Upgraded to Mountain Lion to get Airplay Mirroring but evidently my 27" iMac is not compatible. What a joke! If Apple is going to advertise mirroring for Macs it should work on all recent equipment.

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Upgraded to Mountain Lion to get Airplay Mirroring but evidently my 27" iMac is not compatible. What a joke! If Apple is going to advertise mirroring for Macs it should work on all recent equipment.

Looked up how to activate Airplay Mirroring but don't get the icon. So evidently my 27" iMac is not compatible. Mirroring seems to be what we're all most interested in upgrading for but it's available to a limited audiance. Jeez, does Apple really expect me to buy a new iMac to get this functionality? Sounds a lot like Microsoft.

iMac, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jul 31, 2012 4:15 PM

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Answer 1

Jul 31, 2012 4:18 PM in response to Bandit232

Listen, they say "It sounds like Microsoft" for every new operating system. There is a third party program called AirParrot that provides you with an Airplay Mirroring like-device. It is still an amazing operating system, and let's face it, it's only 20 bucks. Pretty amazing. However, it is a bit odd to have only the newer macs be able to have Airplay Mirroring.

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Answer 2

JKStraw

Level 1

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Jul 31, 2012 4:28 PM in response to Applelover1

"a bit odd" - it *****! Ive got over $5,000 worth of Apple products that wont be supported! mid 2010 27"iMac, 15" alum MBP, iPad, and 1st gen apple TV. I could see just having to upgrade the tv but the iMAC and MBP is rediculous! I think I might drive this over to their nearest store with a hammer and proceed to smash it all right in the middle of thier store then go buy the samsung gear that WILL work with my samsung LED TV!

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Answer 3

Jul 31, 2012 4:29 PM in response to JKStraw

Do we know if the older models have the technology to support Airplay Mirroring?

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Answer 4

rosykes

Level 1

1 points

Jan 18, 2013 3:52 PM in response to Applelover1

I went the AirParrot route, it does the job but runs really heavy. Not anything like airplay really should be. I do think it's weird that a 3rd party can make it do what apple won't.

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Answer 5

Jan 18, 2013 4:14 PM in response to rosykes

Mountain Lion is using functionality in the recent Intel chipsets to offload the work to specialized functionality in the chip. These extensions ARE NOT PRESENT in older hardware. It's specific functionality in recent Intel chipsets, and thus Apple only supports Airplay mirroring on machines that include these chipsets.

Air Parrot uses the CPU to do the work. Which is why it's much more CPU intensive.

These two things are related: Apple decided to restrict the functionality to machines where it could be done in a low-CPU-overhead, low-heat-generating way. Air Parrot runs on more machines, but burns a lot more CPU in doing so.

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Answer 6

Jan 18, 2013 4:14 PM in response to Applelover1

They do not. That's not to say you can't do mirroring in other ways, such as how Air Parrot does it, but there are downsides (as I note below).

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Answer 7

rosykes

Level 1

1 points

Jan 18, 2013 4:34 PM in response to William Lloyd

Yeah, I read about the different chipsets. AirParrot isnt bad, but it skips a little in the streaming. I have an i7, so my MBP is fine, but it skips a bit in the stream to the tv, not sure why. My wiFi is fine, works fantastically with AirPlay. Any idea if I can upgrade the necessary chipset only?

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