!!! LOL.

 

[funeralweather]

As someone who lives in an apartment with a small room, I feel it is redundant to have a TV and a computer in my room. This feature is very useful. I can essentially use my mac mini as an Apple TV, and sit in bed and airplay shows/control it with my phone or iPad. Normally, I would use something like Screens or BTT remote to control my mac mini while watching content from bed, but this is much more convenient. Soooo underrated, and welcomed.

 

[coolbreeze2]

As someone who lives in an apartment with a small room, I feel it is redundant to have a TV and a computer in my room. This feature is very useful. I can essentially use my mac mini as an Apple TV, and sit in bed and airplay shows/control it with my phone or iPad. Normally, I would use something like Screens or BTT remote to control my mac mini while watching content from bed, but this is much more convenient. Soooo underrated, and welcomed.

I watch more TV and stream more movies on my MacBooks. It's so cool to have my handy and lightweight iPhone to initiate the stream, then I Airplay it to my MB or my TV. This is nice!!!! Also, my iPhone is unlimited data. This works out well when I visit my older relative who has limited-data internet. She is elderly and gets a kick out of me flipping through YouTube videos of various things that interest her.