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Can’t connect my Apple TV to my MacBook Air (as a monitor)

I don’t have a tv right now but I need to connect my Apple TV to a monitor.

Trying to use my MacBook Air as an external monitor (like a tv) but i can’t find a solution. I googled all day but the only answer was how to connect my MacBook Air to my Apple TV and I wasn’t asking that. What I am asking is that difficult ? I need to access to the information that I have only in my Apple TV. If I open my Apple TV in my iPad or iPhone I can’t see all my information. Please help me!

Apple TV 4K, tvOS 16

Posted on Apr 7, 2023 10:48 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Apr 8, 2023 9:24 AM

I don’t have a tv right now but I need to connect my Apple TV to a monitor.
Trying to use my MacBook Air as an external monitor (like a tv) but i can’t find a solution.

That is not supported. HDMI ports are directional. HDMI-in has a different circuit than HDMI-out. The ports on Macs do not function for HDMI-in, only for HDMI-out.


I need to access to the information that I have only in my Apple TV. If I open my Apple TV in my iPad or iPhone I can’t see all my information.

Do find someone that will let you use a real monitor or TV for a while. For transport reasons, it’s may be easier to bring your Apple TV box to them, than to bring a big screen to you – if that is acceptable for your lookup purposes.


Not much information is stored on Apple TV. Just some settings. Some settings can’t be looked up (e.g. passwords).

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Apr 8, 2023 9:24 AM in response to anawakenhamster

I don’t have a tv right now but I need to connect my Apple TV to a monitor.
Trying to use my MacBook Air as an external monitor (like a tv) but i can’t find a solution.

That is not supported. HDMI ports are directional. HDMI-in has a different circuit than HDMI-out. The ports on Macs do not function for HDMI-in, only for HDMI-out.


I need to access to the information that I have only in my Apple TV. If I open my Apple TV in my iPad or iPhone I can’t see all my information.

Do find someone that will let you use a real monitor or TV for a while. For transport reasons, it’s may be easier to bring your Apple TV box to them, than to bring a big screen to you – if that is acceptable for your lookup purposes.


Not much information is stored on Apple TV. Just some settings. Some settings can’t be looked up (e.g. passwords).

Can’t connect my Apple TV to my MacBook Air (as a monitor)

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