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How to connect mid 2012 MacBook Pro to home theater system

Okay so I'm looking at purchasing a home theater system and was wanting to know the best way to connect my mid 2012 MacBook Pro to the home theater system and TV. I am wanting to play both movies (Netflix etc) and music. Will my MacBook play 5.1 surround sound to the home theater system? Whats the best way to connect this all up? MacBook audio to the home theater system via Digital Optical from the headphone port with a 3.5mm to toslink adapter and then video to the TV via HDMI cable from the thunderbolt port with thunderbolt to HDMI adapter? My thinking was to separate the video and audio to get the best picture and sound. Any help/advice on this would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro (13-inch Mid 2012), OS X Yosemite (10.10.2)

Posted on Mar 27, 2015 9:54 AM

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1 reply

Mar 27, 2015 11:27 AM in response to Kiwipatch

Will my MacBook play 5.1 surround sound to the home theater system?

Yes.


Whats the best way to connect this all up?

An AppleTV or any AirPlay-enabled AVR. AirPlay is wireless, though you could use wired Ethernet if you want to avoid all the potential problems associated with wireless. Make sure it specifically says AirPlay which is Apple's proprietary technology. There are quite a few of them to choose from today. Denon is one, I believe Pioneer, there may be others. Shop around. The AppleTV's price was recently reduced to $69 US and may actually be the most cost-effective solution, allowing you to research the best AVR for your needs. The AppleTV has both HDMI (audio and video) and optical audio outputs.


MacBook audio to the home theater system via Digital Optical from the headphone port with a 3.5mm to toslink adapter and then video to the TV via HDMI cable from the thunderbolt port with thunderbolt to HDMI adapter?

Way too complicated 🙂 But if you really don't want to use AirPlay, you can purchase an inexpensive (< $10) Thunderbolt to HDMI adapter and an equally inexpensive (<$3) HDMI cable to any HDMI input on your AVR.


My thinking was to separate the video and audio to get the best picture and sound.

It makes absolutely no difference. HDMI and optical audio use completely identical digital audio signals.

How to connect mid 2012 MacBook Pro to home theater system

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