Q: Why does AirPlay work through iTunes but not for screen mirroring? Mid-2010 Macbook Pro 10.9.5
I recently purchased an Apple TV. My intent was to use it mostly for the screen mirroring function and the use of apps was an added bonus. So when I set up the Apple TV, I went to watch a movie from my laptop (a mid-2010 Macbook Pro operating on OSX 10.9.5) and couldn't find the airplay icon anywhere on my screen. After a short search, I found that mirroring is not supported on any Macbooks made prior to mid-2011. Great.
After installing and uninstalling 3rd-party apps that cost $15 and don't work very well, I came across a movie that I purchased through iTunes and decided to give that a try without the use of any 3rd-party apps. It starts playing, the AirPlay icon pops up, and I am able to seamlessly play the movie on my Apple TV. Mind you, I have not set up home sharing, so the content is not loaded on the Apple TV. It resides on my hard drive, just like the other movie that I had attempted a screenshare with.
So I find it interesting that when I'm trying to watch a movie that was not purchased through Apple, it is not possible to play through my brand new Apple TV. However, if I do play something that was purchased through Apple, it works flawlessly. Can anyone explain why this is? Or is it just another one of Apple's product-lifecycle plays? Clearly, it is 100% possible for my computer to stream content to the Apple TV but Apple is just limiting what can and cannot be streamed....that is, unless I purchase a brand new computer.
I do know that the ChromeCast will happily stream whatever I want with the computer that I already have. So unless this is an easy fix, I'm about to have a spare $35 after I exchange this bad boy.
MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)
Posted on Apr 28, 2015 2:17 PM