Can't mirror Macbook with Apple TV

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Level 1

6 points

Can't mirror Macbook with Apple TV

I recently purchased an Apple TV 4th Gen and I am using a Macbook Pro Retina late 2013 running Mavericks OS X 10.9.5. I want to mirror my Macbook with Apple TV so that I have a much bigger screen to work with. When I select Apple TV from the Airplay Display option, the icon in the menu bar briefly goes blue then immediately goes black again without ever showing anything on the Apple TV. However, if I use iTunes on my Macbook, I can play videos from the through the Apple TV. I can get audio fine, either through iTunes or even just Safari. I just select Apple TV when I click on the speaker menu icon while holding the option key. But visuals just won't work. Can anyone suggest how I get mirroring to work please? My Apple TV is fully up to date with the latest software, as is my router. I had previously installed Reflector 2 but I have removed this and hunted down any residual files from it too. The Trash is empty and I have restarted Macbook, Apple TV, and router multiple times. For what it's worth, the audio occasionally cuts out, so I assume this is either wifi connectivity (2.4 Ghz, SNR~45 according to Wifi Diagnostics Utilities) or lack of processing power (2.4GHz Intel i5, 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3). Help much appreciated. My reason for buying the Apple TV was so I could do this type of mirroring without having to connect with a cable, so I am disappointed to say the least so far.

Posted on Nov 18, 2017 1:32 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

i_rina

Community Specialist

Nov 19, 2017 1:35 PM in response to d31fva

Hi, d31fva,

Thanks for visiting the Apple Support Communities. From your post, I understand that you are having trouble using Apple TV to mirror your Mac display on your HDTV. Specifically, the menu option to activate it keeps apeparing/disappearing. I'm happy to help!

Based on what you've described, I would recommend first using Use AirPlay to display video from your Mac on an HDTV - Apple Support to verify your Mac, TV, and Apple TV meet the requirements for AirPlay, and then the following steps (also from the article) to troubleshoot:

Get help

If you don't see the AirPlay icon in your menu bar, make sure that your Apple TV is awake and meets the system requirements.

If you don't see your Apple TV in the AirPlay menu, make sure that your Mac and Apple TV meet the system requirements. Also check your firewall settings:

Choose Apple menu () > System Preferences, then click Security & Privacy.

Click the lock icon, then enter an administrator name and password.

From the Firewall tab, click Firewall Options.

Make sure that “Block all incoming connections” is not selected, and “Automatically allow signed software to receive incoming connections” is selected.

If AirPlay stutters or disconnects by itself:

Your wireless network might be too busy or have too much wireless interference to maintain the AirPlay connection. Learn how to troubleshoot Wi-Fi connectivity issues.

Try making more memory available by quitting one or more apps or installing more RAM. You can use the Memory tab in Activity Monitor to help determine whether your Mac needs more memory.

If your desktop doesn't look good on your HDTV, your HDTV might be using picture-quality enhancements that aren't best for computer images. Check your HDTV manual for information about how to adjust your HDTV settings for use with a computer. Your HDTV might offer a more suitable viewing mode, such as computer mode or game mode. Also try adjusting HDTV settings such as sharpness, detail enhancement, and noise reduction.

Have a great day!

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Answer 2

d31fva Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 27, 2017 2:22 PM in response to RebekkahRoseRyan

Hi RebekkahRoseRyan, thanks for the tip. My menu looks a bit different to yours (see screen shot) so I can't test it exactly as you describe. However, I spoke with Apple customer care over the weekend and while they said in principle my set up should just work, their first recommendation was for me to update from Mavericks to High Sierra. So, that is my next step. I'll update here after I've upgraded anyway and let you know if it helped.

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Answer 3

d31fva Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 27, 2017 5:56 PM in response to d31fva

Resolved: As per the advice of the Apple support agent, I upgraded from 10.9.5 to 10.13.1 and that appears to have fixed the problem. I now just select Airplay to: Apple TV from the menu bar and it mirrors my MacBook Pro screen to my TV. Success!

The upgrade has caused some totally unrelated problems concerning software I use that requires X11 and xgterm to work properly, but that is for tomorrow's bug hunt... thanks all for your suggestions and help. Hopefully this thread will help others in the same situation.

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Answer 4

d31fva Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 22, 2017 12:07 PM in response to i_rina

Hi i_rina, thanks for your suggestions. I've checked all of these and everything should be working, but it does not. To be clear, the icon doesn't disappear - it simply won't stay blue i.e. it is clearly seeing my Apple TV and trying to mirror the screen but drops the connection after one second. This only happens in mirror mode. I can airplay from iTunes just fine, but what I really want to do is mirror the screen. My wifi connection is clear and the memory pressure on my Macbook is well within acceptable limits when I try to do this. It should work. Do you have any other suggestions? I'm really at a loss to know what is going on here. Thanks!

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Answer 5

AppleJoe

Community Manager

Nov 22, 2017 12:59 PM in response to d31fva

Thanks for the update, d31fva.

Since you've gone through all the recommended steps and are still having trouble, the next recommendation would be to get in touch with Apple Support directly for additional assistance. That's something you can do here: Contact Apple Support .

Cheers!

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Answer 6

Nov 26, 2017 11:45 AM in response to d31fva

I also have been experiencing issues with trying to AirPlay from my iMac (21.5 late 2013) using High Sierra 10.13.1. Up until two days ago, never any problems except that AirPlay crashes for an unknown reason after 60 min. or so. However, yesterday when I tried to AirPlay from the iMac to my Apple TV 4th Gen., I could clearly hear the audio from the video, but the picture was a screen saver that isn't even on my iMac. I am selecting AirPlay from the top right menu bar of my iMac, and choosing Apple TV. I tried many trouble shooting steps and even called AppleCare. Nothing they could suggest helped resolve the problem, and eventually the senior advisor put me on hold for more than 10 min. and then disconnected without ever returning to the call. I tried again to AirPlay to my Apple TV from my iMac, and discovered that if I went back into the AirPlay menu after choosing Apple TV in the AirPlay menu, and changed the selection in the "AirPlay:Appple TV menu" from "Mirror iMac" (the is what it chose automatically) to "Mirror Apple TV". (AppleCare never suggested that this would be a trouble shooting step to try), but low and behold this got me both audio and video on my Apple TV. You might give this a try. I have zero experience with a MacBook so I don't know if this will work on a MacBook, but since you haven't heard yet from Apple, you could try this option. Maybe it will help. Let me know, please.

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Answer 7

Nov 26, 2017 11:46 AM in response to d31fva

Sorry I forgot to give you the screen shot of the menu option I chose that was successful. Hope this helps.

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Answer 8

d31fva Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 22, 2017 1:47 PM in response to AppleJoe

Thanks joe_7399, I've scheduled a call. I'll update here if I manage to get a solution!

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