Q: Mountain Lion AirPlay Mirroring (iMac to AppleTV) Not Working

What incredible frustration...just spent 30 minutes trying to get my MacBook to link-up before hitting the search to find out that it only works on specific MacBooks. If my OS is capable of being upgraded, then the new features should work on my system. This is extremely disappointing.

I am so sick of Apple requiring you to buy the newest hardware to use their software upgrades! This is total BS, I bough Mountain Lion just for AIRPLAY MIRRORING! My macbook is only 2 years old!

Apple is starting to Make Microsoft look good!

The exact technical issue has already been discussed in this forum.  AirParrot does software encoding.....Mountain Lion relies on hardware.   Thats the simple explanation.

I don't feel "violated".  They should have been a lot clearer on the requirements.   That doesn't constitute a violation.

Ask for a refund if you don't appreciate the other 199 new features in the OS.

No!

Here is my theory. Apple is relying on hardware support from the second generation AKA Sandy Bridge Core i5 and i7 processors to run airplay mirroring. This would explain the lack of support on the first gen i5 and i7.There is a feature called Intel Quick Sync Video only present on the Sandy Bridge processors which I am guessing is the culprit. However, Airparrot is a clear example that this functionality can be enabled via software in older Macs. I ran Airparrot on my Core 2 duo MacBook Pro perfectly fine. I hope Apple does the right thing and implements the feature accross all intel processors.

No that's not what I'm saying as clearly AirParrot does exactly that.  Mountain Lion is relying on the hardware present in the new Macs.  Its that simple.  Apple goofed by not being clear on this point but the fake outrage being displayed here quite frankly is ridiculous.  Apple does give refunds....I've requested several over the last couple of years for expensive iPhone/iPad apps.  

I'm just finding it hard to believe that people are really this upset over a $20 purchase for a full OS upgrade because of one feature that Apple didn't explain properly.

Shame on you Apple, I told friends that they needed to migrate to Apple products in part for this feature alone, tomorrow will be the first time I have ever comdemned Apple to my friends and family. Just sad!

Amazing!!!! What was once the centerpiece of ML's marketing campaign on Apple's website, now (after website's update) is completely gone off the main page. Airplay feature is now tucked in under the feature page only - with a tiny greyed-out notification at the bottom of the page mentioning AP works only with machines offered from 2011. I sure as h*ll don't remember any fine-print up until yesterday! Nice Apple! Real nice! For a lousy 20 bucks now, you pretty much have made me think twice about forking over $ 2500+ in a few months for a new laptop. The ONLY reason, and I mean the ONLY reason, I paid for ML was to utilize the AP feature - and I was super-excited. Could careless, about ALL other features of ML. 

Aside from the underlying reason, whether it's the chipset encoding H.264, copyright issues, or what have you, Apple could have made the RESPONSIBLE choice and shed some light on the matter. But no! It all came clear after it was too late.

I, as it appears like most here, want a refund.

I agree that $20 for an OS is a great deal especially compared with past Windows upgrades that are usually in the $150-200 range.  I think most of the folks who are upset are probably all the folks who upgraded primarily for the AirPlay mirroring.  The other 199 features were bonus features for now. 

I just re-checked Apple's site about mirroring (http://www.apple.com/ca/osx/whats-new/features.html#airplay) and they make no mention of any hardware requirements (those are found in the Tech Specs section where it is completely clear that older Macs do not support AirPlay Mirroring.  I see now there's a small footnote noting the hardware requirements, I don't recall seeing that originally.  Wonder if Apple is rabidly updating their site.  ;-)

I guess I'm off to buy AirParrot.  If I'd have known about AirParrot earlier I probably would have bought it already and not bought ML as quickly.

Have some beer and try "Air Parrot" from airparrot.com  and you will be running Air mirroring on ATV in no time.

Cheers

Aftab

I completely agree that the marketing effort, lets say, was lacking    I was hoping to have the same feature for my 2010 MBP.  And who knows....maybe one of the 10.8 updates will allow for software encoding.  Clearly Apple is capable of that.   But they were also supposed to open up FaceTime too so i'm not going to hold my breath.  So far though I'm glad I updated even without mirroring.  Lots of nice new things.  I'm actually most excited about Safari 6 (though I could have had that with Lion) and better iCloud support.

I admit I'm running a dated Macbook Pro (think 2008). I've never ran into issues with AirPlay from any other device and am quite surprised that ML doesn't support old MacBook Pros. Having my Macbook Pro hooked up via 2 wires to my TV was something I was eager to avoid, thus the purchase and upgrade but unfortunately I came upon this thread too late. Sadly, even AirParrot can't solve what I want it to do without sluggish results for video streaming.

I've always either had to connect up with the wires, or transcode my videos to fit the iTunes requirements and play over Apple TV through Home Network Sharing. Both options are work-arounds, and AirPlay should simply support these ancient devices, but it's tough to move a bohemoth. Little goliath won't phase the giant.

I think the people who made AirParrot will be happy campers during the next few days!

I would encourage Apple to offer a free compatibility app in all future version of OSX clearly summarizing what will be and will not be supported on ones computer prior to buying a new OS. This first gen, second gen or new naming convention is making it very hard for everyone to realize what model one has purchased.

I think the majority of people here are not upset about the $19 price tag for ML, but more so about the lack of support for their fairly new and expensive hardware. MacBooks and iMacs are not iPhones or iPads. They can be very expensive and most users including myself see them as a 3 to 5 year investment.

Wow my first disappointment in Apple. Can't believe they couldn't find a way to keep my 3 year old MacBook Pro from being obsolete, much less ALL pre-2011 macs. Just doesn't fit with what I think of when I think of Apple products. They're supposed to "just work". First time I've ever had buyer's remorse toward an Apple product and I own them all.